Roger Federer continues to be amongst the most popular sportspersons on the planet even after his retirement last year. In the United States, he remains in the minds and hearts of not just tennis lovers but apparently also those who believe in fashion as well as in an active lifestyle. The Federer-backed On seems to be ruling the roost when it comes to Google Searches in the States on the occasion of Black Friday 2023.
This is a remarkable feat despite the fact that On Running is a Swiss brand and relatively new in the sports and athletic goods industry. On has tremendous competition in the United States from the likes of Nike, New Era, Under Armour, Skechers and New Balance which are homegrown brands and Adidas and Puma, which are overseas brands as well. And yet, the Roger Federer magic seems to be working ‘on’ On’s fortunes and their customers.
The shoe series which has gained a lot of curiosity amongst American men especially is the On Cloud 5 series. There are 7 different pairs of shoes on their official website, ranging from the prices of $139.99 to $169.99. These pairs are also available at further discounts upto 25% at Dicks Sporting Goods outlets and their website too.
The interesting part of the pricing of On even during Black Friday 2023 is that the special edition Roger Federer shoes, under the name of ‘The Roger’, also has a similar pricing range like Cloud 5. According to the On website, that range is from $139.99 to $199.99. Roger Federer has divided his customised shoe models into three categories – Travel, All-day use (which includes running) and Tennis.
Although the Roger Federer shoes and the On Cloud 5 shoes are much more expensive than many in their competitive arc, they are still very much in demand on Black Friday 2023. In fact, Nike, which has pinned their tennis retail hopes on Rafael Nadal when it comes to the men, has priced the Nike Court Zoom Vapor Cage 4 Rafa model of shoes, which is worth $150 otherwise, for just $93.
So it shows possibly that the United States isn’t necessarily a price-sensitive market when it comes to tennis or athleisure wear or fashion/travel sneaker purchases. On has done well to create a different brand identity for itself and that has been upped ever since Roger Federer agreed to a 3% stake in the company, with frequent visits to New York City for instance. This is proving to be a business masterstroke from Roger Federer, as he did not renew his contract with Nike in 2019.
While Roger Federer would have earned an estimated $15 million (excluding bonuses, shares and royalty from his shoes etc.) per year from Nike as per multiple media reports, his investment with On has already made him earn above $300 million in a span of just 4 years. On’s success especially in the United States does not totally come as a surprise since a large chunk of their $1.9 billion in global sales in 2023 came from the proud sporting nation alone.
Why Nike chose Roger Federer since the beginning and left him in 2019?
The Roger Federer-Nike rivalry is set to remain for years to come as On is targeting $3.8 billion in annual global sales by 2026. Federer will be synonymous to On, as Michael Jordan is to Nike and Lionel Messi is to Adidas as all the three have arguably transcended their respective sports.
Black Friday 2023 is a big win for Roger Federer since Nike has an impressive list of American athletes with them still on their roster such as Jordan, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, LeBron James and Kevin Durant amongst many others. Nike has a bigger variety of these athlete-customised shoes and was the pioneer for the same thanks to their Air Jordan series with Michael Jordan.
Ironically, Nike chose to be with Roger Federer since the start of his career due to his charm and tennis form spreading quickly in the early 2000s in Europe and more specifically, Switzerland where they did not have a big market at the time. Nike cashed on ‘Brand Roger Federer’ following his Wimbledon 2003 win and his subsequent earnings, popularity, publicity and dominance in the game.
However, in 2018, Roger Federer split with Nike as they could not match upcoming Japanese brand, Uniqlo’s offer for sponsoring his apparel. But a strange part of the exit deal was that Nike could retain the iconic ‘RF’ logo that they created for Roger Federer’s shoes, for a year, which they did. As a result, Federer still wore Nike shoes famously up to the Wimbledon 2019 final and after that, their deal was officially dissolved.
