We think.
Alabama announced yesterday that they had signed a seven-year contract extension with Nike that will keep all Tide teams swooshed through 2018.
The new contract is valued at $30 million in cash and product over the next eight years, making it the largest Nike haul in the country based on various reports of other schools’ compensation. Before the the Alabama deal, North Carolina had reportedly been the leader at just under $3.4 million annually; the Tide’s new deal works out to $3.75 million a year.
Neither of those deals approaches Michigan’s contract with adidas, the shoe and apparel company that got bent over to the tune of $66.5 million over eight years by the Wolverines.
Adidas is also paying Notre Dame a reported $60 million over ten years.
Adidas must have a very sore ass.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, back to the new ‘Bama deal.
Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News has a very thorough breakdown of the new perks the school received in the extension, including a “signing bonus” of $2 million payable immediately and a bump in the royalty rate Alabama receives from Nike. The old rate was eight percent, while the new one will be at least 12 percent.
Needless to say, the athletic department was very pleased with this latest development.
“Together we sought an agreement that reflected our stature as a leader in college athletics on and off the field,” Alabama Athletics Director Mal Moore said in a statement. “I feel this agreement reflects that stature.”