Ever wonder how much money Nike pays Oregon to wear those ridiculous cutting-edge uniforms? Well, thanks to the Oregonian, now you know.
After an open records request by the newspaper, and the edict of the state’s attorney general, Oregon finally released the details of their agreement with Nike.
Nike has bobbed and weaved its way around releasing the numbers up until this point, behind arguments based on “trade secrets,” while trying their best to remain exempt from Oregon open records laws, moves that worked under former attorney general Hardy Myers, a graduate of Oregon’s law school. But new attorney general John Kroger overturned the ruling, forcing the contract into the open
And while the eight-year, $22.7 million deal is a monster, it turns out it isn’t the largest contract Nike and Oregon grad Phil Knight have shelled out for merchandising. Nike pays North Carolina $33.7 million for the right to put the swoosh on Tar Heel uniforms for 10 years. And in the grand-daddy of contracts, Michigan dropped the swoosh and signed with Adidas in 2007, agreeing to a monstrous eight-year, $66.5 million deal. (Do they get their money back for Rich Rodriguez’s first two seasons?)
As for current collegiate uniform endorsement deals, Oregon athletics is tied with Nebraska for the fourth-largest contract, behind the Wolverines, UNC, and Kansas.
But that’s before considering Phil Knight’s private donations to the university...