Lance Armstrong dropped from Nike

m20xr

m20xr

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OCTOBER 17, 2012
NIKE STATEMENT ON LANCE ARMSTRONG

"Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him. Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner.

Nike plans to continue support of the Livestrong initiatives created to unite, inspire and empower people affected by cancer. "

http://nikeinc.com/news/nike-statement-on-lance-armstrong

I think we all knew this was coming, it was just a matter of time.
 
I like how Nike is trying to portray themselves as an honest, positive company when they are just as dirty.

...and everyone on the Tour dopes up, is Nike going to do the same when NFL, MLB, NBA (etc) athletes do steroids as well?
 
Nike did the right thing. Interesting to see how the Livestrong line will continue on after this.
 
Wonder if they remove the wristbands from all the cash registers at sports stores????
 
Armstrong is stepping down as the head of Livestrong. I think Nike saw the writing on the wall and have been quietly moving away from Lance being the face of the organization, hence Livestrong products that aren't yellow based.

At this point, I believe that Livestrong can live without Lance.
 
amazing everyone is so quick to label him because he is tired of the #$%$. 523 passed drug test and he is convicted by a group of convicted drug users who in trade for testimony got reduced sentences and will be on the track in 6 months. Something is wrong with this and it reminds me of something I read in the bible about persecuting the innocent. We are in the end days.
 
Nike can look past Kobe's rape case, and Tiger's addiction to Porn Stars but not Armstrong's doping case. Does this seem right?
 
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Swish said:
Nike can look past Kobe's rape case, and Tiger's addiction to Porn Stars but not Armstrong's doping case. Does this seem right?
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The difference is Kobe and Tiger's problems were so to speak "off the field". A better example is why hasn't Nike dropped ARod? He has admitted to using PED's but as far as I know, is still a Nike athlete......
 
Swish said:
Nike can look past Kobe's rape case, and Tiger's addiction to Porn Stars but not Armstrong's doping case. Does this seem right?
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Kobe and Tiger did not cheat in their sport. Lance cheated to win. When Vick broke the law, they dropped him too.
 
derkro said:
The difference is Kobe and Tiger's problems were so to speak "off the field". A better example is why hasn't Nike dropped ARod? He has admitted to using PED's but as far as I know, is still a Nike athlete......
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ARod is likely getting less than $1m a year to wear Nike. He is not a visible Nike athlete and definitely not an athlete that Nike built an ENTIRE brand around.

I hope Livestrong brand continues and at this point its bigger than Lance himself.
 
He's still on Nike's payroll, and yes I agree not nearly as visible or promoted as Lance or the Livestrong brand, but according to Nike's statement they don't condone any performance enhancing drug use. If thats the case, all other Nike athletes on payroll that have admitted to PED's should lose their contract too.

My point is, if you're going to set this precedent, do it across the board to all admitted cheaters you support.

"Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him. Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner."
 
I seem to remember reading some where that A-Rod is no longer under contract w/ Nike...
 
langfor5 said:
I seem to remember reading some where that A-Rod is no longer under contract w/ Nike...
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You're right, but they didn't cancel A-Rod's contract....they waited until it expired.

"The company didn't terminate Rodriguez when he admitted to cheating. Instead, as ESPN's Darren Rovell points out, they did what they almost always do in these situations: they waited for the endorsement deal to expire in 2010 and didn't renew it." From Yahoo sports
 
that must be why all of his crap is at the outlet...too bad nike didnt take a stand and burn that stuff rather than make a stand publicly and still make a buck in the background.
 
It's all politics because one could argue that Nike played a part in covering up Armstrong's drug use so they can continue to use him as a face of the sport to drive money into their pockets. With Lance nobody would have cared about cycling.
 
 
I think Nike took the appropriate measures by ending Lance Armstrong's contract as he did cheat and in my eyes he's not the same 7-time Tour de France winner.
 
Mez 0ne said:
I like how Nike is trying to portray themselves as an honest, positive company when they are just as dirty.

...and everyone on the Tour dopes up, is Nike going to do the same when NFL, MLB, NBA (etc) athletes do steroids as well?
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Nike isn't claiming to be a bunch of holy rollers. Don't get it twisted, this is about money.. period.

Nike sponsoring hugely visible athlete involved in cheating scandal = Nike hurting their brand. If you're calling the shots and you decide that associating yourself with a scandal isn't worth the business risk, you drop that athlete like a bad habit. Nothing personal, strictly business.
 
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b2dajizzle said:
It's all politics because one could argue that Nike played a part in covering up Armstrong's drug use so they can continue to use him as a face of the sport to drive money into their pockets. With Lance nobody would have cared about cycling.

 
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Well "one" did argue that - that "one" being somebody extremely close to one of the most prominent cyclists in the world. It was specifically alleged that Nike put up $500K to suppress a failed test. ...Wouldn't be unprecedented, they essentially bribed Bo Jackson to play football back in the day.

So, yes, Nike is dirty too. I don't know how anybody would believe otherwise.

That said, what else are they supposed to do? Keep him on and embrace the bad PR? Confess their own sins - that would also further implicate Armstrong, hurting him worse than the already did?...

Nike is a company, their MO is to make money for shareholders. A company isn't a person - despite corporate personhood. It's a problem socially for sure, but a corporation isn't supposed/can't have a conscience for matters like this, it must just move on and continue achieving its goals - revenue generation - as best it can. Covering up the test was a means to that end. And, now dropping Lance is a means to that same end. Loyalty doesn't exist in plutocracy. By the rules under which it plays, Nike acted rationally, if immorally, both times.

Don't blame the symptom, fight the disease.
 
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secretzofwar said:
Swish said:
Nike can look past Kobe's rape case, and Tiger's addiction to Porn Stars but not Armstrong's doping case. Does this seem right?
Click to expand...

Tiger and Kobe are way more important to Nike than Lance.
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Well, yeah. Lance was the driving force behind Livestrong and though I'm sure Nike's donated a lot of money to the foundation and cancer research, Nike saw this branding/collaboration as a way to further profit. I'm not being completely cynical and saying it was the sole reason but it definitely was big.

Livestrong will likely be affected by all of this but I think it can still survive without Lance.

I was always mixed on the Livestrong bands as a trend because it took away from the real meaning behind it as a show of support for cancer patients/survivors/victims but at least it generated money for the cause. Just like those I
 
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