While the Univ. of Wisconsin's athletic department is in
final negotiations to have Reebok outfit all 22 teams and pay
$6.5M over five years in exchange for exclusive marketing rights
to UW apparel, the deal may be "unraveling" according to the
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. Earlier this week, three UW track
and cross country coaches claimed their runners would be at a
competitive disadvantage if forced to wear Reebok shoes, and a
student government representative on the UW athletic board has
complained to Dane County DA Bill Foust that the board violated
the state's open-meeting law in discussing the Reebok deal in
December. Vince Sweeney, Dir of Marketing and Licensing at UW's
Athletic Dept., said the school is still in a negotiating process
with Reebok and hopes recent events are not "deal breakers."
Sweeney expects a deal as early as April. He said recent
comments by the track coaches that Nike makes a better shoe made
Reebok "very upset," but Sweeney said he thinks the problems with
Reebok can be worked out because "they're good people" (Michael
Hunt, MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 2/29).
