Fashion
Nike prepares World Cup marketing play as investors eye turnaround
By
Reuters
Published
September 29, 2025
Investors will focus on Nike‘s marketing plans for the coming year when the company reports its results on Tuesday, following several sluggish quarters in which rivals have stolen market share and high tariffs have impacted imported goods.
The company, in the midst of a turnaround under CEO Elliott Hill, showed an appetite for big-ticket ad campaigns in the year ended May—boosting its marketing spend to $1.63 billion, up 9% from the previous year. Next year brings one of the biggest sports marketing bonanzas of the decade: the World Cup.
Marketing plans surrounding the Cup, which will be held next June in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, will be a primary focus for main investors in the coming months, according to Morningstar analyst David Swartz.
Tuesday’s call may also shed light on Nike’s ongoing efforts to weather crippling tariffs. Nike makes nearly all its shoes in Vietnam, China and Indonesia—countries that face high tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The company stated in June that tariffs would add approximately $1 billion in costs, although it planned to reduce imports from China from around 16% to below 10%.
Nike’s marketing campaigns this past year were largely focused on reestablishing the brand as the go-to choice for serious athletes, a label that had eluded it in recent years. Nike needs to keep hitting that message, Swartz said: “We need to see some progress on returning to relevance.”
The World Cup has a scope matched by few sporting events, and Nike sponsors five of the top 10 FIFA-ranked national teams, including Brazil, France and England. Its selling and marketing expense is set to cross $5 billion in 2026, according to LSEG’s estimates.
Revenue for the August-ended quarter is expected to fall about 5% compared with a year earlier, while gross profit margin as a percentage of revenue is expected to shrink by about 3.7%, according to LSEG data.
Nike has lost market share to younger rivals, such as On and Deckers’ Hoka, which has contributed to its weak performance in recent quarters. Demand in major markets—especially China—has been choppy, as Nike tries to balance its wholesale and direct-to-consumer strategies. It has discounted some items as it works to clean out inventory.
The company has also struggled in women’s athleisure against competitors such as Lululemon. On Friday, it launched NikeSKIMS, in a highly anticipated partnership with Kim Kardashian‘s label.
However, Swartz said it would take time to judge its success, as “tariffs may affect sportswear demand for some time.”
The broader global athletic footwear market, estimated to be worth approximately $183 billion this year, is forecast to grow to $258 billion by 2030, according to India-based market research firm Mordor Intelligence.
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A total of 25 pilot investments led by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have progressed from the lab to near-market stage under RegioGreenTex, a three-year European Union (EU)-funded project that recently concluded. Most of these are expected to be commercialised within one to three years.
Twenty five pilot investments led by SMEs moved from lab to near‑market under RegioGreenTex, an EU-funded project that ended recently.
Most of these are expected to commercialise in one to three years.
Five regional hubs mapped SME needs and developed services and value chains as well as tools to help SMEs.
These are now open for collaboration and the pilot portfolio is primed for investors and adopters.
At least 70 per cent of the EU grant was allocated to SMEs. A total of 43 partners from 11 regions across eight countries participated in the project, leveraging their expertise towards a common goal of advancing industry and research.
RegioGreenTex was one of the first projects funded under the Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) Instrument programme that focused on process, service and business model innovation, developing advanced textile recycling technologies, regional recycling hubs, and a digital ecosystem for matchmaking and capacity building.
Five regional hubs mapped SME needs and developed services and value chains as well as tools that keep helping SMEs, an official release said.
The RegioGreenTex Digital Tool keeps matchmaking, sharing trainings and hosting the participants’ knowledge base.
The Waste Wizard shows how artificial intelligence-enhanced matchmaking can link leftover textiles with the right reuse or recycling routes.
From recycled-content yarn processes (Tintex) to Recycrom low-impact dyeing (Officina39), ultrasonic quilting for full recyclability (Rovitex) and hybrid recycled-fibre yarns (Hilaturas Mar), the pilots showed concrete, repeatable ways to cut impact without losing performance.
The hubs are now open for collaboration, the digital tools are live and the pilot portfolio is primed for investors and adopters.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
While trends in high frequency indicators for January-February 2026 appear favourable, the heightened uncertainty around the duration of the Middle East conflict casts a shadow on the near-term macroeconomic outlook for India amid high import dependency for items like crude oil, natural gas and fertilisers, it noted.
India’s FY27 GDP growth is likely to slow to 6.5 per cent from the projected 7.5 per cent in FY26 owing to the impact of higher energy prices and concerns around energy availability, ICRA Ratings said.
The heightened uncertainty around the duration of the Iran war casts a shadow on the near-term macroeconomic outlook for India.
If the conflict lasts longer, the adverse effects could widen across sectors.
If the conflict lasts for an extended period, the adverse implications of the same could widen across sectors, amid an uptick in input costs and the consequent impact on profitability of the India corporate sector.
Amid the projected uptrend in the consumer price index-based inflation in FY27 with risks tilted to the upside, ICRA Ratings expects an extended pause on the policy rates by the central bank’s monetary policy committee in the fiscal despite the anticipated softening in the GDP growth. However, it expects the Reserve Bank of India to continue to intervene on the liquidity front during FY27.
The available data for January–February FY2026 indicate a positive trend across most non-agricultural indicators, with the year-on-year performance of 12 out of 18 indicators improving compared to the third quarter of FY26, while the remaining six deteriorated.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Indonesia’s apparel exports rose modestly to $8.705 billion in 2025 from $8.316 billion in 2024, reflecting gradual recovery.
The US remained dominant, accounting for over 56 per cent of shipments, highlighting growing market dependence.
While Japan, South Korea and Europe offered stability, exports stayed concentrated in key products and segments.
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