Nike CFO Confirms Business of Kobe Bryant Brand Has Quadrupled in the Past Year

Nike recently hosted its Q1 FY2025 earnings call on the first of October. CFO Matt Friend shared the company’s revenue, which saw a significant growth from last year.

With all its sub-divisions, one that stood out the most was its Kobe Bryant business. The sub-brand has quadrupled its growth in the past 12 months and Friend attributes much of the success to the growing footwear products. He shared to investors on the earnings call, “Looking more broadly across our product portfolio, particularly in footwear, we see clear indications of progress in accelerating newness and innovation. Q1 revenue from new footwear products was up strong double-digits versus the prior year. This includes multiple franchises that have scaled quickly, based on unit growth over the past twelve months. For example, in performance footwear, Sabrina has grown roughly five times, Kobe has nearly quadrupled, and AlphaFly has almost tripled.”

Kobe releases continue to be some of the most sought-after footwear products from the Swoosh. In 2024 alone, 15 different silhouettes under the Black Mamba’s moniker has dropped. Sabrina Ionescu‘s footwear growth sees a gradual shift in attention towards the WNBA and women’s basketball in general. Ionescu and the Bryant family have long had a strong relationship on and off the court so it comes as no surprise that the two brands within the Nike family have seen an uptick. Other silhouettes that have seen an uptick include the “Vomero 5, P2K, and P-6000 [which] has grown more than four times over the past year.”