Nike cut Topsports out of its online sales — ¥6.5 billion in revenue vanished overnight

On July 22, 2026, Topsports — Nike's largest distributor in mainland China — announced that Nike had formally notified it that all online platform sales of Nike products would be terminated from January 1, 2027. The affected online sales accounted for approximately 22% of Topsports' total revenue, or roughly ¥6.5 billion. Topsports' stock price plunged over 20% on the announcement.

Nike's decision was part of a broader direct-to-consumer strategy in China, consolidating its online presence through its own official Tmall, JD.com and Douyin flagship stores, Nike.com and the Nike app. Topsports, which had already closed thousands of physical stores in the preceding years, said it 'understood and respected' Nike's decision and would continue offline distribution. The termination exposed the structural risk of Topsports' heavy dependence on a single brand for the bulk of its revenue.

Topsports lost ¥6.5 billion in online sales overnight, exposing its fatal dependence on a single brand for most of its revenue.

Topsports built its business on being Nike's biggest channel in China but never diversified enough to survive a strategic shift by its dominant partner

The company had years of warning — Nike's DTC pivot was visible globally — yet failed to reduce its revenue concentration risk

When your biggest partner is also your biggest risk, revenue concentration is an existential problem — not a sign of strength