Kansas athletics still has not signed its multimillion-dollar apparel deal with Adidas, and a KU spokesperson yesterday said that he is "not sure when the deal will be finalized," according to a front-page piece by Chad Lawhorn of the LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD. KU is "attempting to complete the deal at a time when a cloud of legal problems hangs over a key Adidas executive who has been charged as part of a federal investigation to illegal recruiting practices in college basketball." The pending deal -- valued at $191M over a 14-year period -- would be Adidas' "largest by dollar amount with any university in the country." KU Associate AD/Public Affairs Jim Marchiony said that the school is "not delaying finalizing the deal due to the legal developments" with former Adidas Dir of Global Sports Marketing James Gatto. Marchiony added that it is "still possible that KU could sign the Adidas deal prior to the legal matters with Gatto being resolved." Lawhorn notes both KU and Adidas "publicly announced the deal in late September, and Gatto himself took to social media to tout the extension." But KU officials have since said that Gatto had "no role in negotiating the new deal between KU and Adidas." KU's current deal with Adidas expires in July '19. Marchiony also "declined to go into details about whether KU was seeking any sort of new protections given the legal issues swirling around the company" (LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD, 11/29).
