27-Year Partnership with Nike Terminated / by Maxwell Young

In 1987, the University of Miami and Nike agreed to a deal that would change the entire landscape of college sports forever.  An all-sports apparel contract, which is now the standard among the NCAA, outfitted the inventors of swagger in Nike gear all throughout their cataclysmic championship runs--but now, no more.

This week, adidas and the Miami Hurricanes will announce a new agreement in which the company out of Herzogenaurach, Germany will become the school's new all-sports apparel supplier.  Make no bones about it, this deviation from a 27-year partnership stems from the decision of athletic director Blake James to test the Hurricane's athletic value in the open market.  According to sources, the adidas deal is worth several million dollars more per year than the previous Nike contract.

adidas took away another Nike contract just last month when it agreed to terms with Arizona St. to sponsor their athletics for an eight-year $33 million deal. The Miami contract would mark 11 out of the 65 Power 5 conference schools that adidas sponsors.  Whether Nike ultimately loses its control over the college football market remains to be seen, but it is apparent that the German company is investing more money than it ever has into advertising (approximately $239 million).