“Making one more dream come true: to have one of the most coveted brands in the world on my board."
The noted shoe and apparel brand Nike, which first entered the surf game in 2006 with the confusingly named Nike 6.0, shovelling millions of dollars at Kolohe Andino, Julian Wilson and Carissa Moore, only to exit six years later, has returned to surfing with the signing of Olympic gold medallist Italo Ferreira and women’s tour rookie Sierra Kerr, whose daddy you know.
“Making one more dream come true: to have one of the most coveted brands in the world on my board,” wrote Italo Ferreira. “This is more than a personal achievement; it’s about connection to the history of great sports heroes and a powerful family. This is a very special moment in my professional career! Joining this team gives me the strength and courage to keep facing obstacles and walk the way to the top. In advance, I thank my team @if15sports for their work and performance in the past months.
“We did it”
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Nike’s engagement with surfing has been marked by initial missteps, a strategic retreat, and now a cautious re-entry with a focus, as they say in marketing meets, on authenticity and key athlete partnerships.
The approach this time is about integrating surfing into Nike’s wider sports portfolio, ie getting surfers to buy Nike instead of the usual surf-themed gear, rather than creating a separate identity for it within the company’s branding structure.