Nike rumor du jour: The swoosh to buy Nautilus

OK, what would we be without a rumor about some company that Nike is considering buying? We had the Precor one last fall. Lately, it was Fila. Both died on the vine when others bought ’em. How convenient.

Now? We have been hearing for weeks that Nike is looking at buying Nautilus from The Nautilus Group (with another version being that the Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike is to buy the entire Vancouver, Wash.-based Nautilus company. Even MSN picked up on the rumor and passed it around as such a few weeks ago. For the record, Nike says the always reassuring and always expected “no comment” since it never comments about acquisitions or other business doings like that. Nautilus stays mum too.

SNEWS View: Funny how these things get started then spread like wildfire. Honestly, why would Nike want a big equipment company like that? Insiders tell us it just ain’t in the cards and wonder aloud about where this is coming from. Now, think about it from Nautilus’ standpoint: It just changed its name to “Nautilus” less than a year ago. Sell off its namesake? We’ve heard of wacky things, but this may just take the cake. And we don’t think that Nautilus CEO/Founder Brian Cook is ready to say he’s done, sell the entire company, and retire either. Of course, we love the fountain of “well-placed” sources. You know the kind — the ones that know somebody who used to work for … and are now working with… you get the picture. Guys, this is so far out there. Enjoy the rumor. Now, let’s drop it.