Nike is making a bold change after its long-running bid to overhaul its business made little progress.

The sports apparel and footwear giant said late Thursday that former company senior executive Elliott Hill is coming out of retirement to take the role of president and CEO, replacing the embattled John Donahoe.

Hill will take over day-to-day company leadership effective Oct. 14, while Donahoe will move into retirement. Formerly the company’s president of consumer and marketplace, Hill led all commercial and marketing operations for Nike and Jordan Brand.

Nike’s announcement said, “The Board and John Donahoe have decided he will retire from his role.” In the release, Donahoe admitted, “It became clear now was the time to make a leadership change.”

Hill had been retired since 2020. But some type of large-scale shift such as this had been almost inevitable for Nike, once a truly dominant brand capable of singularly shaping pop culture. Already in the midst of a $2 billion cost-cutting campaign, Nike has done multiple large-scale layoffs and seen a 24% drop in its stock while the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to record highs. The company was embarrassed by its central role in the MLB uniform debacle and challenged in unprecedented ways by upstart brands such as On and Hoka.

“Given our needs for the future, the past performance of the business, and after conducting a thoughtful succession process, the board concluded it was clear Elliott’s global expertise, leadership style, and deep understanding of our industry and partners, paired with his passion for sport, our brands, products, consumers, athletes, and employees, make him the right person to lead Nike’s next stage of growth,” said Mark Parker, Nike executive chairman.

Market Reaction

Investors applauded the news, sending Nike shares up by more than 9% in immediate after-hours trading Thursday. Donahoe had been in the post for nearly five years, and he will now transition to an advisory role through January 2025.

Donahoe, a former eBay executive, had particularly struggled of late with Nike’s direct-to-consumer business, a central part of his strategy. That component of the business briefly thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic, but more recently stagnated in the face of not only growing competition, but rising consumer pushback about pricing and product features.

The shift also arrives as the market is eagerly—and nervously—anticipating Nike’s next set of quarterly earnings, scheduled for release Oct. 1. Nike’s last report, a meager one back in July, prompted a company-record 20% plunge in Nike’s stock in one day. In that prior report, Nike also warned the company’s situation would likely get worse before it got better, projecting a fiscal-year sales decline of roughly 4–6% instead of a prior expectation of a gain.

Notably, Hill’s comment in the company announcement regarding his appointment referenced his plan to “deliver bold, innovative products”—something that had been noticeably lacking from Nike over recent years in the minds of many consumers and analysts.

The Bears opened the 2024 season with a dramatic, come-from-behind victory, and there’s new optimism surrounding the team on the field. But when it comes to the ongoing push to develop a lakefront stadium, the NFL franchise is still largely stuck.

Bears president Kevin Warren met again last week with Anne Caprara, the chief of staff for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, in an effort to jump-start the team’s bid for public funding toward roughly half the cost of a $4.7 billion domed facility—something previously described by the state leader as “near impossible” in the upcoming legislative term. Following that meeting, Pritzker offered yet another sobering assessment, saying “nothing has changed” with regard to the low appetite for public funding in the state for pro sports stadiums. 

“We want Illinois businesses to do well,” Pritzker said. “This is a privately owned business. If I can find some way to assist, great. But right now, there is no building any new stadiums.” 

The same situation applies to MLB’s White Sox, which are also trying to develop a new ballpark, in part with taxpayer funds, and are nearing a modern-era MLB record for losses in a season. 

Warren has repeatedly made the case that Chicago, the No. 3 U.S. media market, is losing out on hosting major events such as the Super Bowl, Final Four, and College Football Playoff with a modern, domed facility. The Bears’ ongoing stadium saga remains one of the NFL’s most pressing, and closely watched, facility sagas. 

Renewed Community Opposition

The Bears’ effort, meanwhile, is also facing a fresh round of pushback from a newly formed coalition of preservation and community organizations. Friends of the Parks, a group focused on protecting the Chicago lakefront, was an early opponent of the team’s development plans. Now that body is working collaboratively with several other groups and community leaders to fight against the proposed Bears stadium. 

“As great as it would be to have a domed stadium, Chicago should not put a ‘sold’ sign on our lakefront,” said Gin Kilgore, interim executive director of Friends of the Parks.

On Thursday, the WNBA wrapped up a regular season that will be considered a bellwether for the league moving forward.

The WNBA had seen steady viewership growth over the past half-decade, but financial concerns still threatened its long-term survival.

But in mid-April, the league welcomed the 2024 draft class. The hope was that, following an NCAA women’s championship that was watched by more people than the men’s title game, the likes of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Cameron Brink could help carry over that fandom to the pro level.

And they did.

Spillover

It started at the draft, which was the league’s most watched in history with 2.45 million viewers, nearly four times the average viewership of the 2023 WNBA Finals.

Clark’s Indiana Fever debut on ESPN averaged more than two million viewers, besting any WNBA game in decades. The Fever played Reese and the Chicago Sky four times this season, and ESPN, CBS, and Scripps Sports’ Ion each had its most-watched regular-season game of the year from one of those matchups.

ESPN announced last week that it averaged a record 1.2 million viewers for WNBA regular-season games across its platforms, up 170% versus last year. Perhaps more surprising is that ESPN’s pregame show WNBA Countdown, which averaged 508,000 viewers in 2024, up 113% from last year, drew more than the average viewership for WNBA games from last year, which was 453,900 across ESPN networks.

Ion, which started broadcasting WNBA games last season, announced Thursday a viewership increase of 133% versus 2023. It also reported the largest percentage of female viewers of any network airing WNBA games, with 50% of its audience ages 18–49.

The league’s ratings came at an opportune time as, together with the NBA, it secured a record $2.2 billion media-rights deal with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon that takes effect in 2026. The total figure could end up as high as $3 billion as the NBA secures deals with more partners, including Scripps Sports.

It’s Not Only on TV

The league has yet to release its overall attendance records, but based on data from WNBA statistics site Across The Timeline, the entire league was up 47% in attendance before Thursday night’s final six games.

Every single team is up double-digit percentages, led by the Fever, who finished the year averaging over 17,000 fans per game, nearly 320% more than last year. The top-seeded New York Liberty followed with 12,730 fans per game, up 63.7%. In June, the Las Vegas Aces became the first team in history to sell out every single home game—though they placed just third in overall league attendance due to the 12,000-seat capacity at Michelob Ultra Arena.

Due to demand, the Aces, Atlanta Dream, and Washington Mystics moved home games against the Fever to arenas with a larger capacity—and sold out those contests. The Connecticut Sun also sold out their first game in Boston against the L.A. Sparks.

Front Office Sports keeps you updated on the latest NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals shaping college sports. Here’s who is cashing in now:

• Athlete: Jeremiah Smith 
• Sport: Football
• School: Ohio State
• Brand: Red Bull

The deal: Smith, a true freshman who already has 211 receiving yards and three touchdowns after two games with the Buckeyes, is becoming the energy drink company’s first college football endorser. “Off week, got my wiiings,” he posted in a video on his social media channels announcing the partnership, which a source tells Front Office Sports is for multiple years.

The 18-year-old receiver joins Red Bull’s NIL roster, which includes women’s basketball players MiLaysia Fulwiley (South Carolina) and Mikaylah Williams (LSU); volleyball players Bergen Reilly (Nebraska), Madisen Skinner (Texas), and Olivia Babcock (Pitt); and Boston College hockey player Will Smith.