In a deal worth millions, UW may drop Nike for adidas
The University of Washington may end its 20-year relationship with Nike. The UW Athletic Department announced Tuesday it plans to sign a new uniform and footwear deal with adidas instead.
It will be one of the most expensive deals in college sports.
The apparel contract that's proposed between University of Washington and adidas is worth more than $120 million, as outlined in the contract.
The athletic company would supply that amount in apparel and cash incentives over the next ten years.
The $120 million agreement more than triples the amount UW has received from Nike in the current 10 year contract ($35 million).
It's the seventh most valuable apparel deal in college sports, according to Forbes. Number one is the contract between UCLA and Under Armour for $280 million. One of Nike's largest college contracts, with the University of Oregon, is worth $88 million.
The adidas deal is not final. It needs to be approved by the UW Board of Regents, which will meet this Thursday.
If the deal goes through, Husky athletes could be donning the adidas three stripes, instead of the swoosh, by summer 2019.
Nike has been UW's athletic brand for the past 20 years. Nike also is the brand of Washington State University and the majority of PAC-12 Conference schools.
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Paige Browning
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Paige hosts midday newscasts and monitors news of significance to the Puget Sound region. She hopped over Washington’s mountains to join KUOW, after hosting news and reporting at Spokane Public Radio since 2011. She began her start in radio while a journalism student at University of Montana, by sharing stories with KUFM. Paige was raised in the mountains and rivers around Spokane. In her spare time she cheers on the Mariners in the summer, and hopes for snow in the winter.
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