When Michigan signed a new apparel deal with Nike, it came with quite the financial incentive attached to it. We now understand why. Michigan football will be the first college football program to wear the signature Jumpman logo on the football field starting in 2016. In the uniform apparel world, this is quite a milestone for Nike’s Jordan Brand.
Michigan’s deal with Nike is worth a reported $169 million over 11 years, which averages out to just over $15.3 million per year. The nitty gritty of the financial deal is something we previously touched on, noting Michigan’s deal is the richest apparel contract in college sports among public institutions. Michigan will play one final season wearing uniforms provided by Adidas. The contract with Nike will begin with the next academic year in 2016.
Nike is already everywhere in college football and the Nike swoosh is as iconic as any apparel logo in the game. Nearly just as familiar is the Jumpman logo, but it has typically been associated with just basketball (Jordan was pretty good at the sport, of course). Now Nike is getting its top brand under its belt onto the football field, and it may just be the start. Michigan’s basketball program will also wear the Jumpman logo and gear, becoming the fifth program in the country to do so.
One sort of has to wonder why North Carolina was not chosen as the first school to debut the Jordan brand for football, instead of Michigan. Perhaps UNC will be the second?