Nike to Waive Performance Targets for Pregnant Athletes: Report
After facing backlash for allegedly stopping payments for endorsements to female athletes during pregnancy, Nike decided to waive performance-based targets for 12 months for their pregnant athletes.
Representative photo of Nike (Photo Credit: Reuters)
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Sportswear giant Nike will waive performance-based targets for 12 months for any of their pregnant athletes after several runners revealed they had their payments frozen, according to a New York Times report on Friday.
American middle distance runner Alysia Montano and British distance runner Jo Pavey both said earlier this month that Nike had stopped their sponsorship payments while pregnant.
Sponsorship agreements with athletes typically include clauses that reduce payments if they do not reach performance-based targets.
The company told Reuters on May 16 it still had performance-based payment reduction clauses in their agreements, but they had changed their policy last year so that no female athletes would be "penalised financially for pregnancy".
The New York Times added on Friday that Nike would waive performance-pay reductions for 12 months for athletes who have a baby and said they could do more.
"We've recognised Nike, Inc., can do more, and there is an important opportunity for the sports industry collectively to evolve to better support female athletes," Sandra Carreon-John, a Nike spokeswoman, said in a emailed statement to the newspaper.
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American middle distance runner Alysia Montano and British distance runner Jo Pavey both said earlier this month that Nike had stopped their sponsorship payments while pregnant.
Sponsorship agreements with athletes typically include clauses that reduce payments if they do not reach performance-based targets.
The company told Reuters on May 16 it still had performance-based payment reduction clauses in their agreements, but they had changed their policy last year so that no female athletes would be "penalised financially for pregnancy".
The New York Times added on Friday that Nike would waive performance-pay reductions for 12 months for athletes who have a baby and said they could do more.
"We've recognised Nike, Inc., can do more, and there is an important opportunity for the sports industry collectively to evolve to better support female athletes," Sandra Carreon-John, a Nike spokeswoman, said in a emailed statement to the newspaper.
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)