The Univ. of Miami "will announce a multi-year, multimillion-dollar branding deal with Adidas on Thursday, the latest marquee move in the arms race between shoe companies," according to Matt Porter of the PALM BEACH POST. UM "was the first college to sign an all-sports contract when it partnered with Nike" in '87. UM AD Blake James said that the school "wished to explore its value on the open market" with its current deal expiring Aug. 31. Sources said that adidas is "expected to pay UM somewhere in the range" of the eight-year, $33.8M pact it announced with Arizona State last month. UM is a private institution and, therefore, "is not required to disclose its financial dealings." The adidas deal means new UM Nike products "may no longer be available in retail stores." Incoming UM basketball recruit Anthony Lawrence Jr. "tweeted his displeasure about UM’s reported switch to Adidas." Lawrence, whose AAU team is sponsored by Nike, "wears a Nike sweatshirt in his Twitter profile photo" (PALM BEACH POST, 1/6). In Miami, Susan Miller Degnan reports adidas "has already been canvassing UM’s coaches at the Coral Gables campus to find out what type of shoes and apparel are needed to suit each sport’s athletes." Sources said that some UM teams "will have two to three times more lucrative budgets to use for shoes and apparel." One source said that the new UM contract "will be in the 10-year range." Sources said that most UM coaches "are fine with the expected switch, but it could impact the men’s basketball program because UM has been recruiting players who have ties to the Nike AAU program" (MIAMI HERALD, 1/6). In Ft. Lauderdale, Christy Cabrera Chirinos reported the expectation is athletes and coaches "will be receiving more gear than they did under the school’s present contract with Nike." A source said UM "will be treated like a special entity" by adidas (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 1/5).
CATS' STRIPES: The FIU athletic department and adidas have entered into a five-year deal worth about $2.6M, making the company the official footwear, apparel and accessory brand of the school's teams through the '19 season. FIU's new deal more than doubles its previous agreement with adidas. All 18 of the school's D-I programs, as well as the rest of the department, will be exclusively outfitted by adidas under the deal. FIU has been outfitted by adidas since '05 (FIU).
