Nike’s long-awaited collaboration with the WNBA’s reigning MVP paid off pretty much instantly.
Investing in women’s sports has been a priority for Nike lately, and basketball star A’ja Wilson’s new A’One sneaker sold out in under five minutes in Tuesday’s online release. It’s a project that Wilson said took over two years to come into fruition.
As all eyes are on Nike to make good on its promises for a comeback, it’s a win for the sports apparel giant. Its decision to use women’s sports to reach its goal is “a savvy one” as the WNBA enters the global stage with surging viewership, Rachel Wolff, analyst at BI sister company EMARKETER, said.
“The way Nike has approached the launch is also smart: By using limited releases — a rarity for its performance sneakers — the brand has been able to build buzz and increase the product’s desirability ahead of its official debut,” Wolff said.
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During the second-quarter fiscal year 2025 earnings call, CEO Elliott Hill shouted out Nike’s “gender offense” by tapping some of the WNBA’s biggest stars, including Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, and Caitlin Clark. So far, its investment is showing returns, with high single-digit growth in women’s training apparel for the same quarter.
However, the comeback is far from complete. Last quarter’s revenues were $11.3 billion, down 9% from the previous year on a reported basis.
Repairing relationships with its retail partners, like Foot Locker and Dick’s Sporting Goods, is another smart play by Nike after a “disastrous” direct-to-consumer strategy that started in 2018, Wolff said.
Checks conducted by BMO Capital Markets analysts found that the first online drop of the A’One in the Pink A’ura color way had a “very limited supply,” with key retailers selling out on Thursday. The OG Pearl iteration is set to release on May 15.
“While scale is obviously necessary to move any Nike needle (particularly as Nike reduces reliance on classics), we see these data points as encouraging,” analyst Simeon Siegel said in a Friday note on Nike’s latest sneaker launches.
It’s Wilson’s first signature shoe with Nike. She appeared in the company’s viral “So Win” Super Bowl commercial featuring only female athletes in February. A clip of her spinning a basketball on one nail was particularly popular.
“We designed the Nike A’One so that when girls lace up, they channel A’ja’s encouragement through her footwear, knowing they can be like her one day,” Ben Nethongkome, lead designer for the A’One footwear, said in a statement ahead of the launch.
