Everyone knows that Patriots star player Rob Gronkowski has made a name for himself in the NFL. While Gronkowski seems to be on the mend for the upcoming season, he seems to be having trouble with a certain company. Gronkowski is sponsored by Nike and wears their apparel in every game. The picture above shows the Nike symbol on his game day jersey. Nike holds NFL rights to sponsor the uniforms.
Rob Gronkowski has earned his Nike partnership
While many players, such as Odell Beckham Jr., have Nike partnerships, no other team seems to be in the spotlight right now like the Patriots.
Whether it's for a scandal or for a win, this team is definitely trending in the media. They have even been projected to be a huge contender for the next Super Bowl. This prediction is many thanks to the talent of players like Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, and Rob Gronkowski.
These guys are all about the game, but let's be real here it's also their job. They are going to do what they can to make more money and get their team and themselves more time in the spotlight. As of late, that spotlight is becoming more and more related to marketing endorsements.
While they all have huge team contracts, sports marketing is a constantly growing market that's profitable for the company and the player. Let's take Air Jordan shoes by Nike for example.
Sure they are cool, but they became a hit because everyone wanted to be "like Mike." Michael Jordan created and wore these in the NBA, and suddenly every kid in America needed these shoes to play basketball. Remember the famous symbol on the side of the shoe that depicted Jordan's image flying through the air? That's where the Gronkowski controversy arose.
Nike finds issues with Gronkowski's new emblem
Nike has been a groundbreaker in sports marketing through the years. While there has been news coming our about layoffs in the company, Nike remains the top company athletes want to partner with. While creating a new symbol though Nike for Gronk Nation L.L.C., Gronkowski's company, Nike had issues with the tight end's new image.
The image depicts Gronkowski's silhouette throwing down a football. Nike argues that the emblem features too many similarities to the Air Jordan image by Michael Jordan.
Is an image of a basketball player and a football player all that similar in black and white? It looks like that will be for the courts to decide. Gronkowski will be appealing Nike's decision. While no one wants to see him lose his Nike sponsorship over this, the issue looks like it may be headed towards court if nothing is resolved by August.
