On June 1, 2026, Stephen Curry posted a video to Instagram and ended his seven-month sneaker free agency. “This is bigger than a shoe deal, bigger than a signature series. This is a partnership of a lifetime,” the 38-year-old said. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the terms: more than $400 million across ten years, a deal that expands Curry Brand globally across basketball, athleisure, and a full golf line, grants Curry the ability to sign both male and female athletes under his own brand, and includes plans for Curry Brand retail stores in both the United States and China.
Every major sports outlet in the world covered the signing within hours. Almost none of them covered the company that signed him.
The Curry deal is the entry point to the story. The story is what a $4.3 billion Chinese company that earns 98 percent of its revenue inside one country intends to do with the most recognizable shooter in basketball history. Li-Ning is named after a man who won three Olympic gold medals for China in Los Angeles in 1984. It is the official outfitter of the Chinese Olympic delegation through the 2028 Los Angeles Games. It hs already built an NBA roster including Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler, Fred VanVleet, CJ McCollum, and D’Angelo Russell before it added Curry.
Which means that in 2028, in the same city where Li-Ning’s founder became a national hero, the company will dress the entire Chinese Olympic delegation while Steph Curry builds his American brand under its ownership. Its two largest commercial bets, the Olympic sponsorship and the Curry partnership, arrive at peak visibility in the same place at the same moment. This is not a coincidence. It is a plan. And understanding it requires understanding the business almost nobody covering the Curry signing has bothered to look at.
365247 breaks down the entire Li Ning business, from its financial performance, dominance in the Chinese market, and ambitions for international growth. I also examine the company's partnership with Stephen Curry, and the opportunities Li Ning believes it can unlock through the deal….
Li-Ning’s 2025 Numbers
Li Ning generated RMB 29.598 billion, approximately $4.30 billion, in revenue during 2025, an increase of 3.2% from RMB 28.676 billion in 2024.
Gross profit rose to RMB 14.489 billion, while net profit attributable to shareholders declined slightly by 2.6% to RMB 2.936 billion, approximately $427 million