Industry News: Nike Cuts Ties With Elite-Level Swimming

BEAVERTON, Oregon, September 22. CNBC's Darren Rovell reported yesterday that Nike will be cutting its elite-level involvement in the sport of swimming.

According to the article, Nike has been informing all of the coaches and athletes it has contracts with that the company will "no longer be developing the latest and greatest for championship swimmers."

Rovell also spoke with agent Evan Morgenstein about the impact the move would have on the professionalism of the sport.

"Nike getting out of the championship swimming market is the death of American elite swimming as we know it," Morgenstein, who represents nearly every swimmer under contract with Nike, told CNBC. "Some swimmers make 95 percent of their income in non-Olympic years from these apparel deals. If one of only three major players is out (Nike) and the market leader (Speedo) feels it's in a position where they don't have to pay much as long as they have the best suit, the financial model that most Olympic swimmers have lived by since 2000 is over."

Full text of CNBC article.

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