Nike Is Entering The Metaverse

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Hey Friends,

The virtual world is becoming more relevant by the minute.

Just days after Facebook officially rebranded itself as “Meta,” publicly declaring their intention to go all-in on the metaverse, global apparel giant Nike has now done the same.

The $265 billion company filed a total of seven different trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this week, including Nike, Just Do It, Air Jordan, Jumpman, and, of course, its famous swoosh logo.

The interesting part? They indicated that these trademarks would be used to make and sell Nike-branded shoes, clothing, and more….in the virtual world.

Shoutout to trademark attorney Josh Gerben for being on top of it.

Of course, I realize the “metaverse,” or the idea of a virtual world, still doesn’t make sense to many people — so let’s break it down.

The metaverse isn’t exactly a new term. American writer Neal Stephenson famously introduced it in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, where it referred to a 3D virtual world inhabited by avatars that represented real people. But, yes, it has undoubtedly become much more popular over the last 12-24 months.

The real definition can be broad. For example, some people refer to it as digital spaces that are made lifelike through virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR). In contrast, others say it is a gaming world where users have a character that can walk around, talk, and interact with other players.

But here is how Facebook, sorry, “Meta” describes it: “The ‘metaverse’ is a set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space as you.” I like that definition much more — it’s simple.

The reality is, no pun intended, that the metaverse is really just an interconnected set of virtual communities where people can meet, work, and play, using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps, and other devices.

Think of it as the internet brought to life. Participants in the metaverse will go to virtual concerts, take trips online, buy digital clothing, meet new friends, and do much of the same things they do today, just virtually.

Here’s Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaking to an avatar of himself in the metaverse during the live-streamed rebranding of Facebook as Meta.

In addition to filing the seven metaverse-related patents, Nike is also hiring for multiple metaverse fashion jobs, saying the employees will “play a key role in redefining our digital landscape, ushering us into the metaverse, and growing our team’s capabilities.”

But Facebook and Nike are hardly the only companies going all-in on the metaverse.

Fortnite maker Epic Games has raised $1 billion from investors to help with its long-term plans for building the metaverse, and Microsoft is set to release a version of its chat and conferencing program featuring digital avatars in 2022.

Other companies like Gucci, Disney, and Chipotle are also building out their metaverse assets. Remember, through a partnership with Fortnite, the National Football League sold about 3 million skins for ~$50 million in 2018.

This is certainly interesting news from Nike, but I’m not sure this is as big of a deal as everyone is making it out to be. Nike has been interested in the virtual world for years—they patented Nike NFTs in 2019 but haven’t released anything yet—so we shouldn’t necessary expect anything in the short term.

But I do think every major consumer brand will eventually do this. The same people that laugh at the idea of a metaverse also typically spend 8+ hours per day on their phone or computer and have just as many friends online as they do in real life. Spoiler alert — that is the metaverse.

The asymmetric upside of transacting with digital goods and services in the virtual world is too high. Gucci, Nike, Facebook, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Chipotle, and others are already placing their bets. The real question is, who comes next?

As always, I’ll keep you updated.

I hope everyone has a great day, and we’ll talk tomorrow.

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Huddle Up is a daily letter that breaks down the business and money behind sports.

Join more than 49,000 professional athletes, business executives, and casual sports fans that receive it directly in their inbox each morning — it’s free.

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