If this is old news, then I guess I’m late to the party. 

Nike has always done the “____ Knows” campaign with their athletes. Over the years we’ve seen them market their athletes with these shirts for Bo Jackson, Yoenis Cespedes, Adrian Peterson and so on. But up until then, they’ve only been with shirts and sometimes shoes.

But for the first time to my knowledge, the company has produced a line of caps to go with the famous slogan. This is something that Nike appears to be reaching out with in their sights for a new avenue to market their players.

There is a certain loyalty with fans when it comes to certain players. Some fans will buy anything and everything that has the name or the image of that player. And of course, caps are no exception.

The marketing stranglehold that Nike has in the sports fashion world is top of the line and why wouldn’t they produce a cap to match the shirt they wear? Fans will get it because it is another way of them showing their allegiance to the player. And with today’s fashion of big block letters on caps, it works out very well.

And also, there are people who are just loyal to Nike itself as a brand.

The tweet above says that Nike sent the cap to Brandon Crawford, assuming that they want him to wear it around the clubhouse or even after games during postgame conferences. We see athletes wearing clothing that resembles their own name or likeness more and more these days. In this day and age of self-imaging and branding, it’s not that uncommon anymore.

If Nike paid the athlete enough under a certain contract, there’s a certain loyalty you have in wearing Nike’s products. That’s how Nike can continue to succeed in the merchandising market. They’ve been innovators and risk takers for years. They understand their place in the marketing business as one of the top dogs. They’ve been so good at it and whatever their next idea will be, it will succeed.

Trust me. Nike knows.