Nike Sponsored Athletes (2025): Full List by Sport & Endorsement Deals

Nike’s roster in 2025 reads like a highlight reel. From lifetime icons to breakout phenoms, the brand keeps turning elite performances into stories you can wear. This guide looks at the Nike athletes who truly shape the year, how a Nike athlete sponsorship moves from contract to campaign, and why some names sit in the rare air of Nike highest paid athletes. By the end, you will have a clean map of who leads, who is rising, and how Nike turns star power into product momentum.

At a glance

• Lifetime tier headliners among Nike athletes: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Cristiano Ronaldo. (Forbes)
  
  
• Football faces driving global stories: Kylian Mbappé (2025 Player Edition Mercurial) and Erling Haaland (re-signed 2023). (Nike)
  
  
• Basketball signature bench: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker, Ja Morant, Sabrina Ionescu. (Nike)
  
  
• Breakthrough women’s deal: Caitlin Clark — eight-year Nike pact with a signature line confirmed for rollout. (Reuters)
  
  
• Performance soul of the brand: Eliud Kipchoge and the marathon “Breaking2” lineage that birthed the Alphafly era. (Nike)
  

Methodology

• We focus on official confirmations (Nike Newsroom, team/league releases) and top-tier outlets (ESPN/Reuters/AP/WSJ).
  
  
• Where deal values are reported rather than disclosed (e.g., Ronaldo lifetime; Clark’s $28M figure), we say so and cite the reporting outlet.
  
  
• We prioritise athletes whose Nike athlete sponsorship includes a signature shoe, lifetime pact, or 2024–2025 activation that shaped the brand’s marketing.
  
  
• We avoid unverified “salary list” rumours; mentions of Nike highest paid athletes rely on widely reported lifetime tiers or reputable business coverage.

The 10 flagships (paragraph + bullets for each)

1) LeBron James — Basketball

LeBron is the template for long-horizon Nike athlete sponsorship: two decades of signatures, cross-category apparel, and a rare lifetime pact that keeps him in the upper echelon of Nike celebrity endorsements and any talk of Nike highest paid athletes. (ESPN)

• Deal type: Lifetime contract with Nike (first of its kind for an active NBA player when announced). (ESPN)
  
  
• Signature line: LeBron series (20+ models and counting).
  
  
• Why it matters: A perennial revenue driver for Nike Basketball; the north star among Nike athletes. (ESPN)

2) Kevin Durant — Basketball

KD joined LeBron in the lifetime tier in 2023, extending one of the most consistent signature lines on the market. It’s marquee Nike athlete sponsorship that bridges elite performance and lifestyle adoption. (NBA)

• Deal type: Lifetime contract with Nike (2023). (NBA)
  
  
• Signature line: KD franchise (15+ releases).
  
  
• Why it matters: Cemented as a pillar of Nike celebrity endorsements for the next decade.

3) Cristiano Ronaldo — Football

CR7 is the global Swoosh striker and a fixture in lists of Nike highest paid athletes. His long-running (widely reported) lifetime pact underpins Mercurial storytelling and remains one of the most visible Nike celebrity endorsements worldwide. (Forbes)

• Deal type: Lifetime endorsement — widely reported near the $1B mark. (Forbes)
  
  
• Category anchor: Mercurial + CR7 capsules that drop in sync with club/country arcs.
  
  
• Why it matters: Unmatched social reach among Nike athletes, sustaining global demand. (Forbes)

4) Kylian Mbappé — Football

Mbappé fronts a new wave of Nike athlete sponsorship with a 2025 Player Edition Mercurial that keeps speed, flair and youth culture at the centre of Nike Football’s story. A flagship in modern Nike celebrity endorsements. (Nike)

• Deal focus: 2025 Mercurial Mbappé Player Edition (Superfly & Vapor). (Nike)
  
  
• Role: Face of the speed silo; reliable campaign catalyst around tent-pole matches.
  
  
• Why it matters: PE boots deliver timely, shoppable narratives for Nike athletes.
  

5) Erling Haaland — Football

Re-signing with Nike in March 2023, Haaland was cast as a standard-bearer for the next era of attack — a natural fit for elite Nike athlete sponsorship, pairing record scoring with power-forward imagery. (Nike)

• Deal type: Multi-year signing (2023). (Nike)
  
  
• Category fit: Phantom/Mercurial stories focused on finishing.
  
  
• Why it matters: Gives Nike a modern No. 9 to balance Mbappé’s speed storyline.
  

6) Giannis Antetokounmpo — Basketball

The Freak line evolved into a global pillar for Nike Basketball. The Freak 7 continues a design language built around the Euro-step — performance storytelling that keeps Giannis high among active Nike athletes and front-of-mind in Nike celebrity endorsements. (Nike)

• Deal type: Long-term signature with Nike.
  
  
• Signature product: Giannis Freak 7 (2025). (Nike)
  
  
• Why it matters: Family-first voice + world title résumé = broad appeal.
  

7) Devin Booker — Basketball

Booker’s Book 1 adds a clean, minimalist silhouette to the signature bench — an important update to the Nike athlete sponsorship mix that skews lifestyle as much as performance and keeps the rotation fresh. (Nike)

• Deal type: Signature-shoe athlete.
  
  
• Signature product: Nike Book 1 (2024 debut). (Nike)
  
  
• Why it matters: Expands the design spectrum among Nike athletes, reaching fashion-forward hoop fans. (SI)
  

8) Sabrina Ionescu — Basketball

Sabrina’s unisex-sized signature line was built “to serve all hoopers,” a milestone for women in the signature space and a model Nike celebrity endorsement for inclusive design. (Nike)

• Deal type: Signature-shoe athlete.
  
  
• Signature product: Sabrina 1 + apparel collection. (Nike)
  
  
• Why it matters: A breakthrough silhouette that widened the funnel for women’s basketball within the Nike athletes portfolio.
  

9) Caitlin Clark — Basketball

Clark vaulted into top-tier Nike athlete sponsorship with an eight-year pact reported at ~$28M, then was officially introduced by Nike in 2025 as a signature athlete with a new logo and a shoe/collection slated to debut next year — a watershed in women’s hoops and the latest star turn in Nike celebrity endorsements. (Reuters)

• Deal type: 8-year Nike endorsement (reported by WSJ; confirmed by Reuters/AP). (The Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• Signature status: Nike announced Clark as a signature athlete with a logo; first shoe/apparel collection scheduled to launch in 2026. (Nike)
  
  
• Why it matters: Places Clark in conversations about future Nike highest paid athletes in women’s sport as her franchise scales. (ESPN)
  

10) Eliud Kipchoge — Marathon

Kipchoge is the performance soul of Nike Running. His 20-year partnership encompasses Breaking2 (2017), the sub-2 milestone in 2019, and the Alphafly lineage — a purist’s Nike athlete sponsorship that still casts a halo over the entire roster of Nike athletes. (Nike)

• Deal focus: Alphafly/Vaporfly innovation tied to Breaking2 → sub-2 marathon. (Nike)
  
  
• Why it matters: Athlete + tech story are inseparable here; a premium example of Nike celebrity endorsements done right.
  

FAQ

Who are Nike’s biggest basketball signature Nike athletes in 2025?

LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker, Ja Morant and Sabrina Ionescu head the list of Nike celebrity endorsements in hoops.

Which footballers headline Nike athlete sponsorship today?

Cristiano Ronaldo (lifetime reported), Kylian Mbappé (2025 PE Mercurial) and Erling Haaland (re-signed 2023) anchor Nike Football’s global push. 

Is Caitlin Clark officially a Nike signature athlete?

Yes. Nike announced Clark as a signature athlete with a new logo; her first shoe/apparel collection is slated for 2026, following her reported 8-year/$28M deal. 

What’s the performance anchor of Nike’s roster?

Eliud Kipchoge — the Breaking2 project, sub-2 marathon moment, and Alphafly line are central to Nike Running’s credibility. 

How are these Nike celebrity endorsements used in marketing?

Short-form films, PE/sig footwear drops, and “shop-the-look” pages create a loop from highlight → product page — the core of Nike athlete sponsorship today. 

Related Readings

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Sources

• ESPN — LeBron James signs lifetime deal with Nike (2015). (ESPN)
  
  
• Forbes — Cristiano Ronaldo’s lifetime Nike deal widely reported near $1B. (Forbes)
  
  
• Nike Newsroom — Erling Haaland signs with Nike (Mar 31, 2023). (Nike)
  
  
• Nike Newsroom — Kylian Mbappé Player Edition Mercurial (Apr 11, 2025). (Nike)
  
  
• Nike.com / Nike Newsroom — Sabrina 1 signature shoe and unisex sizing (Mar–Oct 2023). (Nike) (Nike.com)
  
  
• Nike.com — Devin Booker Book 1 (2024 release info). (Nike.com)
  
  
• Nike Newsroom — Giannis Antetokounmpo Freak 7 official images (Jul 7, 2025). (Nike)
  
  
• Reuters / AP / ESPN — Caitlin Clark: eight-year, $28M Nike deal reported; Nike announces signature athlete & logo (Aug 2025). (Reuters) (AP News) (ESPN)