Just a few years after Nike provided California with a comprehensive, streamlined look, the Golden Bears are leaving for Under Armour. The two sides announced a “campuswide parternership” on Friday, lasting 10 years and worth a reported $85.6 million.
Nabbing California was a strategic play for Under Armour. The Baltimore-based company counts San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey and some guy named Stephen Curry among its endorsers.
“We’re anchoring in the Bay Area -- it ties in strategically with our business,’' Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank told the San Jose Mercury News. “With Cal’s reputation and its Nobel Prizes and its commitment to innovation, it was a slam dunk.’'
In addition to $4.8 million annually in equipment, $3.5 million annually in cash and a $3 million signing bonus, Under Armour will outfit each of Cal’s 34 club teams, provide internship and employment opportunities for Cal students and graduates, provide fitness opportunities for Cal students, faculty and staff, and collaborate “on philanthropic and social responsibility programs.”
“We are excited to announce this unique partnership between UC Berkeley and Under Armour,” UC Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said in a statement. “Going well beyond a typical apparel contract, this relationship will extend across the entire campus, reinforcing our commitment to a strong, sustainable intercollegiate athletics program, one that is such an integral and fully integrated part of our university.”
In addition to the money, the equipment, the publicity and the new car smell, Cal gains the notoriety of owning the Pac-12’s richest apparel deal -- richer than USC, richer than Stanford, richer than Oregon. That is, until UCLA takes its turn at the plate later this year.