Nike appoints Bass chief to 12m UK sports role

Nike UK has taken on Bass’ head of sponsorship, Jonathan Nye, as head of sports marketing.

Nye will take up the new role late next month, reporting to marketing director Dermott Cleary.

The sports goods company has global sales of 3bn and a worldwide advertising and sponsorship budget of 130m. Its UK advertising budget is understood to be 18m this year and a further 12m will be spent on sponsorship.

Nye has a long track record in sports sponsorship and was a key figure in the negotiations that led to the Carling sponsorship of the football Premier League.

He will be responsible for all the endorsements that the company makes with individuals, teams, or sporting organisations in the UK.

Cleary says: “Jonathan has a breadth of experience in this area that we can draw on.”

Nike has long led the way in iconoclastic high-profile sponsorship of sports stars. This month the company announced a ten-year deal with the Brazilian national football team, which is understood to be worth 300m. The terms of the deal give the company the right to organise five games a year involving the current World Cup champions.

However, in the Barcelona Olympics and Euro ’96 football championship the company backed stars that conspicuously failed to impress.