OT: Adidas will give up NBA jersey and apparel contract
For the folks who don't like Adidas...
Interesting to read UA is now #2 ahead of Adidas.
Personally I never cared about the supplier... as long as it says "Michigan", is maize or blue, then the logo is means little to me. I have found Adidas shoes are better than Nike though for stability and support. That's just my $0.02 worth though.
hurts us in basketball recruiting
Pitino had some remarks about it, and basically said I lost out on a kid because of adidas without saying I lost out on a kid because of adidas.
Which is really weird to me... What's going on inside some kid's head that he's not going to play for a national championship winning coach or a coach who puts players in the NBA because he doesn't like the maker of the jersey. I guess I'm old because I want sports to be sports rather than a fashion show.
Agreed. At the same time though, shoes play a large part in basketball, not just because of logo. If a player isn't comfortable in the shoe he shouldn't wear it. I mean there is a large difference in the sole structure/air pockets of adidas vs. Nike. Maybe some kids prefer Zoom Air, or maybe they prefer CrazyLight. It can change how you play.
I'd be all about letting a kid wear whatever shoe brand they want while focusing the logos to the jersey/shorts. Shoes are equipment. Make the rule like how is is in international soccer.
You're missing a HUGE part of the story and taking Pitino's statement way out of context. The implication isn't that he lost a kid b/c he didn't want to wear Adidas shoes or uniforms. It was basically an accusation that Nike has its tendrils in way too deep with the AAU scene and can basically use its influence on coaches and AAUE teams to drive top kids to Nike-branded schools, so that those same Nike schools will be more successful than the Adidas and Under Armour schools, putting Nike at the forefront of the conversation.
Same thing could probably be said for all the football camps and programs sponsored by Nike. There was even a story about how Nike bet on a handful of schools (UO, Bama, FSU, osu) to make the inaugural CFB playoff by designing special uniforms before the season even started.
Look what I replied to. You wouldn't say this paragraph you typed "Nike has its tendrils in way too deep with the AAU scene and can basically use its influence on coaches and AAUE teams to drive top kids to Nike-branded schools" hurts adidas schools in recruiting? I would. Pitino does too.
I don't care what kids want to wear. The first commenter said wearing adidas hurts UM in recruiting. The next guy said no, citing Louisville as an example. I pointed out Louisville's own coach saying wearing adidas hurts him in recruiting.
nike does matter to some
Adidas has to pay $1.3B to Manchester United over the10 years, so they are limited in what else they can afford. I wouldn't be surprised if Adidas also gave up on renewing Michigan because of their huge committments elsewhere.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2014/07/14/manchester-united-an…
I'd say Michigan is 50/50 between Adidas and Nike right now. It all depends on how much less money Michigan is willing to take to sign with Nike. Keep bringing in 13M in profit each year and the 3.8M from Adidas will not be missed. Although I doubt 2014-2015 will be as profitable.
Yeah, Adidas shoes are great. Ask RGIII and D-Rose
/s
actually all those injuries were knee injuries, they only player off the top of my head that had a horrible career bc of foot or ankle problems was Grant Hill and his signature FILA shoe
I loved the look of the shoes, but many people I knew had them, and swore they were the shittiest pair of shoes they ever owned at the time
"...is maize and blue,"
With Adidas... Not so much.
I was never on the hate all things Adidas train...however, it's time we go back to Nike for all sports.
Their fuck ups seem to be less egregious than Adidas.
I like UA...for personal stuff and young/fringe/fashionable schools trying to be different.
For Michigan? Nike is the only way to go at this point. Let the ASU's, UCF's, USF's, Maryland's of the world be UA and let Oregon be Nike's school to compete with all things Under Armour.
ASU as in Arizona State? They are Nike.
This upcoming football season they will switch to Adidas.
Adidas' fuck ups? Michigan teams don't wear a thing that the Athletic Department doesn't approve at least 12 months in advance. It isn't like Adidas just surprises them with jersey designs each year.
all maize basketball uni's used in 2013 and the all blue uniforms worn vs penn state in last years night game were pretty cool. Other than that, Addidas is trash.
I've been against Adidas from the beginning. Their stuff is just subpar on the field as well as off the field, I purchased one Adidas Jersey and thought that it was such garbage that I havent purchased another jersey yet.
The fact that they have hideous designs for alternates doesn't help either.
That and you know Sun vs Maize.
Harbaugh had Nike at Stanford and the 49ers. I wonder if he would just put his foot down and demand Nike if he has any problems with Adidas the next 2 seasons. Beilein probably didn't have any input either since he was hired about the same time the Adidas contract was signed.
On a scale of 1-10 how much do you think Coach Harbaugh worries about this stuff? I'm guessing zero.
Having been in the business, this stuff does matter to coaches and athletes, abeit to different levels. Jim Harbaugh has been a "Nike guy" his entire career, wearing Nike cleats as an athlete and even wearing cleats as a coach. So, advanatage Nike.
But this is ultimately Jim Hackett's decision, it's in his job description to worry about this stuff. I would expect nothing but a thorough, well-considered decision by Hackett seeing how he handled the coaching search. If it's not just about the highest monetary bid, I do expect Michigan to go back to Nike since they would bring the best package possible among the main players.
Nike has the best package? Non-revenue sports love Adidas because they each have a dedicated budget for apparel. Nike contracts lump them all together.
Don't forget Nike's contract with OSU that stipulates they get a bigger deal than Michigan if Nike ever resigns us.
I have a close friend who is a D-1 head coach in a non-revenue sport and when their school was having problems with their apparel provider, all the coaches were pissed. I think to the layperson, it shouldn't matter as you suggest in your post. Inside of athletic departments, I think it gets a lot of attention all around.
This. Coaches just want to put their teams on the field. When goofy things like ripping jerseys and uniformz sprung on the team between warmups and kickoff get in the way of a player's concentration, the time a coach gets to talk to his players in key moments, etc., you bet they're going to be unbelievably pissed.
Think about the position coaches before the MSU game in 2011, wanting to go over assignments with the players, but having to watch them help their teammates take off their shoulderpads because Adidas put the bumblebee jerseyz in the lockers to one-up Nike's Pro Combat gear for Sparty. Bet those guys loved Adidas at that moment.
My dad knew an assistant coach in non-revenue sport (no longer at UM, AFAIK) who just railed about how much his team hated the Adidas gear they were given, how much the shoes sucked, how much of a headache the transition was, etc. This was and is a real issue. The suits see marketing dollars--but coaches see something far different when all that flashy gear gets dumped in the locker room.
Habaugh wants Nike. Problem is that Nike hasn't made Michigan an offer yet and there is no way they will give Michigan $3.8M in cash each year like Adidas does.
All.Day.I.Dream.About.Soccer... B.R.U.T.A.L
"We haven't been able to elevate our brand for the basketball consumer that we're targeting," Grancio said. "We ultimately decided that we would change our investment strategy and invest more in players on the court."
The Portland Business Journal article linked in the USA Today story details Adidas' plan, and it is interesting for those interested in business plans. Their five-year strategy is to double its links to NBA players to 140 by then, as well as add more NFL and MLB players to its ranks. They are also shifting more to collegiate and high school teams as well and starting a redesign of its basketball products in conjunction with an "innovation team".
Article is kind of misleading. It is true that Under Armour has had impressive growth, and Adidas has had a steep decline in USA sales. But Under Armour generates very little revenue outside the USA and is pretty much nonexistent from a global view right now. Under Armour also generates almost all of their sales from apparel not footwear. Michigan, in my opinion, should avoid Under Armour in the future if they ditch adidas.
Michigan needs to go back to Nike.
Nike was essentially kicked off campus while I was in undergrad. I want to say it was around 1998 or so. There was a huge protest by the student body about the sweatshop labor practices of Nike and the university was basically forced to kill the nike deal.
Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly but pretty sure the protest against Nike was what forced us to go with Adidas.
You are remembering incorrectly.
Idealistic undergrads don't affect these deals as much as they hope or want. These protests across the country did help with the creation with the Fair Labor Association, although Michigan undergrads favored the more socialist Workers Rights Consortium. But no, the "student body" did not force the decision.
Despite their commitment to player sponsorships, this reads like a concession by Adidas that they'll never become as big in basketball as Nike became in soccer.
Personally, I'm in the anti-Adidas camp. Other than a few nice hockey sweaters and our home football unis (which don't count since they design themselves), I can't stand anything they've made for us and their fan apparel is inferior to Nike in both design and quality.
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March 16th, 2015 at 11:12 PM ^
Honestly I hope Adidas goes under. I hate them *THAT* much.
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A good buddy of mine works for adidas.
I asked him about Michigan apparel, and he checked the employee store website (it's got the same stuff as the regular adidas store website); they have 10 items for Michigan. Most are horrible-looking t-shirts that are on sale, a $300 Gardner jersey from the Penn St. game, the ugly post-season shorts, and a pair of shoes basically in Michigan colors.
Pathetic.
Count me in the go-back-to-Nike camp.
March 16th, 2015 at 11:58 PM ^
But let's step away from prominent logos on gear please. It diminishes the apparel.
I hope we get UA. Not a fan of addidas shoes, not good on the knees.