News — nike
Black Development: Florida A&M Scores Six-Year Deal With Basketball Star Lebron James And Nike
Florida A&M University (FAMU) and Nike, Inc. forged an exciting partnership. According to News Onyx, the mega sports apparel organization will be the official athletic outfitter and equipment provider for the HBCU.
On Thursday, FAMU Athletics announced the deal on Twitter, saying, “@KortneG welcomes @Nike and @KingJames to the #FAMUly.”
The six-year deal will include “official athletic footwear, apparel and equipment.” The agreement goes into effect on July 1, the publication reported. There’s also an option for a two-year extension. Neither FAMU nor Nike has divulged the details of the payout.
According to News, FAMU’s Vice President and Director of Athletics Kortne Gosha spoke about the partnership between the No.1 public HBCU and Nike.
“FAMU is an elite institution with a rich tradition of first, and our student-athletes deserve a student-athlete experience that is second to none,” he said. “As we transition into a new athletic conference and the opportunity to engage apparel partners, the 23-year relationship with Nike and their commitment to culture, diversity, inclusion and innovation has never been clearer.”
“My executive team and I are focused on setting a new standard, and our top priority is to align with the best quality and most innovative products, brands and resources that position our student-athletes and coaches to compete for championships,” Gosha expressed.
The game-changing partnership serves as an example for other HBCUs to form lucrative alliances with major corporations.
“This partnership allowed us to reimagine, challenge the norms of our industry and be the model for leveling the playing field with the most significant investment in the American Jewels known as Historically Black Colleges and Universities by any footwear and apparel company,” he concluded.
FAMU has its share of notable alumni in the sports world, including tennis legend Althea Gibson, Olympic gold medalist “Bullet” Bob Hayes, and football greats Ken Riley and Jake Gaither,the news outlet reported.
The prestigious university, which has 14 sports programs and a notable marching band– The Marching 100, will wear Nike apparel– on and off the field.
The HBCU’s sports teams will also wear LeBron James uniforms, including sneakers and apparel with a custom-made design for FAMU.
According to News Onyx, Nike’s Vice President of League Partnerships for North America, Sonja Henning, is excited about the upcoming partnership with the HBCU.
“Florida A&M has a rich tradition of excellence on the court and field, which not only includes athletic success but equally important is academics, preparation for future careers and community engagement,” she said.
“Through our continued relationship with Florida A&M Athletics, we’ll have the opportunity to partner with some of the country’s preeminent student-athletes and the next generation of leaders.”
Nike will also offer FAMU’s sports programs student-athlete development, internship and networking opportunities.
Feature News: Bejay Mulenga has helped big brands like Facebook, Nike connect with young creative talent
At the age of 12, Bejay Mulenga began showing signs of a person who can be entrusted with business and event management. His talent for event management was on display when he organized a talent show that unearthed raw talents when he was in secondary school.The serial entrepreneur is now being celebrated for establishing businesses across multiple sectors such as recruitment, marketing and media production via his venture Supa Network.
On its Twitter account, Supa Network says it “connects businesses with super-talented humans through reach campaigns, recruitment programmes and retention strategies. Supa Network is the conduit between brands and young creative talent. Our little black book is not so little and very colourful.”
Mulenga prides himself on working for global brands such as Apple and Facebook to offer services on how they can successfully connect, recruit and understand the next generation. He also offered services to The Office Group and the UK government’s Cabinet Office, leading to the training of 3,000 people in digital skills in partnership with Facebook.
At the age of 19, Mulenga was invited to the Conservative Party conference to discuss business enterprise for young people. Afterward, he received an invitation to Downing Street to meet Lord Young, Enterprise Advisor to former Prime Minister David Cameron. “As a young black boy from London, I never envisioned being invited to Downing Street,” he told Forbes.
In 2015, he created a pop-market in Truman Brewery in Shoreditch, East London, where young entrepreneurs met and sold a variety of products. By 2016, the pop-market had recorded over 200,000 customers.
His entrepreneurial skills were acknowledged by the Queen of England. At the age of 21, he was the youngest recipient of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise. Gingered on by the Queen’s recognition, he identified a gap in the influencer industry when it was gathering pace in the year 2016. Mulenga realized that many influencers were not getting “fair payment terms”. Thus, he created Filli Studios and has since worked with some of the best influencers in the UK.
Mulenga now has businesses spanning creative content production, event production, Gen-Z marketing, influencer marketing and recruitment for large companies. Supa Network brings all of these businesses under one roof.