Nike History

Almost every person of the world has heard the NIKE echo throughout sports. The name is in or on every stadium, arena, field, court, or atmosphere where athletic competition takes place. NIKE has altered athletics in almost everywhere possible. While it has had an amazing rise to fame, it has been the people who have made the rise possible.

The journey began with Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. Bowerman a track and field star also a coach who wanted a shoe that was a combination of style and performance for his University of Oregon runners. The first hand shake between the two was first established in 1964, between the two. Knight was studying at Stanford for his MBA in business when, he was given a project to create a business plan and a foundation for the product that would be sold. He found he could have high quality products with low cost. Years later after graduating he traveled to Japan where he had interest in the Tiger shoe company. In order to have a chance to talk to the company he produced a fake company for which he worked for. Knight and Bowerman developed a plan, and then both invested $500 into Blue Ribbon Sports. Knight in charge of the business operations and Bowerman dealt with the creating and design of the perfect shoe. After talking to the Tiger shoe Knight decided he would buy a shipment of “Tigers.” In 1964 Knight teamed up with Bowerman and sold $8,000 worth of the shoes. Except instead of a warehouse, they were sold out of his car.

Both Bowerman and Knight had full time jobs. Blue Ribbon Sports from then on had a new man hired, Jeff Johnson. Johnson made brochures, took pictures, got a mail-delivery system for the company, and even produced a few models of shoes. Relationships between NIKE and the Japanese company were failing. After their contract