Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
On Sunday, America’s men’s hockey team outlasted Canada to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics for the first time since 1980. However, fans who’ve wanted to commemorate the victory by scooping up a jersey have encountered some issues that reportedly stem back to Nike not having faith in their ability to prevail in Italy.
Canada’s men’s hockey team headed to the Winter Olympics as the odds-on favorite to win the gold medal thanks to a stacked team of NHL superstars that included Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Sidney Crosby.
However, Team USA was not far behind on the betting front, as most sportsbooks had the Americans listed at around +200 to win the gold as opposed to the approximately +120 the favorites to the north were getting.
The two squads entered the tournament on a collision course to meet in the gold medal game, and they ultimately faced off in it on Sunday.
We were treated to an instant classic that saw America pull out to a 1-0 lead in the first period before Canada was able to tie things up in the second. The guys representing the stars and stripes were able to endure an offensive barrage from the foes with a maple leaf on their jersey before Jack Hughes netted the game-winning overtime goal on the 46th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice.
That gold medal represented a golden opportunity for Nike, the company that produced the jerseys Team USA rocked in Milano Cortina, but it sounds like they were unable to capitalize after making a bet that didn’t pay off.
Nike reportedly failed to produce enough Team USA hockey jerseys because they didn’t think America would be able to beat Canada
Canada may have objectively had the most talented team at the 2026 Winter Olympics, but there aren’t many serious hockey fans who genuinely believed America didn’t have a shot at beating them if they ended up playing for the gold medal.
This was also the first time NHL players had competed at The Games since 2014, so there was naturally going to be a spike in interest that Nike had the opportunity to capitalize on as the brand that was tapped to design the (in my opinion, incredibly fresh) jerseys that Team USA donned during the tournament.
However, fans who tried to scoop one up after the game were met with disappointment, as people who headed to Nike’s website or tried to buy a sweater from one of the retailers it supplies were greeted by the “Sold Out” messages that quickly popped up in the wake of the contest.
According to The Athletic, the supply issue was a self-inflicted wound, as the outlet bluntly stated that Nike was unable to meet demand because it “did not produce enough stock because Canada, not the United States, was expected to win Olympic gold (it added the company has historically attempted to “forecast the exact number of jerseys that will sell and only make that amount” for events like the Olympics).
It’s unclear exactly how much money Nike missed out on due to the miscalculation, but it noted it is scrambling to restock the jerseys “in the coming days” in an attempt to stop some of the bleeding.