We’ve known for a few months now that Oklahoma football has made the move from just having Nike as their apparel provider to being outfitted by the Jordan Brand starting in 2018. What we didn’t know was how much the school was going to take in as a result of the new deal but to the surprise of absolutely nobody, it’s quite a bit.
Per a report from the OU Daily, which obtained the new contract with the university, the Sooners take in as much as $70 million when all is said and done.Under the revised deal, Oklahoma’s supplied product limit for apparel and product increases $6.1 million from 2017-18 to 2023-24, with the total supplied product limit for the life of the Jordan Brand deal at $49.4 million.
OU will receive $19.6 million in compensation for the brand switch. The Sooners, for all sports, were previously going to receive $1.4 million annually through 2024 but will now receive $1.78 million annually from the 2017-18 contract year through 2028.
Nearly $20 million just from going to Jordan from Nike! That figure alone is far more than many schools make over the lifetime of an apparel contract, including nearly double that old Fiesta Bowl nemesis Boise State got from Nike in their most recent extension.
“Once I noticed that the Jordan brand was interested in moving from the (basketball court) onto a different playing surface, I wanted to make sure that Oklahoma was right in the middle of that discussion,” Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione told the paper. “Because of our terrific partnership that we have with Nike, we were able to develop that interest and the discussions took off in December of 2016, and we were able to come together and make this happen.”
The Sooner join others such as North Carolina and Michigan as being outfitted by the Jordan Brand on the gridiron in 2018. Terms of their new deal also extend the relationship with parent Nike through 2028 after previously being linked up until 2024.
Oklahoma uniform combos for 2018: pic.twitter.com/1OZ8NGXDCv
— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) July 9, 2018