The Univ. of North Carolina football team "will join the Jumpman family" for the '17 season, with the official announcement coming at the Dean Dome during halftime of Saturday's Duke-UNC men's basketball game, according to Chip Patterson of CBSSPORTS.com. Basketball HOFer Michael Jordan on Saturday was at Kenan Stadium "showing off some of the new UNC football gear" along with coach Larry Fedora. Michigan last fall became the "first major college football team to wear Jordan Brand uniforms," and UNC will become the second team to wear the logo. Given Jordan’s ties to UNC and the "prevalence of Jordan gear through the school’s current Nike deal, the move to Jordan Brand uniforms for the football team comes as no surprise." UNC basketball has been "wearing Jumpman uniforms since" '98-99 (CBSSPORTS.com, 3/4). INSIDE CAROLINA's Greg Barnes noted UNC’s current Nike contract was signed in May '09, and the 10-year, $37.7M deal "included a premium royalty on the sale of merchandise carrying UNC logos." Sources said that UNC is "currently negotiating a new deal with Nike" (SCOUT.com, 3/3).
