It only seems natural that the school that gave the basketball world Michael Jordan would be among the first programs to adopt the Jumpman logo on its uniform. While Michigan may have broken the seal on wearing the Jumpman logo on their football uniforms last season, UNC is reportedly making the most obvious of uniform choices beginning with the 2017 season.
According to a report from Inside Carolina, the University of North Carolina and Nike are working on a new contract deal. The current 10-year contract with Nike was signed in 2009, which is the primary reason the school and Nike are underway negotiating terms of a new apparel contract. Following the success with how the Michigan Nike contract played out, UNC should be optimistic about the impact the Nike property can have for its program as well.
UNC’s existing contract with Nike is valued at $37.7 million and was retroactively effective starting on July 1, 2008, making this the final year of the contract. Michigan’s current contract with Nike through 2031 is valued at $173.8 million. Contract values will tend to increase, and if UNC is going to showcase the Jordan Brand with their uniforms, then there is a little extra incentive to add more value to the contract for UNC. How much UNC will end up getting with their next contract remains to be seen, but the buzz surrounding the possibility of wearing Jordan’s signature logo on the uniform should be a good sales pitch on the recruiting trail when UNC shows off new uniforms. After all, that’s what all of this is about anyway, right?
Because UNC and Nike have an existing contract in place, Nike has an exclusive opportunity for negotiating with UNC over a future apparel deal. Other companies would have to wait to enter a negotiating phase if UNC and Nike are unable to make ends meet. That is not likely to happen as UNC and Nike have been working together since 1993. The two have extended their contract four times since first partnering.