“Michigan Athletics announces partnership with Nike ” Big Ten Network

The University of Michigan said today it has chosen Nike Inc. as its athletic department’s new apparel, footwear and equipment provider, ending a long relationship with Adidas AG.

The deal includes use of the Jordan Brand “Jumpman” apparel and footwear for men’s and women’s basketball, UM said.

Financial details are unavailable at this time, but a Michigan employee told the Daily that Michigan would be Nike’s “top client”. Adidas has lost contracts with Tennessee and Michigan and is now working on renewing with Wisconsin, but speculation is the Badgers will move to Under Armour. The M Den is the official retailer of Michigan Athletics and will be among the first retailers to feature the new apparel. In the previous seven years, while wearing Nike under Lloyd Carr, Michigan went 64-24. Of schools represented by the Collegiate Licensing Company, Michigan has only been behind Alabama, Texas and Notre Dame in licensed royalties for the 2014-15 school year.

The school announced on Monday afternoon that it has an agreement in principle for the world’s largest shoe and apparel company to outfit all its varsity sports teams from August 2016 through the 2027 season. Michigan is now the most valuable property held by adidas. The contract was worth $4.4 million in equipment and $3.8 million in cash. Winners of 11 national titles in its 136-year history and with a shiny new head coach in Jim Harbaugh, the Wolverines are a cash cow. That search was conducted with secret meetings in one of the suites at Michigan Stadium. He said the process would be thorough and he had Michigan’s best interests in place. Hackett attended the Regents meeting in mid-June and got them up to speed on the process, but he did not need Regents approval to make the deal.