Athletic Shoe Giant Nike Looks Poised to Tackle Metaverse and NFTs: Report

Nike, the American multinational footwear and sports apparel giant, is getting ready to step into the metaverse and the world of non-fungible token (NFT) technology. Reports show Nike has a few employees “thinking about the metaverse” and a 2019 patent for “cryptokicks” indicates Nike has been preparing to use NFTs for quite some time.

Nike’s Well-Known Trademarks and ‘Downloadable Virtual Goods’

Several reports indicate that Nike (NYSE:NKE) is getting ready to step into the non-fungible technology realm and the footwear corporation may have been preparing to do so for a while now. The senior correspondent at Business Insider’s (BI) retail desk, Matthew Kish, explains in a recent analysis that “Nike is going all in on its metaverse play.” The report discusses Nike’s recent U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filing published this week.

A number of well-known trademarks Nike owns were also included such as the “Just Do It” tagline, its SNKRS logo, the Air Jordan “Jumpman,” and the Nike swoosh. All of which can be leveraged as “downloadable virtual goods, namely, computer programs featuring footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewear, bags, sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys, and accessories for use online and in online virtual worlds.”

Nike Employees Prep for the ‘Metaverse’

Kish details that on the careers web portal Linkedin, one Nike employee explains in his job description that it includes “thinking about the metaverse.” According to the senior BI correspondent, “several Nike employees also now have ‘metaverse’ in their job descriptions.” Moreover, Nike has two job listings published last month indicating the firm is looking for virtual footwear and virtual material designers.

A report stemming from CNBC details that the firm is also waiting for confirmation on a patent called “Cryptokicks.” Despite all the speculation about what Nike is doing, the multinational footwear and sports apparel giant has not yet specified any official NFT plans. The world’s largest supplier of athletic shoes was ranked 89th in the Fortune 500 list in 2018 and last year amid the pandemic, Nike raked in $37.40 billion in revenue.