Michigan’s $169 Million Nike Deal Is Richest in College Sports

BEAVERTON, United States — The University of Michigan's new apparel contract with Nike Inc. is worth $169 million, the largest in the history of college sports by almost $80 million.

The 11-year contract provides Michigan $12 million up front, $76.8 million in annual cash and $80.2 million in apparel, according to the university. It begins in August 2016 and includes a school option for four additional years.

The agreement eclipses the 10-year contract that Notre Dame signed with Under Armour Inc. worth more than $90 million, previously the most expensive apparel deal in college sports history. Michigan had been an Adidas AG school.

"After careful consideration, the right partner for the University of Michigan was Nike," Jim Hackett, Michigan's interim director of athletics, said last week in a statement. "This decision, this partnership is about more than Michigan athletics; at the core, it is about our University community and it is about two great names reuniting for an opportunity that speaks to more than uniforms and apparel."

Uniforms, Footwear

The world’s largest sporting goods maker, Nike will supply uniforms, footwear, apparel and equipment for all 31 Wolverines varsity programs. That includes a football team that has won more games than any other program in the country, and a men’s swimming and diving team that has 19 national championships.

The school’s athletic department turned a $13.1 million profit on $135.9 million revenue in the fiscal year ended June 2014, according to data that schools submit to the U.S. Department of Education.

Michigan’s eight-year deal with Adidas, which expires in June 2016, was worth an average of at least $6.85 million per year. The contract gave Michigan the option of extending for an additional five years, which the university declined.

Chris McGuire, director of sports marketing at Adidas, told the the Detroit News in May that Adidas wanted to re-sign with Michigan. He called the Ann Arbor school the “flagship” of the Adidas stable.

“We have great partners in the college sector, like Miami and UCLA, but we look to Michigan to drive our brand,” McGuire said, according to the newspaper. “Michigan is still the crown jewel.”

Notre Dame

Notre Dame had been with Adidas for 17 years before signing with Under Armour. The South Bend, Indiana, school’s Under Armour contract included an equity option, the details of which were not announced.

As part of the new contract, Michigan’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will use Michael Jordan’s Jumpman brand, which is a part of Nike. The deal includes three summer internships at Nike’s Beaverton, Oregon, headquarters for Michigan students. The term sheet, currently the only official document between Nike and Michigan, doesn’t mention performance bonuses for any Wolverines programs.

Nike has been the apparel sponsor for 14 of the past 15 college football champions.

By Eben Novy-Williams; editors: Michael Sillup, Jay Beberman.