"I wasn't allowed to wear any other brands" - Cameron Brink explains signing with New Balance despite her father's ties with Nike

Cameron Brink is one of the WNBA's most marketable players, and she had a horde of brands pitching for her association with her NIL deals during her stellar college career. While still a Stanford Cardinal player, Brink signed an NIL deal with New Balance, making her the first female basketball player on its roster, in 2023.

The surprising thing about Brink's deal with New Balance was that everyone expected the future LA Sparks star to sign with Nike, owing to her familial connections with the brand.

According to reports, Cameron Brink's father, Greg Brink, was the CFO for Nike's North America operations, and her mother, Michelle Bain-Brink, was the marketing manager for the women's sports footwear division at the brand. With those connections, she seemed to be a shoo-in to join Nike's roster of female talent, which included WNBA stars A'ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu.

On "Straight to Cam" on Wednesday, Cameron Brink said that it was her parents' association with Nike that prompted her to go a different way with her NIL deal and that them holding senior positions with the brand had the opposite reaction to what was expected.

"I really didn't have an issue, knowing what New Balance stands for and what they do," Brink said. "I didn't have an issue being like, 'I'm going to go a different direction.'

"When you're a Nike kid, I wasn't allowed to wear any other brands of shoes growing up. They were very serious about it. ... It (New Balance) was just the best option for me and my career, and my parents were both retired at that point, too."

As former collegiate athletes themselves, Cameron Brink's parents probably understood best about the benefits of having an NIL deal to her name, and with their affiliation to Nike having been served, there probably wasn't much protest to her signing with New Balance as there would have if the deal came earlier in her life.

Cameron Brink stands to benefit from New Balance's partnership with the WNBA, too

As Cameron Brink put it, the NIL deal with New Balance seemed to be the best move for her career when she signed it before her selection in the WNBA draft, and the decision is only set to look smarter, seeing how New Balance has moved since.

The brand has partnered with the WNBA and has signed a multiyear contract that seeks to promote women's sports, utilizing the brand as a vehicle for communication and outreach. With Brink being its most high-profile WNBA signee, it is expected that the LA Sparks star is set to be the face of its campaigns, with the likelihood of returns at an all-time high for WNBA's marketability.

Cameron Brink sporting New Balance sneakers at NBA Paris - Source: Getty

Having Brink wear New Balance shoes to the fashion capital of the world, courtside at NBA Paris, is among the first moves touted by New Balance to be made toward promoting Brink and women's sports in general.

While details of her shoe deal with New Balance haven't been made public, Brink is expected to make above the WNBA's average and is expected to be the face of New Balance's basketball future once she recovers from her unfortunate incident.

WNBA x New Balance x Cameron Brink does not appear to be a winning strategy right away, but with time, especially if Brink is able to perform at the highest level akin to how she did at Stanford, the deal is likely to be a success story, and Brink's NIL deal is going to require some renegotiation at a later stage.