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Get 'em while they're young
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September 20, 1996: 6:08 p.m. ET
Nike, Adidas and others look to outfit high school athletes
From Correspondent Sean Callebs
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Among major athletic sportswear companies, the latest marketing battleground is what many consider the playground.
Nike, Adidas, and others top sportswear makers are fighting to represent high school basketball programs and, of course, their top athletes.
Even before high-school basketball star Kobe Bryant became an NBA draft lottery pick, he was the focus of national media attention. That expanded coverage of high school athletics is one reason sportswear companies are competing to outfit the top high school programs.
Nike sponsors some of the best teams in the biggest markets. It won't say how many, but it does pay the teams $20,000 a year to wear Nike gear.
"What we are developing are relationships at the high school level," said Nike spokesman Erin Patton. "We are coming in to provide resources. We are coming in to provide quality products."
Nike has endorsement contracts with many of the world's top professional athletes and outfits many of the most high profile colleges and universities.
Adidas representative Sonny Vaccaro, who used to work for Nike, said that what Nike doesn't already have, it wants to buy. Vaccaro decried Nike's selective picking of only the most successful schools, saying that sponsorships should be across the board. (143K WAV) or (143K AIFF)
But marketing executives say exposure is as good as gold -- and Nike is leading the field.
Mike Levine, director of marketing at Athletes and Artists, said Nike is a company with little shame about doing whatever it takes to promote its athletes and brands.
"This is the latest surge in that -- I don't want to call it arrogance. I will call it pride in what they are doing."
Sports marketers are calling this a war and most are not surprised the battle now involves high school athletes.
However, many are rolling their eyes saying it could be just a matter of time before major corporations are courting kids that are even younger. 
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Adidas
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