In the minds of Nike’s leaders, the recovery path is clear. Investors, however, are not convinced. 

The athletic footwear and apparel giant reported a downbeat but largely expected set of earnings Tuesday for its fiscal first quarter—detailing a 10% revenue decline to $11.6 billion the company forecast back in July. Earnings beat analyst projections, reaching $1.05 billion, down 28% from the comparable period last year.

Offering a somewhat different vibe than the meager fourth-quarter earnings report three months ago that prompted a one-day, 20% drop in Nike stock, company CFO Matthew Friend said there have been some initial signs of optimism and “early wins” as the brand seeks to revive itself from a perceived lack of innovation, sharply heightened competition, and issues in its direct-to-consumer sales. Among those signs Nike cited were improved future orders of product in the running segment. 

“Throughout our history, Nike has always faced pressure. Nike was born through adversity,” Friend said late Tuesday during an analyst call. “Today is no different. Adversity creates sharper focus, leading to innovation and new growth. We will continue to address the challenges head on.”

The earnings report marked the company’s first to the market since announcing plans to replace embattled CEO John Donahoe with Elliott Hill—an executive shift taking effect later this month and one that has energized many both inside and out of the company. 

Rough Reaction

After investors first appeared relieved that nothing in the latest report was materially worse than what was previously forecast, they then sent Nike shares down about 5% in after-hours trading. The company’s stock, even after recent gains related to Hill’s appointment, remains down more than 16% this year. Full trading on Wednesday is likely to bring further turbulence.

Neither Hill nor Donahoe was on the analyst call, but Donahoe was thanked “for all he’s done to move Nike forward.”

Guidance on Guidance

Because of the forthcoming transition to Hill, Nike said Tuesday it is withdrawing its prior investor guidance for its fiscal year 2025, which previously forecasted a sales decline of 4% to 6%. Instead, the company will provide forecasts on a quarter-to-quarter basis. An investor day previously scheduled for November is also being postponed.

“This provides Elliott with the flexibility to reconnect with our employees and teams, evaluate the current strategies and business trends, and develop our plans to best position the business for fiscal ’26 and beyond,” Friend said. 

Nike’s second-quarter revenue is projected to largely maintain the first-quarter trend, and again be down by 8% to 10%.

The WNBA is feeling the effects of Caitlin Clark’s elimination—but the league is still clearly growing.

ESPN announced that Sunday’s semifinal game between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty, a rematch of the 2023 WNBA Finals, drew 929,000 viewers during the 3 p.m. ET time slot on ABC, the league’s most-watched semifinal game in 22 years. While the figure is only half of the 1.8 million viewers the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun drew during the previous Sunday’s playoff opener, it’s still more than any Finals game from last year.

Game 1 between the Sun and Minnesota Lynx garnered 654,000 viewers at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. That’s a stark improvement over the non-Fever games from last Sunday, which aired on ESPN and averaged around 425,000 viewers. It’s also 39% more than the average viewership of the 2023 WNBA playoffs.

The NFL Effect 

Sunday’s viewership numbers highlight the cannibalization of viewers driven by the NFL. Game 2 of the Fever-Sun first-round series Wednesday averaged 2.5 million viewers on ESPN, a WNBA playoff record for cable viewership. The second game of the other three WNBA first-round series—which was played on weekdays without an NFL game on-air—more than doubled its viewership compared to Game 1.

The second game of both semifinals series finished last night. However, the trend may not continue this time around as both games were bumped to ESPN2 to make room for the MLB playoffs.

WNBA Expansion Draft

While the playoffs are in full swing, the league announced Monday details to the 2025 expansion draft as it welcomes the Golden State Valkyries next season.

The expansion draft, scheduled on Dec. 6, will allow the Valkyries to select from a pool of players who are on one of the other 12 teams. Each team can designate a maximum of six “protected players” who the Valkyries cannot select.

The WNBA last had an expansion draft in 2008, when the Atlanta Dream were added as the league’s 14th team. Back then, opposing teams were also able to protect six players from being drafted.

The conference realignment arms race between the Pac-12 and Mountain West continued Tuesday, with each signing up a new future member.

The Pac-12 added Gonzaga, which currently competes in the West Coast Conference and does not have a football team, while the Mountain West added the University of Texas at El Paso from Conference USA. The moves, like the others made in recent weeks, will take effect in 2026.

Here’s where things stand now in those two conferences:

• Pac-12: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga (no football), Oregon State, San Diego State, Utah State, and Washington State

• Mountain West: Air Force, Hawai‘i (partial member), Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV, UTEP, and Wyoming

That gives both conferences seven full-time, football-playing members. Each needs at least eight schools to retain their FBS status—the Pac-12 by 2026, and the Mountain West by 2028. Other programs that could still be targeted include the Mid-American Conference’s Northern Illinois and Toledo, the Sun Belt’s Texas State, and C-USA’s New Mexico State.

Efforts to become the top non–Power 4 conference will have major ramifications in the new 12-team College Football Playoff.

Power Couple

Amid college football’s evolving landscape, the Big Ten and SEC remain focused on asserting their own dominance over the sport.

The commissioners of the Big Ten and SEC, as well as the conferences’ athletic directors, will discuss a possible partnership in football scheduling next week during meetings in Nashville, according to ESPN. The talks will follow the February formation of the Big Ten–SEC joint advisory group, comprising university presidents, chancellors, and athletic directors.

It was the Big Ten and SEC’s strong relationship that led to the CFP solidifying its next iteration, which will apply between 2026 and 2031.