UW Adidas contract

  • Thread starter Deleted Stingtalker 69
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Ouch. Our deal ran out at about the worst time. Everyone knew Russell was leaving the CFB apparel market entirely. UA was no longer throwing money around. We weren't a priority for Nike, so we had to take what we could get, I guess. Hopefully we are in a better position the next go around. Our Adidas deal is shorter, right? Like 5 or 6 years?
 
when we made our deal it was still #31 in all of NCAA, I think, in total compensation (low in cash, but good in apparel). That's not too bad.

But this deal is insane, especially to a non-powerhouse school.
 
Architorture23 said:
when we made our deal it was still #31 in all of NCAA, I think, in total compensation (low in cash, but good in apparel). That's not too bad.

But this deal is insane, especially to a non-powerhouse school.
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Said it then. Saying it now. Our addidas deal sucked. Period. Time will show that. Both before and after the signing. They deal has to be viewed in cash. Apparel is a company write off essentially.

But. I recognize we had little choice and leverage. So. Iiwii. Got probably the best we could with smart business men making deals with institutional weenies whom never really ran a company.
 
33jacket said:
Said it then. Saying it now. Our addidas deal sucked. Period. Time will show that. Both before and after the signing. They deal has to be viewed in cash. Apparel is a company write off essentially.

But. I recognize we had little choice and leverage. So. Iiwii. Got probably the best we could with smart business men making deals with institutional weenies whom never really ran a company.
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Our choices were basically this
1. What we got with adidas
2. Us paying Nike or UA for uniforms and apparel
3. Spinning up textile engineering to make our own

We were completely screwed by being the last program of any remote significance clinging to Russell. When Russell said it was out of the uniform business, we had no cards to play.

For such a smart school, we have had some extraordinary dumbasses in charge. Dave Braine is at the top of the totem pole in terms of morons in charge at Tech. (Peterson is right there with him).
 
33jacket said:
Said it then. Saying it now. Our Adidas deal sucked. Period. Time will show that. Both before and after the signing. They deal has to be viewed in cash. Apparel is a company write off essentially.

But. I recognize we had little choice and leverage. So. Iiwii. Got probably the best we could with smart business men making deals with institutional weenies whom never really ran a company.
Click to expand...

One thing to consider, at the time we inked our deal, Adidas stated they were about done with P5 apparel deals. They didn't come out and say it, but my interpretation of that comment was, "we have about hit the wall in return on investment projections specifically for power college teams. Our adv and marketing dollars are much better spent elsewhere. ie G5 teams where we're not in a bidding war with Nike and professional sports worldwide". This was pre FBI NCAA apparel company indictments. They (Adidas) very well could have seen a significant loss of market share in the segment that their investment in P5 college athletics targets, triggering a re-assessment to pull back or go all-in. Also, there was a cleaning of house so to speak at the top in the Adidas company division that deals with college athletics apparel deals. They probably have a significantly different strategy and game plan regarding apparel deals than the previous management team.

Our deal was a combination of just bad luck timing with basically across the board downturns in college athletics revenue streams and our relative negative negotiating position with a departing supplier getting out of the business. Regardless, could our deal have been better? Of course it could. At the same time, we are in a much, much, much better place than we were and should be in a better place still at the time of the next deal. I think TS did about as good he could with what he had to work with. I'm very happy to be with Adidas, I think it will prove to be a relationship of mutual benefit.
 
It seems like we're blaming Russell entirely for the way our uni's looked. Didn't we have any say in what they looked like?
 
LongforDodd said:
It seems like we're blaming Russell entirely for the way our uni's looked. Didn't we have any say in what they looked like?
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I don't know who has a say in what, but the way the uniforms looked, design-wise, was the least of the problems with Russell. The main problems were image and branding. Many of our current players have expressed excitement about the change and recruits probably feel the same way. Russell is basically the antithesis of "cool".
 
I just hope we never wear a basketball brand of a player that attended another school on the football field.
 
I find the topic of uniforms to be an eternal source of entertainment. We had ample fun bitching about Russell. Now we're getting to bitch about Adidas. And we'll get another opportunity to bitch once the design is actually unveiled. It's like the Jelly of the Month Club: the gift that keeps on giving the whole year.

Speaking of uniform designs, anyone see what Nike did for VPISU? Woof.

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I'm pretty sure the Russell deal is only the fourth or fifth dumbest thing Braine did.
 
Has Adidas crapped out any mock-ups for the jerseys yet? Lasers and fog machine reveal party?
 
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