Michigan Signs With Nike
This has been a fait accompli for a few weeks now; it is now official:
Reunited and it feels sooo good. http://t.co/ZCpmchtZMV #URecord pic.twitter.com/MPguZr2oPg
— UniversityofMichigan (@UMich) July 6, 2015
Also press release.
Creepy divorce metaphor aside, this is likely to please everyone. We have a Best Of Adidas post being assembled and it's a doozy. Around here we started calling them the Only Incompetent Germans after Glenn Robinson's jersey exploded in a cloud of fibers for the third or fourth time.
Nike's not perfect—in fact the only Nike tag we have on the blog is "nike would like you to wear this aerodynamic fez"—but the athletes really wanted Nike according to internal surveys. A lot of the fans really wanted Nike according to Sam Webb, who would know. Even those who were pretty indifferent to the brand of clothing they're wearing scoffed at the many and diverse fashion crimes perpetrated on the best uniforms in sports. And so the department acquiesced even though there were reports that the Adidas offer was worth significantly more.
Yes: the athletic department made a decision based on something other than making revenue go up. Even if you don't really care what symbol is on Michigan's jerseys, that has to feel good.
No numbers yet. Those will be announced next week. Current details:
- Contract runs to 2027 with a Michigan option to extend to 2031.
- Contract starts August 1st of next year.
- Michigan can use "Jumpman" apparel for their basketball teams—apparently this is a big deal.
- The Daily's Zach Shaw reports that employees were told that Michigan will be Nike's "top deal." I think they say that to all the girls.
I don't think uniformz are off the table unless the AD says they're off the table; that will be the next thing to watch for.
Even those who were pretty indifferent to the brand of clothing their wearing scoffed...
I know, bro. I cried at this too.
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Jim Hackett is on my Michigan Mt. Rushmore.
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I don't disagree there. I worry slightly about reverting to the dull almost-orange. I'll take what some people claim is "highlighter yellow" over the dull orange everyday and twice on Sunday.
If they can keep it bright without it being damn near Oregon, I'll be happy. Couldn't care less about the logo. Bright maize, uniforms that don't explode. That's all I care about.
You know... Maize is an actual color that Nike has the TM on, which we will go back to now.
Yes, and adidas had a trademark on what they called "sun." Neither are close to the historical "maize" that the University started with (pale, light yellow).
According to wikipedia, this is the official maize:
Which I think we would all say is a little off.
And the same Maize (tm) or the same Sun (tm) can be used on different materials and look differently, even though it's the same color.
My point is that sometimes even the Nike Maize looked super bright (away pants) and that I think a lot of people used the brightness of adidas' Sun to complain about adidas, when in actuality, there were instances where Nike's Maize was very bright.
In my opinion (JMO), the brighter the better to a certain point. Exhibit A: UTL.
I would take this maize every day compared to the various highlighter crap yellow we have seen over the last decade. The real deal has a little more orange hue to it though.
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That's because Dave Brandon doesn't wanna grow up.
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I think the "Harbaugh effect" will make up the difference. The hype and excite around the program has already increased ticket sales and corporate sponsorships/parnterships. And getting back to winning will do so even more. I'm betting the cost of skyboxes and corporate sponsorships will increase as will merchandise sales (as a result of Michigan winning, renewed excitement among the fanbase, bandwagon effect and more desireable gear from Nike). My guess is all that should be enough to make up the revenue gap and then some. I'd expect ticket prices to rise in the future - not to offset revenue gaps but in response to increasing demand.
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I have a hard time envisioning him doing a better job in his short time here. I bet if we pushed him he could get Nebraska to officially accept we won the 1997 national title before he retires
We get Jumpman?! Are you for realz? This does not compute
I'd be mighty disappointed if JH doesn't say no to clowniforms.
I don't think a lot of the fan base is opposed to novelty uniforms if they are done sparingly and cleverly. For football, not more than once a season and not every season (and when done, with a story to go with them). Basketball, hockey, baseball, softall you could rotate in more often.
Any news on how much money we're talking here?
I know I'm in the minority, but some of the alternate uniforms look good. See: the Sugar Bowl outfit.
that said, at no point did the road uniforms look better than these:
Simple and elegant
I liked those too. But Michigan wore about 10 different jerseys that year. Baseball's the only thing that you can fail at 7 times out of 10 and be considered "Good"
meant to edit the image
It's funny to me that some people bemoan so-called "highlighter yellow," but what adidas' yellow ever brighter than those pants? I suspect not and it was often an excuse to blame something on adidas.
Those are great uniforms and I, personally, love the bright yellow.
Lest we forget.
I actually liked those jerseys
would have been nice if they put numbers on them
/s
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I was at this game and found them kind of annoying, but I thought they looked good when I saw them on TV
Wow those players are TALL.
Yes--I miss the days when our players wore Nike and were 11 feet tall.
This is like the famous picture of the Loch Ness Monster - the elusive Tacopants. I always wondered if he wore No. 1, and now I know.
We were told the entire process that Harbaugh was heavily, heavily in favor of @Nike: http://t.co/4m9BlmbMj8 pic.twitter.com/MuGwI6D9CO
— Steve Lorenz (@TremendousUM) July 6, 2015
What reason would a coach have to be in favor of one company over another? If anything I would figure Beilein would be pro-Nike due to recruiting purposes in bball.
He is under contract to wear the gear. If he is going to have to wear certain brand, why not wear one that you prefer.
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Michigan can't continually turn it's backs on revenue with apparel, stadium advertising, etc and compete with those maximizing the revenue. I know most programs are Nike but most also use revenue sources frowned upon by many on this blog.
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