Although times have changed, there are still many discussions about Yao Ming's "rejecting Nike1.20 million USD sneaker contract and signing Reebok for 50 million USD". Since many statements are neither logical nor reasonable, I will answer them here. I won't mention the versions that everyone has heard here, but focus on the points that everyone has ignored.

1, Yao Ming showed great enthusiasm and commercial value in the year of landing in NBA 1. Think about Buckley's "Bite the Donkey", and the documentary "Yao Next Year" came out the next year. We don't doubt that Nike will underestimate the market value of Yao Ming. The rumor that "Nike thinks that the data of Yao Ming's first year 13.5 is not as good as expected, so it offers a low-priced endorsement contract" is not reliable. What is the real reason? It's the shoes endorsed by NBA center sneakers. In fact, the sales volume is very average. Typical is the shoes endorsed by O 'Neill, which are too heavy for fans to wear! Yao Ming endorsement shoes also have this problem.

Second, the cooperation between sports companies and stars is actually "business talk" and only an evaluation of business value. There is no question of "humiliation or not"! As far as the players' team is concerned, of course, it is the company that seeks to give the largest contract amount to sign the contract, so Reebok's 50 million is already the largest contract.

Thirdly, when Yao Ming and Reebok reached the cooperation intention, it was certainly impossible for Nike to take it back. You know, the NBA sports market is very mature, and it is no joke for sports stars to break their contracts. So there is no such logic as "it's not about money", but about money! Reebok's contract met Yao Ming's expectations, and then it was signed. Later, Nike became interested again, too late, but there was no such thing as "Yao Ming refused to choose 50 million out of 654.38 billion+20 million".

Fourth, did Nike lose out by not signing Yao Ming's sneakers? Let's think about it calmly. Isn't Nike the best-selling basketball shoe in 2020? In fact, at that time, Nike's share in the China sneaker market itself was quite high, and its main product was the sneaker of a guard like Kobe Bryant.

Speaking of these points, the conclusion is one: business cooperation is actually very simple, that is, value evaluation and negotiation, and cooperation can be achieved after negotiation. Sports brands have almost no possibility of falling off the cliff because they have not signed the superstar of 1. The role of celebrity sneakers endorsement is actually just icing on the cake, not the core of life.