Nike founder Phil Knight sparks health fears in ‘sad’ footage of him arriving to watch Oregon after $1BN donation

Nike co-founder, philanthropist and top University of Oregon donor Phil Knight has sparked health concerns after the 88-year-old’s appearance at the Ducks’ game with rival UCLA on Saturday in Eugene.

Unfortunately for Knight and his alma mater, UCLA (5-0, 3-0 Big Ten) came away with a 17-15 win despite an injury to Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

Prior to the game, a particularly sloppy affair that included ten total turnovers, Knight was seen using a cane to enter Autzen Stadium, the 59-year-old facility he helped renovate with tens of millions in donations to the athletic department.

‘Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight couldn’t miss the game between Oregon Ducks and UCLA Bruins,’ KATU News anchor Guillermo Motta wrote on X alongside video of the billionaire’s arrival.

But, while Knight did not rely on anyone else to get him from the car to the Autzen Stadium elevator, his use of a cane did stick out to some of the Ducks faithful.

‘Damn he really aged from the last time I saw him,’ one Oregon fan wrote on X.

‘Makes me sad to see this,’ read an X post from another Ducks supporter. ‘He looks very frail.’

Many were thankful for his attendance in light of his advancing age.

‘Oh wow,’ wrote one such fan. ‘He’s really aged. Big ups for Uncle Phil.’

And countless others offered sympathy, not for Knight’s physical well-being, but because he was forced to watch Oregon (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) crumble in the second half against a team using its backup quarterback.

‘He deserved better,’ one fan wrote.

The clip did contain one humorous moment in which a stadium usher greeted Knight with a 19th-century phrase.

‘Your chariot awaits, sir,’ the woman told Knight, a former Oregon middle-distance runner during his tenure at the school in the late 1950s.

In addition to the millions of dollars he’s donated to GOP candidates over the years, Knight has spent lavishly on his home state and alma mater. In September, Knight made a $1 billion donation for the creation of the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, a new engineering school on the Eugene campus. 

Furthermore, he and his wife Penny committed $1.1 billion to the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and the Providence Heart Institute last month to build the state’s first hospital dedicated to women’s health.

The Knights have supported the institute for more than a decade, previously giving it more than $200 million, including a $75 million gift earlier this year. Along with creating the new women’s hospital, their new donation will help the medical center expand cardiovascular care and clinical research and training programs for the heart institute’s medical personnel. It will also make it easier to integrate patient care across the medical center.

‘Women’s health needs change throughout life, and too often patients are asked to navigate multiple specialties and care settings on their own,’ Ray Moreno, the medical center’s CEO, said in a statement. ‘The Knights’ gift is an opportunity to bring these resources together, expanding access for women across Oregon and creating a strong foundation to bridge care gaps in women’s health.’

The donation is particularly significant because it comes at a moment when US hospitals are seeing far more pregnant patients who are also managing chronic health conditions like diabetes, hypertension, addiction, and behavioral and mental health issues. It also lands at the same time healthcare organizations are struggling with the impact of government funding cuts.

‘Resources are scarce, and healthcare is increasingly looking to philanthropy to fill in the gaps,’ Dan Oseran, the heart institute’s executive medical director, told the Chronicle. ‘A gift like this reduces that friction a little bit and provides the ability to do things we wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.’

Counting pledges and direct gifts, the Knights’ latest commitment pushes their total charitable giving to more than $9 billion over the past two decades, with about $2.5 billion of that going to their family foundation and donor-advised funds. They have appeared on the Chronicle’s annual Philanthropy 50 list of the biggest donors 12 times since 2006.

The Knights’ charitable giving is often the result of long-term relationships they have built with nonprofit leaders they have come to trust over time.

Remarkably, they have donated more than $2 billion to the University of Oregon to support scientific and related programs, including $500 million in 2016 to launch the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. They gave another $500 million in 2021 to expand research programs, build new facilities, and support students and faculty at the Knight Campus.

The couple also gave $400 million in 2023 to the 1803 Fund, a Portland, Oregon, nonprofit, for its Rebuild Albina project, an effort to revive the economic and cultural prosperity of a once-thriving Black neighborhood that fell into neglect in the 1970s.

The Knights have given at least $580 million to Stanford University, where Phil earned an MBA. That includes $400 million in 2016 to establish Knight-Hennessy Scholars, a graduate program, and $105 million to Stanford’s business school to create the Knight Management Center. 

They also gave Stanford $75 million in 2022 to launch the Phil and Penny Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience, an effort to learn what causes cognitive decline and diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and how to delay and treat degenerative brain conditions.

The Knights have also supported college athletics, environmental programs, and sports and recreation activities for youth, among other causes.

Gifts like the Knights’ latest one prove that spending time with donors and educating them about an organization’s work is extremely important and can lead to surprising windfalls, said Erin Hall, a development consultant and former nonprofit CEO.

‘I don’t think we can ever do enough of that because that is how donors find out everything about your organization and that is how donors feel good about where their investment is going,’ Hall said. ‘What a great way to leave a legacy and to be able to watch your investment come to life. That’s a pretty cool thing for a donor, and that’s going to also keep the donor engaged for the next need that that organization has.’

As for Nike, the sneaker and athletic apparel company reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, but its revenue weakened by more than feared. Nike also gave a forecast for profit this fiscal year that fell short of analysts´ expectations. 

These days, Knight serves as Chairman Emeritus, and while he attends board meetings, he is no longer a voting member.