New Balance bets its basketball future on Cooper Flagg
Executives are trying to grow closely held New Balance into a top-three athletic-wear brand globally after much larger incumbents Nike and Adidas AG. To accomplish that, the company must leapfrog German rival Puma SE. New Balance's revenue hit $7.8 billion in 2024, short of Puma's $9.5 billion.
New Balance needs a strong basketball business to achieve that goal and plans to invest more in the sport, said Naveen Lokesh, the brand's director of global basketball and football sports marketing.
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'He'll be the only player that we have in this year's draft,' said Lokesh. 'That was on purpose. We didn't find anybody that aligned as much as Cooper.'
The Dallas Mavericks have the top pick and need help after a disastrous season in which the franchise traded away star player Luka Doncic and also sustained multiple injuries.
Flagg will enter the league after an electric freshman season. He won multiple player-of-the-year awards and led Duke to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. He has a much higher profile than recent top picks, who either played overseas or didn't have the same on-court success. (New Balance declined to make Flagg available for an interview for this story.)
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NBA superstar LeBron James recently praised Flagg on his podcast, touting his athleticism and versatility. 'I think he's going to be amazing,' said James.
New Balance emerged as an unlikely winner in the courtship of Flagg. Nike, Adidas and at least one Chinese sportswear brand pitched Flagg and his family, according to a person familiar with the matter. Nike and Adidas didn't respond to requests for comment. Financial terms of his deal haven't been disclosed.
The company's executives began considering Flagg in late 2023, after the top high school star in the country announced on the cover of Slam magazine that he would play for Duke. Flagg, who's from a small town in Maine close to a New Balance factory, was immediately appealing to the Boston-based brand.
Flagg joined a roster led by two-time NBA champion Kawhi Leonard, who has a line of signature basketball shoes. Other endorsers include Jamal Murray, Darius Garland and Tyrese Maxey. The brand may one day develop a signature shoe for Flagg as well, said Lokesh.
It's been a complicated road for Flagg's New Balance deal so far. Flagg wore Nike sneakers throughout his college career because the brand has an agreement with Duke, and only started wearing New Balance on the court at the NBA Draft Combine in May.
Executives aren't discouraged by those complications. As part of the brand's basketball push, they plan to bring on more top young college basketball stars through name, image and likeness deals and try to identify future top picks.
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'Cooper had his picking of all the major brands,' said Lokesh. 'We want to be known as the definitive choice for landing and having the best youth athletes in the world.'
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