Genius Deion Sanders Rejected $750K Offer for Nike’s $250K Contract to Pull Off Marketing Masterstroke in 1995

The divorce between Deion Sanders and Nike is a known affair. Their history of wooing each other before, however, was not. Since the Sanders sneakers are right on track to being the IT shoes of ’25, their past with each other is a story fans would take great pride in. It all started when Prime was the most applauded face for scoring touchdowns and hitting home runs simultaneously. The reverberating ‘Prime effect’ among the fans prompted the then titans of the 1980s shoe industry, British Knights, to propose a lucrative offer to Sanders before he entered his third season in the pro league. A $750k offer.

Deion Sanders? He promptly rejected it. The reason being his fine taste in footwear. “I want substance,” Prime passed his verdict, hinting at his choice. British Knights were not the only ones in the race to secure Sanders, though. LA Gear, too, tried their hand at it, but to no avail. It was Nike that was Deion Sanders calling. As soon as they both joined hands in 1995, despite their partnership being much less lucrative than British Knights, a mere $250k, their sales skyrocketed. So much so that they easily overtook the other juggernaut line of the 1990s: the Air Jordans. “We outsold everybody,” Sanders proudly mentioned, “because [Air] Jordan at that time was just a limited number that they put out, and we blew it out the door.”

Soon after this, the two suffered some hits to their partnership, ones that they couldn’t sustain. They broke up. It was a shocking moment for the fans, given the uncontrollable obsession they had developed around the Turfs. Deion Sanders’ signature Nike Air Diamond Turfs was a hot favorite during the 90s with the first version releasing in ’94. The last in the series, Nike Diamond Air Turfs V, was released in 1998, following which the series concluded. Even after they split, the business mastermind inside Sanders could not witness all the demand for his signature collaboration going down the drain, prompting him to get in talks with the shoe magnate once again.

The Deion Sanders-Nike patch up

Deion Sanders was not happy with Nike at all when they tore off their contract. For 15 years after, Prime assumed the cap of an Under Armour athlete. However, the magnitude of Nike and the fine footwear taste of Deion Sanders could not stay apart much longer, resulting in the two kick-starting their collaboration in 2023 yet again, flushing a wave of euphoria among the Sanders fandom. His son, Shilo Sanders, was one of the most excited.

READ ALSO: Deion Sanders Flaunts King James’ “Prime Lebrons”, Snaps Shilo Back From His Fantasy World

It was through an Instagram post that Prime made his re-collaboration official. Nike later chimed in with their confirmation statement. “We welcome Deion Sanders back to the Nike family,” Nike said in a public statement. Since the collaboration, Prime has launched several kicks, the most popular ones based on the classic Buffs black and gold color scheme. Along with that, LeBron James, too, launched a ‘Coach Prime way’ Black and Gold accented sneakers as a part of his LeBron James 21 collection. So, which Sanders sneakers are your favorite?