Will Nike ever make a pool cue?

Its hard to compare golf and pool. Golf courses don't offer free equipment to play when you go out there, every pool hall has free cheap cues to use. Nike got in on golf equipment at the perfect time and rode the Tiger Woods wave. At first they contracted out their golf balls to be made by Bridgestone. However, they stuck with it and built R&D facilities and sponsored professionals to get feedback and are now one of the top club manufactures in the world.

I think pool needs to separate itself from bars and gambling and then it maybe has a shot at becoming a legitamate professional sport.
 
pwd72s said:
I refuse to buy any cue emblazoned with the University of Oregon sickly yellow O. ;)

It may be difficult to believe, but not everybody in Oregon is enthralled with the University of Oregon,
excuse me... University of Nike "Ducks"...

I buy nothing with a swoosh...
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I'm not enthralled with the Ducks or Nike, I like Beavers instead.

Folks at the hospital here go ape over their Ducks with costumes and all in the fall.
 
I would suspect if we ever see the day that there is Olympic 9 Ball you'll see Nike in association with Huebler or McDermott produce the official Olympic cue. Also billiard shirts and pants ( for men and women ), and the new billiard shoe in a high top and low cut styles in several different colors, also nike chalk (by Kamui), the new Nike 2 finger glove and lets not forget a case (by Sterling). If all goes well there will be Nike-Diamond or Nike-Valley Tables and a whole line of Nike products (by Tiger). But since this will never be an Olympic sport I don't see this ever happening.
 
Apocalypse2012 said:
Great idea!

Just think of the millions of league players. That's your target market right there.
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That's the target market here in the US.

Don't forget, Nike sells a lot of stuff world-wide, in places where pool is seen in higher regard, and is televised regularly. Huge marketing opportunity for them in that regard. The US market really would only be an afterthought...

As for quality, and a Nike branded cue being the equivalent of a players cue, I think not. Price out some Nike golf clubs, in comparison to what else is out there. Nike is extremely conscious of their brand, they wouldn't just slap it on some entry level department store style equipment.

I think its a great idea. But since it is such a great idea, it makes me wonder why they haven't done it already....
 
pwd72s said:
I refuse to buy any cue emblazoned with the University of Oregon sickly yellow O. ;)

It may be difficult to believe, but not everybody in Oregon is enthralled with the University of Oregon,
excuse me... University of Nike "Ducks"...

I buy nothing with a swoosh...
Click to expand...

Yep, and not everybody in Wisconsin is a Packers fan, or a football fan for that matter. If the Packers decided to pack up and move to Peoria I'd yawn.

Dave Nelson
 
Any good cue maker can contact Nike, make out a contract and use their name for a price. Aren't Nike products made outside the USA?

Up until a few years ago, Predator cues were not made by Predator cues. Predator cues were made by other cue makers and Falcon Cue Company in Canada.


I don't know if Nike would work. How about a company in the USA...like DuPont or someone else that makes a wood sealer?

Some of us already know that Alcoa Aluminum made pool cues years ago.
Nice collector item!
 
metallicane said:
Nike is a marketing machine. There is no money for them in pool. Not gonna happen.
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We have a winner.



if there was any money to be made doing this they would have already done it. Nike is one of the top marketing companies in the world.
And I'm sure they have pool players working for them somewhere that have probably pitched the idea.
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
Nike is doing clothing , hats, shoes, and more etc all for the most part made off shore.
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That is a really interesting post!
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The best chance of bringing bigger money into the game is via beer makers like Budweiser, Miller's, etc.

We (pool players) don't spend enough money on gear to justify the industry (cue makers, table cloth, balls) vendors offering more than token amount of sponsorship funds. This is not unusual. Do Rawlings and Wilson sponsor baseball at any level? No. Even in golf, the big sponsor money is from insurance companies, auto companies, etc.; not the golf gear companies.

Nike isn't going to do it because Nike is a brilliant follower, not a leader. It doesn't build a market...it looks for large, existing markets that it can tap into.

Beer is the answer.
 
bdorman said:
The best chance of bringing bigger money into the game is via beer makers like Budweiser, Miller's, etc.

We (pool players) don't spend enough money on gear to justify the industry (cue makers, table cloth, balls) vendors offering more than token amount of sponsorship funds. This is not unusual. Do Rawlings and Wilson sponsor baseball at any level? No. Even in golf, the big sponsor money is from insurance companies, auto companies, etc.; not the golf gear companies.

Nike isn't going to do it because Nike is a brilliant follower, not a leader. It doesn't build a market...it looks for large, existing markets that it can tap into.

Beer is the answer.[/QUOTE]

I don't drink beer. I drink Bourbon.
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way more science goes into a golf club. Its a multi billion dolllar a year business. If you think the engineers at nike couldnt make the nastiest playing pool cue on the planet then you are naive. They employ some of the best engineers and machinists in the world
 
DoubleD said:
-Separate alcohol and pool. Yes, the two go together like crack and hookers, but that doesn't mean that one is good for the other.

.
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I've never smoked crack, and feel this is a bad comparison. I don't think there will be any benefit from separating alchohol and pool. Take away beer, and good luck. Ban on cigarettes, although good for society has closed many a good pool hall.

I did agree with almost everything else you had to say.
 
For a company like Nike, Coke, Apple, etc... they can create the demand for their product. No-one really gives a crap if you have $200 Air Jordan's, until Nike said you should.

If a huge company based on strong marketing decided to go into pool, they would create the demand for the product. Which would be good. You'd see 50 gang-bangers with pants around their shoes, sideways hats and glazed over drugged out eyes come into your poolrooms with the $3,000 Nike Air-Barrel Cue in 34 different color combinations. They'd play for a hour, rip up the felt, spill drinks on the carpet, be lots of fun!
 
Baxter said:
Making a good quality cue is more of an art form than making golf clubs or tennis shoes. And no, Nike will never make pool cues. There is no money in it for them. For how much they would have to spend developing the production methods, not even to mention R&D, they would be operating at a loss. Pool just isn't as popular as golf, and even if it was, your average pool player doesn't drop as much money on pool as your average golfer does on golf.
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well as a art form yes but in no way shape size or form does a pool Q reguire the engineering of a golf club,,



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DGHustles said:
way more science goes into a golf club. Its a multi billion dolllar a year business. If you think the engineers at nike couldnt make the nastiest playing pool cue on the planet then you are naive. They employ some of the best engineers and machinists in the world
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Uh nike only has a small piece of the pie and by no means do they have the best anything in golf unless maybe a shoe ,, just because Tiger uses them is thier only reason for success,, and aside from that I think shane playing with a cue tec archer with a scorpion has more than proven its the swordsman not the sword,,



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