SPORTS EQUIPMENT

Nike produces a wide range of sports equipment. Their first products were track running shoes. They currently also make shoes, jerseys, shorts, cleats, base layers, etc. for a wide range of sports, including track and field, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, association football (soccer), lacrosse, basketball, and cricket. Nike Air Max is a line of shoes first released by Nike, Inc. in 1987. Additional product lines were introduced later, such as Air Huarache, which debuted in 1992. The most recent additions to their line are the Nike 6.0, Nike NYX, and Nike SB shoes, designed for skateboarding. Nike has recently introduced cricket shoes called Air Zoom Yorker, designed to be 30% lighter than their competitors'. In 2008, Nike introduced the Air Jordan XX3, a high-performance basketball shoe designed with the environment in mind.

Nike sells an assortment of products, including shoes and apparel for sports activities like association football, basketball, running, combat sports, tennis, American football, athletics, golf, and cross training for men, women, and children. Nike also sells shoes for outdoor activities such as tennis, golf, skateboarding, association football, baseball, American football, cycling, volleyball, wrestling, cheerleading, aquatic activities, auto racing, and other athletic and recreational uses. Nike recently teamed up with Apple Inc. to produce the Nike, product that monitors a runner's performance via a radio device in the shoe that links to the iPod Nano. While the product generates useful statistics, it has been criticized by researchers who were able to identify users' RFID devices from 60 feet (18 m) away using small, concealable intelligence motes in a wireless sensor network.

In 2004, Nike launched the SPARQ Training Program/Division. Some of Nike's newest shoes contain Fly wire and lunar lite Foam to reduce weight. The Air Zoom Romero running shoe, introduced in 2006 and currently in its 11th generation, featured a combination of groundbreaking innovations including a full length air cushioned sole, an external heel counter, a crash pad in the heel for shock absorption, and Fit Frame technology for a stable fit.

The 2010 Nike Pro Combat jersey collection were worn by teams from the following universities: Miami, Alabama, Boise State University, Florida, Ohio State, Oregon State University, Texas Christian University, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh. Teams will wear these jerseys in key matchups as well as any time the athletic department deems it necessary.

Nike uses many materials to make all their products but there are only six main materials that make up the majority of all their products mass. First the polyester, 19 percent of the polyester Nike uses is recycled. Nike helped recycle 82 million plastic water bottles to make polyester out of. The world cup jerseys Nike made in 2010 were 100% recycled polyester each using eight plastic bottles. The solid plastic bottles are broken down into pieces and then melted to a liquid when they are then made into polyester strands. China and India are the main polyester producers worldwide. The next main material Nike uses is rubber and they have used more and more environmentally preferred rubber. Well over 70% of Nikes shoes now use environmentally preferred rubber.

Nike released their environmentally preferred rubber in 2002, this altered rubber is made by incorporating more benign accelerators and vegetable oils, and they also modify the processing. Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia are the top producers of rubber around the world. Eva foam is a very environmentally friendly material used in many shoes. The main producers of Eva Foam are located in China. EVA stands for Ethylene Vinyl Acetate. Eva Foam is one of the most efficient and cheap materials that Nike uses in their shoes.

The next material Nike widely uses is cotton. Nike is proud to say that they are using more and more organic cotton every year and plan to keep this trend going. Organic cotton means that it is harvested without chemical pesticides, no fertilizer, and defoliants. Nike gets most of its cotton from suppliers in China, India, Turkey, and the United States of America. Nikes plan is to have at least 10% of organic cotton in all of their appeal that contains cotton by 2015. Synthetic leather is also used often in Nike products. Synthetic leather is a manmade fabric is made to look and feel like real leather but function better then real leather. Nike uses synthetic leather in many of their products because it is cheaper than real leather, tends to be more breathable, and easier to clean.

China and Taiwan are the leading supplier of synthetic leather worldwide. Nike also uses real leather that is LWG certified. Nike is one of the world’s largest users of white leather and teams up with tanners, suppliers, and other distributers to be most efficient. Nike does not believe in harvesting leather from animals in the amazon because they believe that it is contributing to the deforestation but before 2011 they were using leather taken from the Amazon.

 Nike gets their leather from tanners and suppliers in China and Vietnam. Nike uses 1,500 different material vendors, suppliers, and companies. All the companies that they buy from are independent businesses.