Nike CEO Elliot Hill is taking Nike back to its roots in sports. Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images

Earlier this year, Nike CEO Elliott Hill visited Camp Nou, Barcelona’s famed soccer stadium, during a comprehensive renovation. He took a look around at the scaffolding, cranes and unfinished sections, and came to a realization. “This is Nike right now. We are taking deliberate actions that we believe will restore the health and quality of our business, even when these actions create pressure in the near term,” said Hill during Nike’s third-quarter earnings call yesterday (March 31).

Only a couple of years into his tenure, Hill is just beginning to execute a wide-ranging turnaround plan for Nike. The strategy centers on an aggressive return to sports—especially soccer—and a retreat from the lifestyle-focused direction that had dominated recent years. The approach has yet to fully register in Nike’s earnings: profit fell 35 percent year-over-year to $520 million in the December–February quarter, while revenue stayed flat at $11.3 billion.

Hill, a 30-year Nike veteran who retired in 2020 and returned last year to lead the company’s comeback, says the transformation is unfolding as planned. He expected at least two years before Nike’s fortunes began to turn. “That’s where we’re tracking right now.”

He succeeded former CEO John Donahue, whose pivot toward lifestyle franchises and away from core sports performance cost Nike market share to newer rivals like Hoka and On Running. Hill’s “Win Now” strategy focuses on clearing excess inventory and refocusing product pipelines on performance. These moves are weighing on results in the short term, but Hill believes they’re laying the groundwork for a sustainable, sports-driven rebound.

A major bright spot is running, where sales jumped 20 percent last quarter. Hill said that success has put Nike on “offense” again and provides a blueprint for other categories—particularly soccer. Nike plans to ramp up its global soccer presence ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with new federation kits and apparel launches.

In North America, Nike’s emphasis on wholesale distribution and sport-driven innovation is paying off. The region, which makes up nearly half of the company’s business, saw sales rise 3 percent to $5 billion. “This is complex work, and parts of it are taking longer than I’d like, but the direction is clear,” Hill said.

China tells a different story. Sales there fell 10 percent to $1.6 billion amid growing competition from domestic brands and are expected to drop another 20 percent year-over-year in the current quarter. Other segments, including Converse, remain “early in their comebacks,” with the subsidiary reporting $264 million in revenue, down 35 percent.

Still, Hill continues to draw inspiration from Camp Nou’s transformation. “Camp Nou is not being rebuilt for the next match; it is being rebuilt for the next era,” he said. “That is exactly how I think about the work we are doing at Nike.”