The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 395 — A new Unrivaled frontier 🏀

The first golden opportunity for the sportswear world is here

Good morning, folks! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for rocking with me today. Appreciate you taking the time.

I hope you’re staying warm out there. NGL, you guys. This winter is breaking me. There’s a low of 9 degrees on Monday. NINE. What am I supposed to do with that? Whatever, man. Summer, hurry up.

Anyway, let’s jump in.

---

Unrivaled is an opportunity

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

This year will be all about recentering athletes for sportswear brands throughout the industry.

For so long, brands have relied on influencers and celebrities outside of sports to tell their stories. That’s no longer as effective as it once was. Now, we’re seeing a sharp pivot back to how things used to be.

That will especially be the case in women’s sports, where we’ve seen a massive infusion of interest, investment and resources.

We’ll see all those things coalesce on Friday night when the new Unrivaled League debuts on TNT. With its debut comes a golden opportunity for all the sportswear brands we know and love.

The backdrop: Unrivled is a player-owned 3-on-3 basketball league founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.

• The league has already raised $35 million in capital ahead its opening night.

• All 36 participating players will receive equity in the league as they play in it.

• The average salary for the players participating is $220k, which is nearly the maximum salary in the WNBA.

Why this matters: This league is fundamentally reshaping the landscape for women’s sports. It’s raising the bar to a place other leagues will have to meet it at. We’ve never quite seen anything like this. That means there will be a lot of eyes on it — not only to watch the basketball but just to see how it performs as a business.

This league will serve as a stage for the best talent in women’s basketball. That means, like an All-Star game, it can also be turned into a platform for all the brands supporting them.

What’s happening: Some sportswear brands already taking advantage of the opportunity.

• Under Armour has a footwear and apparel deal with the league. It’s the league’s official uniform provider and will also offer footwear for players without footwear deals.

• Reebok will have Angel Reese wearing the Exhibit A throughout the season, the brand’s first performance basketball shoe in a decade.

• The league’s two current signature athletes, Sabrina Ionescu (Nike) and Breanna Stewart (Puma), are both participating. Stewie runs the whole thing.

• WNBA stars Satou Sabally and Dijonai Carrington are expected to announce new footwear deals during the season, per Boardroom’s Nick DePaula. We’ve already seen Satou in the AE1, so I’d say we should expect an official Adidas announcement soon from her.

It’s not just sportswear. As the homie Daniel Yaw-Miller outlines in his SportsVerse newsletter, the league has deals with Sephora, Fenty, and more. 

The big picture: Women’s sports are the next frontier in sportswear. There’s been a massive gap in the area for years that brands have overlooked. Whichever brand fills those gaps the most will be the one to lead the way as things go along.

This league’s debut is a chance to plant the flag. Jumping in now is an investment that will likely pay massive dividends in the future.

The league has some of the best and brightest talent in the WNBA. There’s more coming — Paige Bueckers, Flau’jae Johnson and Cameron Brink have already committed to playing in 2026. Juju Watkins is an investor in the league and will probably play eventually. Down the line, other big names like A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark may join the fray.

These companies have been talking a big game about how committed they are to serving and working with women. The time to make a move is now.

Pay attention to who does what here.

---

Anta’s big boom

StockX just released its latest “Big Facts” report, which is essentially a recap of sales and trades on the platform.

It’s not the most in-depth reporting. However, it does share some platform trends with us, which in turn gives us some insight into what consumers are interested in.

The big deal: StockX’s latest report shows that consumer interest in Anta is at an all-time high.

• Anta was the fastest-growing sneaker brand on StockX, with a 1,901 percent (!!!!) boost in sales.

• It’s now the 15th best-selling sneaker brand on the platform.

• Maison Margiela followed that at 425 percent. Asics wasn’t far behind at 350 percent to round out the platform’s three fastest-growing sneaker brands.

That is the definition of eye-popping. A nearly 2000 percent boost in sales of a specific brand? That’s fascinating.

How we got here: Kyrie Irving is the answer. Anta signed him in 2023 after Nike cut ties with him after he posted a link on social media to a book and movie containing antisemitic messaging.

He became the brand’s chief creative officer and, over the last year, has launched several signature and lifestyle shoes in different colorways.

Signing Irving would always impact Anta, as he’s the brand's most popular athlete. But these numbers from StockX are staggering.

The numbers: I asked StockX if there was a sales number we could compare from year to year. The company declined to share that data with me.

However, I did uncover that:

• Anta’s Kai 1 was traded more than 12,000 times on the platform in the first 10 months of its release in March 2024.

• The Kai 1 holds nine of the top 10 spots for the top-selling Anta products on the platform. According to the data shared with me, there are only around 20 Anta models on the platform.

• The other is the Anta Shock Wave 5 Kyrie Irving “First Year” model, which is still a Kyrie Irving shoe.

These numbers aren’t just reflected in StockX’s data. The brand itself has seen a big boost from Irving’s star. It reported record revenue in 2023 following Irving’s addition.

The big picture: When Irving signed with Anta after parting ways with Nike I’d openly wondered how much he’d move the needle for the brand.

It seems the answer is a lot.

It’s amazing what a good signature sneaker and solid storytelling can do for a brand. The rest of the industry should take notes.

---

Almost there

New Balance is inching closer and closer to the completion of the brand’s $10 billion mission.

The background: The company made it a goal to reach $10 billion in sales “over the next few years” back in 2022, according to CEO Joe Preston. Back then, it had just eclipsed the $5 billion mark for the first time in the company’s history.

Fast forward to today and that goal seems more attainable than ever.

Preston told the audience that the company reached $7.8 billion in sales in 2024 when speaking at the National Retail Federation conference. It’s the fourth consecutive year sales numbers have increased by at least 20 percent.

• For reference, that number still wouldn’t put New Balance in the ballpark of Nike ($51 billion) or Adidas ($23 billion).

• However, it does put New Balance on par with competitors like Puma ($9.3 billion).

• Plus, according to Sneaker Freaker, its current average pace of growth over the last four years is just over 23 percent annually. That puts it well above Nike in annual sales growth rate, the footwear industry’s unequivocal leader.

That’s awe-inspiring growth from a brand that was considered niche just a decade ago.

The other side: Scale is hard to do. With where New Balance is coming from, getting to the $10 billion mark likely isn’t hard. There’s lots of room to grow. My biggest questions come once the brand hits that mark. What does that look like?

• New Balance’s quality is its calling card. It has refused to sacrifice quality to mass-produce products like some of its direct competitors. Can it continue to grow while maintaining that, or will it bend?

It seems we’ll find out the answer soon enough.

---

Brooks re-enters the chat with Jeff Staple

The year just started and we’re already filling out the “collabs I would never have thought of” bingo card with Jeff Staple and Brooks.

What’s happening: The OG Pigeon Dunk creator is locking in with Brooks now to revive the company’s Adrenaline GTS 4 runner that originally released in 2002.

• Staple will release his specific collab model on March 13 and then that will be followed up by a wider general release with two other colorways in April.

A look: I…I think I like these?

Via Brooks

The mesh runner market is getting crowded. I’m not sure I’d go for a pair of these over a pair of New Balance or Asics. But I do like them! We’ll see if I go for a pair.

What do you think, folks? You rocking with these or are they meh?

---

#TheKicksWeWear

Y’ALL KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!!! FIRST #TKWW OF THE NEW YEAR! Let’s get it!

First, the homie Mark got us started with the JFG Ranier boots. I need to snag a pair to get ready for this snow.

Then the homie Saoirse came through with the Pampidou Maxes. TOO clean. Per usual.

The homie South Side popped out with the WDW Jordan Flight Courts. Got them heaters on in the snow!

Then the homie Guru came through with the A Ma Maniére AJ2s and, man, these joints are so nice. People slept on em.

To send us home, Mrs. Spriggs from AMES around the way sent me a pic of the flyest kid in school wearing the Georgetown Dunks. FIRE 🔥

Y’all smoked it, man. Way to start the new year.

---

Thanks so much for rocking with me today, folks. Appreciate your time. Hope you have an excellent weekend.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns feel free to hit me up via email at mikedsykes@gmail.com or shoot me a message here via Substack.

Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. Until next time. We out.

-Sykes 💯