In the early 90’s, Nike had forged its name and brand as the leader in sports and fitness products across the American landscape in almost all sports except one – soccer. The company had, in recent years, surpassed the $1B in revenue marker and rocketed it by to $4B and then almost $5B. Then, in 1995 Phil Knight, founder and then CEO of Nike, Inc. made a declaration to in his letter to shareholders:
“First make strides toward becoming a global company, not just a company doing business internationally. Make the effort to communicate, internally and externally, on a global basis. And to manage, as one brand around the world, our opportunities to truly “get on board” in the world’s most international game – soccer.”
Voila, Nike Soccer, as we know it today was born.
Joe Elsmore was already at Nike holding his black badge, the coveted badge showing you were a full-time Nike employee. As the soccer division began forming by the one of Nike’s greatest product and brand architects, Sandy Bodecker, Joe was appointed the position of US Soccer Sports Marketing Director, a position he held for 30 years, where he signed the United States Soccer Federation, the MLS, Mia Hamm, Tab Ramos, Megan Rapio, Clint Dempsy, Landon Donovan, Alex Morgan, Christian Pulisic, and many, many more players, clubs and Federations.
Chris Bond joined Nike in 1996 as well taking on his black badge. Starting in 1996, he quickly knew he needed to combine his love for the brand with his love for the game and moved into the soccer division. His first role was carrying the bag as a Soccer Specialty sales rep across the midwest, representing the brand and building the business from the ground up. This led to years in product creation and culminated with his leadership role as the soccer (Football) GM in Europe.
From 1995 and for the next 25 years, these soccer division teammates worked on one of Nike’s greatest stories ever and helped build the greatest brand in the game of soccer. The “getting on board” of soccer didn’t mean doing what other (bigger) brands were doing at that time. It meant forging a new vision for the brand, bringing product innovation to a sport stuck in tradition and shocking the industry by amassing an unrivaled stable of sports marketing assets. Over those years, the three worked across the soccer matrix, year after year, changing roles, strategies, melding the brand to the industry. The watched as the business went from $15M in the US to over $300M; from $40M globally to over $2.7B. And, as the Nike, Inc. brand scaled from the $5B base to an ~$42B mountain.
With a journey like this, they were lifelong friends with a bronzed passion for the game. They had amassed business experiences you could not write a degree for in the Ivy Leagues and a passion for the work and pleasure of soccer that could never be broken. When they all retired from Nike, they retired their black badges as well.
The grass of the soccer pitch wasn’t the only green grass they had passion for, it turned out. They loved golf and began playing in the summer of 2022. They realized the passion for the game and business of soccer hadn’t left them or even diminished. After all they had done to contribute to the great game and the players, there was still much to be done.
In October of 2022, after a round of golf, they were deep in conversation about the businesses of soccer and all those that needed help. It was there and then that Gold Badge Sports Consulting was born. When you retire from Nike, checking the boxes of your time, age and seniority with the company, you receive the Gold Badge for life.
With over 50 years and two gold badges, Chris and Joe are here to support soccer companies, young and old, big and small, accelerate through to their goals and aspirations.
