After years of saying he’d never do business with Nike again, Deion Sanders is once again repping “The Swoosh.” Sanders who was once signed to Nike, severed ties with the sports apparel giant back in 2008-09 as his endorsement deal ended, but as they say, guess he wanted that old thing back.
After publicly bashing the sneaker behemoth for years, Sanders is returning to the place he first signed with in 1992 as a member of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta Braves.
In a press release, Nike welcomed Coach Prime back:
“We welcome Deion Sanders back to the Nike family, the company said in a statement.
Sanders took to Instagram to shout out his infamous “We coming” catchphrase.
On Friday, Sanders sort of let the proverbial cat out of the bag when he posted his legendary Nike Diamond Turf shoes in an Instagram post.
Sanders Left Nike Amidst Dispute Over Money
As with most business relationships that end, money is usually at the root of it. That’s reportedly what happened between Sanders and Nike the first time around, as Sanders felt he wasn’t compensated for his effort in creating the iconic sneaker. In an interview with Complex in 2017, Sanders didn’t bite his tongue one bit in telling his side of things.
“That’s why I’m upset with them Nike right now. We created these together, but they don’t want to seed me, they don’t want to direct deposit.”
At the time, Sanders vowed to never work with Nike again. But as they also say, time heals wounds, and here we are in 2023.
Sanders Leaves Under Armour After Over A Decade
Sanders, who’s been sporting the Under Armour logo on his gear for over a decade, also led Jackson State to leave Nike for Under Armour upon his arrival in 2020. In ending the relationship with Under Armour, the apparel giant released this statement.
“Under Armour has a longstanding partnership with Deion Sanders for more than a decade and we are proud of what we accomplished together,” the statement sent to USA Today Sports said. “Now that he has gone on to Colorado, we can’t wait to see him to continue to positively impact the game and look forward to watching him find continued success with his new partners, athletes and expanded communities.”
Colorado is a Nike school, who’s contract with the shoe and apparel giant doesn’t end until 2025. And from reports it’s highly plausible that the relationship between CU and Nike will continue long beyond that.
For Sanders this move was a smart and of course calculated move by him. Sanders even said he felt like he was cheating having to wear Nike gear when he took the job in December.
Now he doesn’t have to feel guilty anymore, and you can definitely expect to see the retro Diamond Turf kicks sooner than later.
