Forty Licks: Adidas, Stan Smith Extend Partnership That Began In '72

adidas has re-signed Tennis HOFer Stan Smith for another six years, extending a deal that stretches back to '72, according to Smith's agent, Donald Dell. Smith has his own signature adidas tennis sneaker line that Dell says has generated nearly $800M since its inception four decades ago. That makes it the most popular tennis sneaker ever made, said Dell, group president of Lagardère Unlimited. The new deal extends an expiring 10-year contract and is largely royalty based. Smith won Wimbledon in '72 and signed with adidas shortly after. Smith was on the verge of signing with Converse at that time, but adidas made a last-minute push to sign the champion, Dell recalled (Daniel Kaplan, SportsBusiness Journal).

TIME IS MONEY: During Thursday’s Lukas Rosol-Rafael Nadal second-round match at Wimbledon, ESPN’s John McEnroe noted that Nadal was wearing a RM 027 Tourbillon watch worth $525,000 and said, “It’s weird to see a guy wear a watch during the match, which Rafa’s been doing for a while. Talk about getting a lot of money.” ESPN’s Chris Fowler added, “It’s not just any watch, by the way. It’s a high-tech thing that’s worth like a half-million bucks. He’s had two of them swiped.” McEnroe said Nadal “got it back in Paris after he won (the French Open) for the mere seventh time” (“Wimbledon,” ESPN2, 6/28).