5 Big Changes Nike CEO Elliott Hill is Making to Revive Sales

Elliott Hill inherited an uphill battle when he took over at the sports giant in October 2024. After retiring from Nike in 2020, the former president of consumer and marketplace returned to guide the company amid declining sales, sluggish growth, and increased pressure from upstart rivals.

During the quarter preceding Elliott Hill’s start, Nike’s revenue declined 10% year over year to $11.6 billion, following flat growth during the 2024 fiscal year. Nike shares jumped about 8% on the day Hill’s appointment was announced in September.

Since then, Elliott Hill has had a busy 2025 at the helm of Nike. The Nike veteran didn't waste any time rolling out his strategy when he came onto the scene, reassessed the old practices, and modified them accordingly. During the company’s most recent quarter, Hill told investors that the comeback “won’t be a straight line.”

A Sports-focused Turnaround Plan

Elliott Hill launched Nike’s plan to drive a sports-focused turnaround. The “win now” strategy, which he described as Nike’s “immediate response to our biggest challenges and opportunities,” focuses on five key areas: culture, product, marketing, marketplace, and in-person presence.

“We lost our obsession with sport,” Hill said on a December 2024 earnings call. “Moving forward, we will lead with sport and put the athlete at the center of every decision.”

The plan leans on a sports-driven reset that has “realigned” about 8,000 employees around its core sports categories, the company said. Those categories include running, basketball, football, and training, as well as sportswear. The idea is to put the athlete “at the center of everything that we do,” Hill said on a March earnings call.

The running category is leading the effort and reflects the direction Elliott Hill is steering the company. Nike said its running business grew by more than 20% last quarter, which ended in November, marking the second consecutive period of comparable growth.

A Reshaped Leadership Team

Elliott Hill also restructured senior leadership extensively. As part of that overhaul, Nike’s former president of consumer, product, and brand retired. Hill promoted four other Nike insiders to senior roles reporting to him: Amy Montagne as president of Nike, Phil McCartney as chief innovation, design, and product officer, Nicole Graham as CMO, and Tom Clarke as CGO.

Another round of changes followed during December. Elliott Hill eliminated the roles of CTO and CCO. At the same time, Nike established the role of COO, which reports to Hill. The new job’s function is to “integrate technology more seamlessly into our sport offense,” Hill said in a note to employees that Nike released publicly. Venkatesh Alagirisamy, a 20-year veteran of Nike, transitioned into the role on December 8.

As part of the shake-up, general managers across all regions now report directly to Hill. “It's clear how important it is to stay closely connected to what's happening on the ground, from intern to CEO, and every role I've held in between, I've felt that way,” he said.

Rebuilding Wholesale Partnerships

Elliott Hill said Nike’s ties with wholesalers such as Foot Locker and Dick’s Sporting Goods had frayed amid its aggressive shift toward direct-to-consumer sales.

Since Hill’s return, he said he has been mending those relationships. Nike is back on Amazon and has struck partnerships with smaller retailers such as Urban Outfitters and Aritzia. Nike’s wholesale revenues increased 8% year over year to $7.5 billion during its most recent quarter, which ended November 30.

Pulling Back on Promotions and Raising Prices

Elliott Hill said Nike would strive to provide a more “elevated” experience for consumers, speaking during a January interview with Fortune. He said that Nike had become “too promotional” on its own site.

“Being premium also means full price,” Hill told Fortune. “We'll focus on promotions during traditional retail moments, not at the consistent levels we are today.”

He said during March that Nike Digital, which includes its website and app, ran zero promotions across North America during January and February, down from over 30 during the same months in 2024. The cutback on promotions came alongside “surgical” price increases Nike made to mitigate tariffs during 2025.

Refreshing the Store Experience

Hill also gave the House of Innovation concept store a makeover. Nike’s 68,000-square-foot House of Innovation is the blueprint for its stores. It is a six-story flagship store that opened in 2018, showcasing the company’s most advanced products.

The first floor is dedicated to running, and the rest of the store is organized by sport, gender, and age. Elliott Hill has frequently pointed to the revamped store during his first year as a model for Nike’s move to sports-driven retail layouts.

“It’s an immersive sport experience, and the refresh has already led to double-digit revenue increases,” Hill told investors during September.