Nike centralizes invention to win

The take: Nike centralized its entire innovation operation into one team on Wednesday. The company aims to reverse six consecutive quarters of revenue decline through this organizational change.

What happened: On 23 October 2025, Nike announced "NIKE, Inc. Sport Offense," merging nearly 1,000 designers from Nike, Jordan Brand, and Converse R&D into a unified team. The company simultaneously unveiled Project Amplify (motorized running shoes), neuroscience-based footwear launching January 2026, an inflatable Olympic jacket for the 2026 Winter Olympics, and FIFA World Cup cooling apparel made entirely from textile waste.

Why it matters: CEO Elliott Hill returned from retirement in September 2024 after Nike lost market share to On and Hoka while revenue fell for six straight quarters. Combining three separate labs reduces duplication and establishes clear ownership—when powered shoes launch "in the coming years," one team is accountable for the results.

What to watch: January 2026 launch of the Mind 001 mules (£90) and Mind 002 sneakers (£145) to test whether neuroscience footwear sells beyond initial interest, Project Amplify's pricing and consumer availability timeline (still unannounced), and whether Nike's 40 facilities running the new structure show faster development than competitors by Q4 2026.

[Report] Nike's official Sport Offense announcement details restructuring and four product launches. Published 23 Oct 2025

Nike merged nearly 1,000 designers from Nike, Jordan Brand, and Converse into a single team called NIKE, Inc. Sport Offense. Phil McCartney, Chief Innovation, Design and Product Officer, said the unified structure aims to "accelerate progress and fully leverage our strengths to deliver epic products that make athletes better."

The announcement included four products: Project Amplify (powered footwear with a motor and rechargeable battery), Nike Mind neuroscience footwear (launching January 2026 at $90 and $145), Aero-FIT cooling apparel for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and Therma-FIT Air Milano inflatable jacket for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

More than 400 athletes tested Amplify across 2.4 million steps. The system targets everyday runners who run 12-minute miles, promising to reduce their pace to 10 minutes. The unified structure eliminates separate innovation teams, establishing clear accountability under McCartney's leadership.

If you're wondering whether strapping a Dephy-built motor to your ankle counts as running, Nike's already decided the answer is yes, and they're daring you to argue.

Nike's restructuring addresses performance challenges through organizational change.

Within hours of Wednesday's announcement, Hill explained: combining three R&D teams into one "Sport Offense" unit aims to increase speed and accountability.

When losing market share to competitors, fragmented product lines create inefficiencies.

Nike's old structure allowed Jordan Brand and Converse to innovate separately, leading to slower decision-making, duplicated efforts, and unclear accountability when product pipelines underperformed.

Hill centralizes operations, accelerates timelines, and ties launches to one team's results.

Designers gain more resources and clearer mandates. They also lose autonomy and have direct accountability if products underperform.

Nike launched powered shoes as it announced the restructuring.

The organizational change addresses the revenue decline. Amplify demonstrates product innovation under the new structure.

Merging a thousand designers represents significant organizational risk and commitment to the new approach.

Pro: Centralizing R&D eliminates redundancy, speeds decision-making, and ensures every product launch benefits from shared learning across Nike, Jordan, and Converse. This addresses competition from On and Hoka.

Con: Merging creative teams risks groupthink, slows experimentation, and concentrates risk. If the unified "Sport Offense" picks unsuccessful products (like motorized shoes consumers don't want), there's no independent brand left with alternative approaches.

Our read: Hill is betting that coordinated innovation produces better results than three separate labs. This works if speed matters more than multiple approaches, and if products like Amplify and the neuroscience footwear actually sell to consumers.

Nike's Project Amplify technical specs and testing data

Nike tested 9 hardware versions with 400 athletes. The company describes the product as "early in testing" with a launch "in the coming years."

Hill announced the product alongside the restructuring despite the extended timeline to market.

‘400 athletes tested Amplify across 2.4 million steps.’ — Nike

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