Elliot Hill Talks Return to Nike, Plans to Revive the Struggling Brand

Ajouté : 2026-05-11

[00:00:01]From podiums to playgrounds, Nike is one of the most recognized brands on the planet.

[00:00:09]>> Just like you at the US Open.

[00:00:12]>> Very good, Serena Williams.

[00:00:13]>> An athletic empire worth more than $60 billion.

[00:00:17]Its signature swoosh a universal symbol of sport style and ambition. It's critically important that when we come to the office every day, we come with an athlete mindset and we're here to serve them.

[00:00:31]>> Elliot Hill spent 32 years at Nike before retiring in 2020. Since then, the story brand began to lose ground to competitors, rivals like Adidas finding favor in fashion circles, upstarts like PA >> and On Running innovating on the athletic scene.

[00:00:50]>> Great. How are you?

[00:00:51]>> Good to see you. Hill was brought back as CEO in October 2024 to help write the ship at Nike.

[00:00:58]>> See some of the magic and shareholders are watching closely as Nike stock has dropped in recent months. In a show of support, Hill personally bought more than a million dollars of stock. What's happening at Nike?

[00:01:11]>> I think it's a reflection on where we are in this moment in time. We are in a cleanup mode and we're a reset mode.

[00:01:17]We're setting this business up for the next 40 years. How could a company like Nike, I mean, one of America's greatest brands, how could it seem to have lost its way?

[00:01:26]>> You know, I think there was a couple strategic shifts that happened that uh co didn't help. Where we make mistakes is when we forget that who we're serving. We're serving consumers. We're serving athletes.

[00:01:36]>> How has the business changed?

[00:01:39]>> The consumers certainly more connected today digitally. Trends seem to be moving a little faster to me than they did in the past. But the core of what we do does not change. This is called the Walk of Fame.

[00:01:52]>> Hill has reorganized Nike into groups focusing on specific sports like baseball and soccer. There's also a renewed focus on innovation with its state-of-the-art sports research lab.

[00:02:06]>> New innovation called the Aerofit.

[00:02:09]>> It's clear that they're betting big on this summer's World Cup co-hosted here in the US. How many teams do you guys sponsor? We have 12 teams.

[00:02:18]>> The changes have brought some difficult tradeoffs, including layoffs and a shift in pricing.

[00:02:24]>> How do you square the fewer sales with the affordability crisis that a lot of Americans are facing right now?

[00:02:30]>> In terms of affordability, it's something we watch all the time and uh we we've been really cautious and thoughtful about when and how we take uh price increases uh for our consumer. You said recently that tariffs are going to cost Nike about one and a half billion dollars this fiscal year. Where where does that money come from?

[00:02:49]>> Well, you know, it went straight to the government and we're uh now in the process of following the guidelines that the the government shared and we're waiting to uh see what happens in terms of return.

[00:03:01]>> But the the the billion and a half was that did it have >> straight off the bottom line. And you know, we tried to cover some of that with price increases and some other things that we did with our partners on the wholesale side of the business and then also from manufacturing, but it's tough to to cover that all at at one time.

[00:03:17]>> So, some of it did have to get passed down to the consumer.

[00:03:20]>> Small, but we were thoughtful about it.

[00:03:22]Um, if you look at it back to school, we didn't take any price increases because we wanted to make certain that uh we were thoughtful about the timing of those increases. here at Nike. Hill is part chief executive, part pitchman.

[00:03:37]>> Everybody good?

[00:03:39]>> So, are they and part cheerleader for the workforce of 78,000 employees. I read that when you started, you actually gave out your personal email address.

[00:03:49]>> Yeah.

[00:03:49]>> To all the employees.

[00:03:51]>> It was crazy how many emails I received in text messages. It was uh humbling and uh I responded to every single one of them. You're getting choked up talking about this place.

[00:04:03]>> Well, it's uh you know, it's it's not a job.

[00:04:08]It's personal.

[00:04:09]>> Yeah, I get that sense from you.

[00:04:11]>> Yeah.

[00:04:11]>> Is that why you came out of retirement to turn it around?

[00:04:13]>> It's a place I care deeply about.

[00:04:15]>> What sparks inspiration for you?

[00:04:17]>> Human performance athletes that somehow find a way to find another gear when it's needed inspires me like no other.

[00:04:28]to watch an athlete who already is great to find another level. That's what inspires me. Human potential.

[00:04:36]>> I mean, listen, you know, he's um he he's been there for more than three decades now. Clearly loves the place, but he will be the first to tell you that it's it's not going to not going to happen overnight. It's like turning around an aircraft carrier. So, um but he's he's it's it's interesting when you talk to him because he's one of these guys. He's been around the business so long. He's he's like a historian. He's like a sports historian. Um, but the increased competition is it's something that they really having to having having to deal with.

[00:05:03]>> Good conversation. Was it cool to be on the Nike campus?

[00:05:06]>> What's it like?

[00:05:07]>> Oh, it's it's next level. I was I was telling you guys all of the buildings are named after different athletes.

[00:05:14]You've got the Jordan building. You've got the LeBron building. You've got the Serena Williams uh building. You got the Tiger building as well. And the people who work there, they they they drink the Kool-Aid. They're all wearing Nikes. Uh, we're going to have more.

[00:05:25]>> No high heels there.

[00:05:26]>> No. No. Unless they have Nike high heels. Um, more in the third hour, including a rare tour inside Nike's sport research lab, and you can actually watch the full sitdown interview with an NBC News subscription. So, you can scan that QR code right there to download the app and subscribe.

[00:05:44]>> Hey, thanks for watching and don't forget you can catch the Today Show every morning on NBC or take today when you're on the go. Just follow the Today Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen.