Last summer, Georgia inked a contract extension with Nike keeping the Bulldogs in swooshes through the 2023-24 athletic year. Details of the deal were not disclosed at the time, but the Athens Banner-Herald has uncovered the contract through an open records request and found that UGA will receive at least $40.8 million in cash and apparel.
The Dawgs will receive $2.88 million annually in gear and $1 million in cash, plus a $2 million signing bonus. Georgia’s contract is ahead of what apparel powerhouses Texas, Alabama, Kentucky and Florida reportedly receive from Nike, though the ‘Horns contract expires next year. The Bulldogs are still well behind what Michigan earns from Adidas (up soon as well) and Notre Dame’s agreement with Under Armour.
“If you compare across the SEC, all the deals are fairly close,” Georgia associate AD for external operations Alan Thomas told the paper. “There may be some a little longer term, some a little less term. There are some minor differences in all of them. Florida’s deal, to my knowledge, doesn’t have the cash component and is different in product. The Kentucky deal is a little different as well as how they do cash product. The Tennessee deal is a brand new deal (in 2014 with Nike worth a reported $34.9 million over eight years).”
Like head coach Mark Richt, Georgia can receive bonus money for on-field performance. Georgia can receive $10,000 for winning the SEC East, $20,000 for an SEC championship, $25,000 for reaching a College Football Playoff semifinal, $50,000 for reaching a national title game and $100,000 for winning it. However, the contract requires Richt - and his basketball counterparts - to make up to three appearances per year on behalf of Swoosh, Inc.