The Univ. of Wisconsin's 10-year, $96M apparel deal with Under Armour that was formally announced Friday is "believed to be second only to Michigan’s 15-year, $169 million deal signed with Nike earlier this year," according to Dennis Punzel of the WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL. The deal, which goes into effect next July, "surpasses Under Armour's previous largest deal" -- a 10-year, $90M contract with Notre Dame signed in '14. The new deal ends UW's 15-year relationship with adidas, with the "expiring five-year deal worth roughly" $11M annually. UW AD Barry Alvarez said of the UA deal, "The finances speak for themselves. But it was not just for financial reasons that we made this decision. We made this decision because of the quality of apparel and footwear that we will receive and the service we believe we will get." Punzel noted UW becomes the 32nd university on UA's "growing roster." The company is "still in the process of coming up with final uniform designs for all sports." Alvarez and UA Founder, Chair & CEO Kevin Plank each said that fans "shouldn’t expect to see any radical changes in the look of the Badgers." Punzel noted UA "will not provide shoes for the volleyball and track and field teams next year." But Plank said that those products "will be developed in the next few years" (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 10/11).
MORE MOVES IN MADISON: UW has picked Atlanta-based Fermata Partners to be its licensing agency beginning July 1. Fermata, a division of CAA Sports, will manage a trademark licensing program that generates $60M annually in retail sales. The school previously worked with CLC. UW becomes the sixth new school Fermata has signed in the last 15 months, joining Georgia, Kentucky, Miami, Notre Dame and Oregon. UW works with close to 400 licensees across a range of categories. Trademark licensing has generated more than $33M in revenue since '88. Royalties from licensing are split evenly between athletics and the financial aid office for need-based scholarships. Fermata won a competitive bid process against CLC and Learfield Licensing Partners, the school said. UW Associate AD/Administration Jeff Schmidt, who was part of a committee of athletics and university personnel that made the decision, said, "What stood out to us was the quality of the programs they represent and the growth model they presented to us, as well as the boutique style of agency. With the move to Under Armour, we felt like this was a good time for a new licensing partner.” Fermata will pay UW a signing bonus plus percentages of each sale. UW ranked 14th in CLC’s '14-15 ranking of the best-selling schools. Schmidt said the school has traditionally been ranked in the 15-20 range (Michael Smith, Staff Writer).
