The founder of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy, applauded Nike for the new ad featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick — from a purely financial standpoint — on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show Wednesday night.
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“So I think Nike, I think when you are a huge company like Nike, it is hard to stay edgy, hard to stay on top for that long. This brings edge to them. I think the old Nike that a lot of people know is not really the Nike that it is,” Portnoy stated. “Like you see pictures of the big and the rich guy burning his Nike socks that looked like they weren’t washed and was a pair of socks from the 1980s.”
Nike came out with the Kaepernick ad on Monday and it quickly went viral. (RELATED: Exclusive: Trump Critical, But Says Nike’s Kaepernick Deal ‘Is What This Country Is All About’)
“I don’t think they care about Civil Rights. I think they care about selling shoes. If I’m a shareholder, I don’t care about anything but me putting money in. This is a business decision. Anybody who is saying Nike cares about Civil Rights or doing the right things, you can argue that, but that is not what I’m arguing. I’m saying as a shareholder I like the move. Everyone is talking about it,” he continued.
Carlson then asked, “This is a pure business decision, so you think they are going to gain more from people who are fighting the power with millionaire Colin Kaepernick than they will lose from people like me who are like I’m New Balance from here out?” (RELATED: Athletes Celebrate Nike’s Campaign Featuring Colin Kaepernick)
Portnoy answered Carlson’s question in the affirmative.
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