On December 15, Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history to score more than 40 points in a game. It was also only the third time in the league’s 79-year history that a teenager scored 40 points, five rebounds and five assists.
The only other two players to achieve that last statistic were LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Considering that lofty company, and the fact that James, Durant and about 65% of the NBA wears Nike shoesit’s still a bit of a shock to see Flagg don New Balance.
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The privately held Massachusetts shoemaker has gradually built a relatively small but elite roster of athlete ambassadors over the past decade. Despite its size (New Balance’s 2024 sales were about $7.8 billion, compared to Nike’s $51.4 billion), Flagg shares the shoe brand with reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen and Major League Baseball MVP Shohei Ohtani. Not to mention WNBA standout Cameron Brink, as well as fellow NBA stars Tyrese Maxey, Kawhi Leonard, Jamal Murray, Darius Garland and Zack Levine. Many star in the brand’s latest ad, which dropped on January 5.
CMO Chris Davis says the goal is not to be the biggest, but the best, most exclusive sports marketing brand in the world. “We had to find that core part of our identity that allowed us to be successful for the first 110 years of our existence,” says Davis. “And it was rooted in the idea of being the ultimate challenger brand. We always say internally that we are a heritage brand, not a heritage brand. A heritage brand relies purely on its past. A heritage brand honors its past, but is obsessed with innovating into the future.”
That mentality has fueled New Balance as it has disrupted streetwear, fashion and sports. But as the company has grown 20% or more in each of the past five years, the challenge now is maintaining its boutique challenger status amid the significant growth.
Progressive with a new design
While Flagg, Ohtani and Allen score in sports, New Balance can also maintain and build on its streetwear and fashion bonafides with innovative looks like the new Gator Run (a flat style trainer), and of course the snoafer (also known as 1906L). Meanwhile, the Absorb 2000 and SC Elite V5 are mentioned among the best sneakers of 2025.
Davis says the original basis for today’s star-studded roster of athletes was the heritage of running, combined with its ties to streetwear and sneaker culture.
“In those early stages, it was definitely about resonating with our rise, especially in streetwear,” he says. “And then of course it was about the trusted innovations that we have been bringing to the market for decades.”
The driving force now is the brand’s commitment to its independence and what that brings them in the way they work with athletes and other employees.
“The fact that we are privately owned certainly promotes a unique mentality,” Davis says. “And the fact that we don’t have to make decisions based on Wall Street or quarterly numbers allows us to take a long-term view, build a strong foundation and do things primarily because we believe they are the right thing to do, the right thing for the brand, the right thing for our people internally and the right thing for all our partners.”
The evolving New Balance brand
He credits the brand’s independent identity with attracting the first of its wave of new athletes over the past decade. But another pillar of Davis’ athlete strategy is partnership over sponsorship. Athletes are not pigeonholed into one sport category, basketball or tennis, but are part of the brand as a whole. This is reflected in launches such as the recent collaboration between fashion label Miu Miu and Gauff.
“We work together on everything our key athletes touch,” he says. “So we co-author our stories, we co-author our product and we co-author our business strategies. They have tremendous input into how we collectively go to market. That not only expands their sphere of influence, but it also makes them more connected to our brand.”
As 2026 kicks off, the challenge facing Davies is the same as it was 12 months ago: continued growth without sacrificing the culture that created that growth. But New Balance recognizes that the perception of its brand has changed, and that has helped their momentum. Years ago, it was New Balance that pushed athletes and other partners to collaborate, but now the company turns down about 99% of incoming requests.
“The best indicator of future behavior is past behavior, and success breeds success,” says Davis. “Ultimately, being the best version of ourselves is one of our most important goals. But I don’t think it’s gotten any easier because our expectations have gotten higher.”
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