INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Nike has long been synonymous with premium sneakers and other sports gear, but now the company could be extending its brand into another
multibillion-dollar sports giant has acquired TraceMe, which originally built an app to let fans engage with sports stars and other
celebrities before later pivoting into a service called Tally, a platform aimed at sports teams, broadcasters and venues to help fans engage
around sporting events.TraceMe was originally founded by Russell Wilson, the champion quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks, who was the
executive chairman of the startup
The company had raised at least $9 million from investors that included the Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group and Bezos Expeditions
LeeKeenan describes his new role as the head of Nike Seattle
Others on the team now have taken roles that include software engineers, head of product and product designers.No one at TraceMe responded
to our requests for comment
GeekWire (which likely got the same tip we did) published a post noting that it had a source that confirmed the deal.The athletic footwear
giant Nike is no stranger to the world of technology: it has been a longtime collaborator with the likes of Apple to develop apps for its
devices and has been an early mover on the concept of bringing and integrating cutting-edge (yes, possibly gimmicky) tech into its footwear
going to do some M-A, it would be in the area of digital media and picking up engineers to execute on a wider vision in that area.The
company is best known, of course, for its shoes and related sporty clothes, which it has for a long time created in co-branding with the
biggest sports stars and has more recently started to extend to a wider circle of celebrities and hot fashion labels in a spirit of sporty
These have included the likes of so-cool Supreme, Travis Scott and seemingly other tentative forays into music culture.Nike overshadows all
other sports shoe brands in size, with its current market cap at nearly $117 billion, more than twice that of its closest competitor, Adidas
But Adidas has been stealing a march when it comes to partnerships with a wide network of celebrities (even if Drake prefers checks over
help Nike start to think about how it might leverage the collaborations and endorsements it already has in place into experiences beyond
shoes, advertising and athletic performance.In this age of Instagram and influencers playing a massive role in shifting consumer sentiment
(and dollars), this could give Nike a shot at building its own media platform, independent of these, on its own terms.This is a bigger trend
with marketing and expanding their brands
