Nike has a strong hold on the college sports business outfitting an overwhelming majority of college programs, but they might be losing one of its longest partners in the game – the University of Miami. Nike has been the official outfitter and supplier of apparel and footwear for “The U”‘s athletic program for more than 27 years.
There have been a number of shifts over the past couple of years in college sports with who is their official outfitter. Even yesterday it was announced that the Arizona State Sun Devils were swapping the swoosh for stripes by joining Adidas’ roster. But what makes the talk of the Hurricanes and Nike no longer together such a bigger story is how the relationship came to be.
Nike inked the Miami Hurricanes back in 1987 in their absolute prime as a powerhouse in college football to what was the first exclusive head-to-toe outfitting deal in college sports history. Nike and as well as other brands were not new to the game of college sports deals when Miami signed, but why this deal was different was that the agreement stretched across all sports for both men and women. Today, exclusive deals across all sports are the norm in college athletic deals.
Today, the Palm Beach Post reported that Miami has not renewed its contract with Nike that is set to expire at end of August of 2015. Why this matters at this juncture is that apparel and footwear companies need relatively long lead times to prepare for the uniforms that will have to be worn once the new contract gets started.
Two brands and hopeful signers have presented offers to the University of Miami – Adidas and Under Armour. Under the agreement Miami has with Nike, they are given an opportunity to match any offer, but the price tag may be too high for Nike to stay signed.
Again citing the report from the Palm Beach Post, the offers presented by Adidas and Under Armour are expected to be “several million dollars per year richer than Nike’s deal.”
