Arizona State inks 8-year deal with adidas

(Photo: Adam Stites/WCSN)

Arizona State announced an 8-year deal with adidas on Tuesday, making the apparel company the official provider of athletic apparel, footwear and accessory brand for the school’s athletic program.

The partnership, which runs through the 2022-23 season, is worth $33.8 million over the next eight years and will officially begin in July 2015.

“We not only made a decision that was advantageous for Sun Devil Athletics financially, but a partnership decision that will undoubtedly advance our brand based on the innovation of the company and commitments that adidas has outlined,” said ASU athletic director Ray Anderson.

The partnership marks the end of a deal with Nike that began in 2005. According to Jeff Metcalfe of the Arizona Republic, ASU is receiving $2.11 million in equipment and cash from Nike during the 2014-15 season, which means the $4.225 million coming from adidas will double the university’s revenue from apparel.

ASU will also save money from uniform changes. Previously, the school had to fundraise and receive donations to afford specialty uniforms like the Desert Fuel uniforms that the football team debuted against Notre Dame in November. Those uniform changes would cost donors as much as $400,000, but now adidas will front those bills.

“With regards to special orders for unique occasions like breast cancer awareness or military appreciation, those uniforms will be provided by our new partner, adidas, over and above the base uniform amounts,” Anderson said.

Sun Devil athletics retains the rights and trademarks to Sparky, the pitchfork logo and the fonts currently used by the athletic program, so the expectation is that the new partnership won’t yield drastic differences in the look of the school’s teams in action.

“I don’t think drastic [changes] will occur,” Anderson said. “We’ll do it deliberately, very appropriately, hopefully very artistically, but it will be a combination of their input and ours. At the end of the day, we’re the customer and these are our uniforms and our traditions.”

ASU becomes one of 12 NCAA programs licensed by adidas, joining Cincinnati, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, Michigan, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Texas A&M and Wisconsin, as well as the only other Pac-12 school licensed by adidas, UCLA.

While much of the talk will be the affect the new partnership has on the uniforms of the football program and the team’s ability to recruit, the team did receive the endorsement of Snoop Dogg. The rapper (and father of 4-star wide receiver recruit Cordell Broadus) took to Instagram to congratulate the school on the deal with adidas.

A factor in the decision to align with adidas was the apparel brand’s reputation in Olympic sports, such as soccer, which ASU hoped to emphasize with the partnership. In addition to football, basketball and baseball, adidas will be the apparel provider for all 23 varsity programs at ASU, including the university’s marching band and spirit squad.

“The band and spirit squad were specifically covered because we believe that those members of our team deserve and merit a lot of attention for their hard work,” Anderson said. “So adidas was willing to step up and really specify that our band and spirit squads are part of our teams and therefore will be covered under this agreement.”

The emphasis on lesser-revenue sports was something that made the partnership with ASU an attractive option for adidas, according to the company’s Group North America president, Mark King.

“What we are very proud of at adidas is not just that we’re in the core sports like football, basketball, baseball, but we try to be in all sports,” King said. “We try to be authentic to athletes no matter what their passion is or what they’re good at. Walking through the front lobby and seeing all the different sports that [ASU has] won championships in, sports that maybe don’t get the national exposure, but those are athletes.”

Announced in the agreement too was the creation of an internship program that will provide up to 12 ASU students studying law, business, journalism and other undergraduate programs with internships with adidas.

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