When you think team you say basketball, you think Nike, we`re here launching in Rockefeller center, with me now, is the brand president of Nike Charlie Denson. A big deal going into the 2008 Summer Games, what it means for Nike to be in China and supporting a team you say basketball.
Well, for us, the, the Beijing Olympics` something we`ve been working on for, for years. (Yeah.) And, and I think this story this US basketball team story is gonna be one of the biggest stories in China, these guys are goona play as a team, and they are committed to going after that gold medal.
And of course, it takes on China in the first ground, so it`ll be interesting. What, some * about the structure of Nike and the Olympics, so I mean on a parallel, what you`ve done before, creating * wear peral across so many different sports this year, but what is this structure of your deal, how`s it different this year than the previous games.
Well, this year, it`s a little bit different, because we are sponsoring 20 out of the 28 Chinese federations, and we`ve actually created new products for all 28 sports, including BMX in Beijing, so, it`s a, it`s a little bit different than it has been in the past, and then we have some of our traditional relationships with, like US Basketball, US track and field, the Russian track and field federation and things like that. So, but, but we`ve * throw over 3000 athletes in preparation for the games, so, it`s a, it`s, it`s a great opportunity for us.
You know, you spoke of it a few months ago, you talked about how important China is, in terms of the amount of revenue * for Nike, what are your plans in terms of Nike`s gain in China post the Olympic Games.
Yeah, it`s something that we`ve committed to ever since the, that Beijing was awarded the Games. China, we`ve been in China for over 30 years, as, as a manufacturing partner, and commercial partner, and one of the things China represents our second largest country in the world today is our fastest going market, and we expect that continue after the Beijing and we`ll stay in committed and to our relationship with Chinese consumer.
A lot of people out there are calling this the next Dream Team, after the disappointment in 2004, what it means in terms of Nike revenue sponsorship, the tie up if they don`t win versus if they win? Does sell in all of the * depend on the gold medal this summer?
Well, wining always helps (Right.), and certainly this team is committed to that, to that from *, * ,you know, all the, all the way down to all the players I`ve never seen a group of, of talent, this type of talent, this committed to something is just an amazing so far, so, but, but I think it`s, it`s a, you know, when a loser is gonna be a great story, but I wouldn`t * against them.
What the biggest challenge is for Nike going into this massive sponsorship of the Summer Games in China? The biggest * you guys had over top?
Well, I, I think, er, we did really look at the hurdles, but * biggest opportunity was to introduce new product in 28 different sports. I think this represents our biggest series of innovations or innovations launches are in the history the company at any single event. And we`ve had our very large design team working for several years in anticipation of it. So you know, you`ll see the latest basketball shoe we make, the latest attract by ever made. The, the uniforms that all the athletes have been wearing will be considerablely lighter than what has ever been worn before. So for us, it`s what we do, it`s what we enjoy, we are really looking forward to.