Did Nike Mess Up By Dropping Dallas Mavs' Kyrie Irving? Anta Reports Record 2023 Revenues

Anta Sports recorded record revenues in 2023, the year they signed Dallas Mavericks star point guard Kyrie Irving to a long-term deal ... and that was before his first signature shoe, the Kai 1's, officially dropped.

Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving used to have one of the most popular signature shoes with Nike before the company dropped him in December of 2022.

As it turns out, though, the desire for Irving's shoes is still strong, no matter what company he's with, as Anta has reported record revenues for 2023 after signing the star point guard to a long-term deal less than a full calendar year ago, giving him a new signature shoe, and also making him to CCO (Creative Chief Officer). This is especially impressive when considering that Irving's "Kai 1's" didn't official go on sale until earlier this month.

"According to the Chinese sports company, overall revenue increased 16.2 percent to a record 62.36 billion Chinese yuan ($8.63 billion based on current exchange) from 53.65 billion yuan in 2022," FootWearNews.com wrote.

Kyrie Irving

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"The company’s namesake brand saw revenues increase 9.3 percent in 2023 to 30.31 billion yuan, with direct-to-consumer sales overtaking wholesale at Anta. The company noted that Anta’s DTC segment represents 56 percent of the brand’s business and increased 2.4 percent year-over-year to 17 billion yuan."

If just Irving's presence with Anta for half a year was enough to generate record sales for the entire year of 2023, it's crazy to think about what could be in store for the company in 2024 now that the Mavs star's signature shoes are flying off the shelves as soon as they're stocked.

As much money as Nike makes, not having Irving on its roster won't necessarily hurt them, as they still grew nearly 10 percent in revenues from 2022 to 2023, but it's a big chunk of change that they'll miss out on due to jumping the gun and terminating Irving's deal when they did. Irving is unbothered by all of this, though, as he's flourishing both on and off the court with the Mavs and Anta.