Student: Nguyen Dieu Thuong

ID: 434219
Class: VISK2021A
Date: Nov 22nd, 2023
Article Review #1
Paul Fireman – Reebok International (1979 – 2006)
Article: “Paul Fireman: Sole Man”, Terry Lefton. Sports Business Journal, June 14th 2021.
Introduction
America has always been considered the dream land for entrepreneurs for the opportunities it
brings. There have been countless stories of successful business leaders throughout the nation’s
history. The inspirational story of Paul Fireman and his discovery of Reebok is one of the great
examples of how a visionary and passionate business leader could step in the “big league” late,
yet being to compete and “rattled” the largest players in the market. The article by Terry Lefton
in 2021 provided many insights on what made Paul Fireman the remarkable business of 20 th
century as he was.
Background
Many great stories of success have humble beginnings. Fireman only spent a year in university
before dropping out to work for his family’s outdoor sporting goods business named Boston
Camping for 15 years. For an exemplary business leader that are often praised for his eye for
product and consumer sensitivity, Fireman credited a large part due to the honing of such
qualities while he was working for this family humble business.
In 1979, Fireman discovered Reebok - a struggling British shoes brand with history dated back to
even the 1890s - during a sporting-goods trade show in Chicago. At the time, U.S the market had
already been dominated by the two global giants Nike and Adidas, yet Fireman recognized the
brand’s potential with his unbelievable vision that already positioned Reebok as a leader right at
that moment. He began to acquire the North American sales rights for a humble $65,000 in 1979,
then went on to purchase the entire band only 5 years later, and the rest is history of how Reebok
became a behemoth of the sports apparel industry like they did.
Why is Paul Fireman great
The success of Reebok for since the late 1970s to early 2000s were mostly credited to Fireman.
Many of his business achievements and qualities are considered unmatched by his fellow
businessmen and even competitors.
Fireman is considered by many to single-handedly build up Reebok to become the second most
successful athletic brand in the United States. Its revolutionary Freestyle shoe – the first designed
for aerobics – was a big hit that helped Reebok to surpassed Adidas and Nike in market share,
though only for a period of time. Reebok captured more than 30% of the U.S athletic footwear
market within a few years of the introduction of the Freestyle sensation.
During Fireman’s tenure of 22 years at Reebok, he revolutionized sports apparel licensing game,
the sportwear hip hop culture, and turned the brand into a giant of the sports apparel industry
before selling it to Adidas in 2005 for $3.8 billion.
Characteristics of a great business leader
It is not by accident that Paul Fireman accomplished many great things with his business
endeavor with Reebok. His success is often credited to his outstanding and - ahead of its time –
vision, his creativity that always pushes all the boundaries, and his understanding of people and
culture.
In an industry where the global giants of Nike and Adidas always tried to push the boundary with
top-notch engineering and out of-the-box marketing, Fireman was ahead on so many things with
his business vision. Reebok was ahead of everybody else in the exclusive license for all major
sports league. By 2005, Reebok had league rights to the NBA, NFL and NHL, where having the
license for those brands exclusively, Fireman had part of everybody’s retailed puzzle, which gave
Reebok a great leverage. Fireman’s model of exclusivity is considered revolutionary for sports
licensing.
Besides being a visionary business leader, Fireman is also known for his fearless approach in
taking risk and “breaking rules”. While Nike and Adidas were always trying to play safe and
conventional, Fireman saw the opportunities with basketball, hip-hop music, fashion and culture
in the 1990s and went all-in. He signed and endorsed many sports and hip-hop royalty like Jay-Z,
50 Cent, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’neal and Reebok thrived with top-selling signature shoes
and apparel deals. Fireman’s creativity made the sneaker business look like the music business.
Paul Fireman understands people and values them. His philosophy was that everybody’s equally
important and he always looked for great ideas from just about anyone, anywhere and anytime.
Fireman had no idea who Jay-Z was, but got the suggestion to sign a deal with the hip-hop artist
from a warehouse worker at the time, who was well-versed in the hip-hop culture. Later in life,
when Fireman’s health prevented him from going full-force at the helm of Reebok, though there
were many talented and exceptional businessmen running the company, the importance of
culture and people was dismissed, and it showed the impact without Fireman’s instantly.
Conclusion
The legacy of a visionary business leader who always aimed to think outside the box and
constantly pushing boundaries always remain of American greats. Reebok impact on the industry
during the time Fireman was in-charged was the key reason that made Nike and other
competitors to innovate, and it was a key driver that made the industry what it is today. Also, it
has not always been only the results, but the way Fireman built the second-most successful
athletic brand in the United States will always be a prime example of creative and for-the-people
leadership style that set Reebok apart from others.
References
 Terry Lefton (2021). “Paul Fireman: The Sole Man.” Sports Business Journal, June 14th
2021.
 https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2021/06/14/Portfolio/
Fireman.aspx
 AP (15 August 2005). "The Man Who Made Reebok Jump High". LA Times. Retrieved 18
October 2015.
 Johnson, Kieron. "Reebok co-founder shares 3 rules for startup success". Business
Insider. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
 Healy, Beth (10 June 2011). "Paul Fireman takes another shot". The Boston Globe.
Retrieved 18 October 2015.
 Fireman, Paul (2003). From the Pain Come the Dream: The Recipients of the Reebok
Human Rights Award. New York: Umbrage. ISBN 1884167357.
 "SBJ honors former Reebok CEO Paul Fireman with Lifetime Achievement Award". 16
June 2021.