Nike’s rough Monday did not suddenly put Oregon’s NIL machine on life support.
That’s the quick read after Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi reported a steep drop in Nike’s stock as the market opened the week of August 17. The apparel giant fell more than 4% to below $40, hitting its lowest level since September 2024, and Sozzi noted that the stock has slid about 78% from its all-time high in 2021.
For a moment, that kind of headline can make it sound like one of Ohio State’s biggest Big Ten rivals might be feeling the squeeze. Nike supplies Oregon’s uniforms, and company founder Phil Knight is the Ducks’ biggest NIL donor. But the stock slump doesn’t really hit the part of the operation that matters most for Oregon’s player compensation.
Knight’s NIL support comes through a family trust, not from Nike itself. In other words, the checks that go to Oregon players are not being written out of the company’s public stock performance. The market took a huge hit - $28 billion in value disappeared for shareholders on Monday - but the billionaire’s family wealth is largely insulated from that swing.
And Nike itself is still very much in the business of paying athletes. That includes sponsored players such as Ohio State receiver Chris Henry Jr., running back Bo Jackson, and cornerback Jermaine Matthews Jr. The company may be dealing with a tough stretch, but it is not going away, and its athlete payroll remains part of the picture.
As for Oregon, the bigger story is that the Ducks are still sitting in a strong position under Dan Lanning. Since he was hired, Oregon has not lost to a team that didn’t make the national championship game since his first year. The program’s defeats listed here include Washington twice in 2023, Ohio State in the 2024/2025 CFP, and Indiana in the regular season and CFP in 2025/2026.
That backdrop is why the financial turbulence around Nike does not look like the kind of thing that knocks Oregon off course. The program is still knocking on the door of its first national championship, and after watching Indiana break through last season, Lanning has a roster this year that is described as even more talented and experienced.
The money, in short, is still there. Eugene remains a major recruiting destination, and if the rest of Knight’s family shares his same passion for the program, Oregon’s spending power could keep rolling long after he is gone. For Ohio State, that means one less huge spender in the Big Ten would have been nice - but Nike’s stock crash is not the event that brings the Ducks down.
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