A Study of College Apparel Contracts (Michigan is #1)

Submitted by Bando Calrissian on

The Portland Business Journal did a study of apparel contracts in major college programs, and to little surprise, our deal with Adidas is the most lucrative ($8.2 million per year between cash and equipment). There's a pretty good article that links to the three articles that came out of the study itself, as well as a searchable database of all of the contracts and related documents they managed to get from various schools. You can use the search box at the bottom to get the details of Michigan's contract.

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/threads_and_laces/2013/12/data…

Of note:

  • Michigan's contract with Adidas expires 7/31/16
  • We already knew this, but if another school signs a contract with Adidas worth more money, Adidas agrees to automatically bump Michigan above it.
  • It also includes a very interesting PDF copy of Brady Hoke's coaching contract. Check out the matrix of incentive bonuses, as well as the buyout clause at the end.

Overall, some interesting stuff here, if not an indictment of just how much money is floating around college athletics these days.

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WolverineLake

January 6th, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^

  ... and clearly we have some very strong negotiators working on our behalf, too.

 

  If we get Nike signed on next, maybe they will help with recruiting like they've done with Oregon.  MOAR FLASH!!

Joined: 07/10/2011

MGoPoints: 2878

Bando Calrissian

January 6th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^

No, it's current. The base salary goes up year by year, if you read through the contract. And to my knowledge, it has not been renegotiated since it was signed in 2011. The $300,000 base salary is now (if I'm calculating this correctly) $600,000 for the 2014 season, though the Daily salary supplement still lists it at $300k.

Remember, the bulk of the money in these contracts are the various bonuses and other moneys (the $500,000 per year "stay bonus," the bowl game money, championship incentives, apparel contracts, TV/radio shows, etc.). That's how you get from the somewhat smaller base salary to the $4.xxx million he actually takes home across the year.

See: http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2013/11/usa_today_michigans_b…

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 68117

Section 1

January 6th, 2014 at 5:53 PM ^

...I think Bando has this exactly right.

The great irony is that the football coach with the newst (generous) terms is Al Borges.  He got a new contract since Hoke's contract was inked.  No word yet, on whether Borges had to split it 40/60 with Denard Robinson.

Joined: 06/29/2009

MGoPoints: 16535

TIMMMAAY

January 6th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^

It looks right to me. If you read through all of the bonuses and other additional compensation, he would have made well over 3mil this year. 

edit: also, if I read that correctly, it looks like Hoke is due for a bonus of around $2.5m sometime this month... 

Joined: 09/08/2008

MGoPoints: 56286

Purkinje

January 6th, 2014 at 1:30 PM ^

So... Am I missing something, or does coach Hoke receive no bonus for reaching (or winning) the national championship game? The highest incentive bonus I see is winning the conference championship.

Joined: 09/29/2009

MGoPoints: 2546

graybeaver

January 6th, 2014 at 1:35 PM ^

  Michigan would lose a couple million as far as contract amount, but more than make that up with better marketing from Nike. Another dumb move by Bill Martin.

Joined: 03/30/2012

MGoPoints: -700

vablue

January 6th, 2014 at 9:16 PM ^

Not just a couple of million.  I thought the most interesting part of the story was that the highest Nike contract in the Big Ten was OSU at $3.7 million.  Less than half of what Michigan gets.  While I hate the addidas gear they sell with Michigan on it, this article makes it slightly easier to swallow.

Joined: 11/28/2011

MGoPoints: 6131

MGoShoe

January 6th, 2014 at 1:40 PM ^

...Notre Dame is considering signing with Under Armour because they're butthurt about Michigan's adidas MFN status. ND in adidas has been a joke. In UA, it should be an abomination.

Joined: 04/23/2009

MGoPoints: 20734

XM - Mt 1822

January 6th, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^

b/w the coach and the university.    interesting to read and thank you for posting it.

 

i note too that the contract was signed at the end of March, 2011.  we all remember how hoke basically said he didn't care about the contract, it would take care of itself.  

Joined: 12/21/2011

MGoPoints: 102483

Wolverine Devotee

January 6th, 2014 at 2:46 PM ^

I looked at myself in the mirror just now and saw I am covered in adidas gear. Not all of it Michigan gear, either.

Michigan shirt & pants with white adidas socks and Blue & Maize ClimaLite boxers.

Back when Michigan first signed the adidas contract, I was the only one on my football team wearing adidas cleats and gloves as well.

I really hope Michigan doesn't change from adidas.

Joined: 06/29/2009

MGoPoints: 31528

Yeezus

January 6th, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^

For getting as large of an allowance as they did, Kansas got royally fucked in terms of a cash payment from Adidas (when compared to Michigan and UCLA).  

Joined: 01/02/2014

MGoPoints: 2437

5th and Long

January 6th, 2014 at 3:30 PM ^

Per Brady's contract he has a chunk of change headed his way in the next 30 days.

1 -  a stay bonus of $500k/yr, that's not payable until the 3rd year of his contract is vested (Dec 31st, 2013) - or $1.5 million total.

2 - Deferred compensation that isn't payable until the 3rd year of his contract is complete.  Or $1.05 Million.

3 - $85k for BWW bowl.  (As a side note, It's weird is lawyer/agent didn't anticipate a non-Rosebowl BCS bowl as a separate tier for bowl bonus compensation.  In the current deal, he'd get more for the outback or cap 1 bowls than the Sugar bowl).

So in the next 30 days Brady is due, $2.635 Million dollars.  

 

Happy 2014!!

 

 

 

Joined: 09/04/2012

MGoPoints: 794

MonkeyMan

January 7th, 2014 at 11:31 AM ^

Hate the "stay" bonus too. It should be a "leave early" contract deduction. The entire system is aping CEO contracts on Wall Street (a far cry from the "student athlete" ideals CFB espouses). This is a good old boys network. There are tons of good execs that can run corps and there are tons of good coaches out there that can run teams so the idea that leaders need to be treated like royalty is bogus. AD's salaries are often linked to the salaries of coaches so its "I pay you more = I pay me more". You gotta be in the club- its not what you can do that matters or how hard you work, or how smart you are- its who you know.

Joined: 10/13/2013

MGoPoints: 1753

gwkrlghl

January 6th, 2014 at 5:43 PM ^

Literally guaranteed to be the highest paid school no matter what. That's some solid negotiating.

I suppose with almost all of the rest of the king pins of CFB being under Nike (USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Ohio State) we basically just out-negotiated Notre Dame. Which is still awesome.

Joined: 04/13/2012

MGoPoints: 72

big john lives on 67

January 6th, 2014 at 10:31 PM ^

When M switched from Nike to Adidas, I switched as well.  Under great criticism from my wife, who had been trying unsuccessfully for years to get me to switch only to have M's switch be the motivating factor.

I see no difference in quality between the two manufacturer's merchandise, and had been noticing a steady decline in Nike quality for years before the switch.

I am enjoying my new M climalite Adidas hoodie, and it is keeping me very warm in these Arctic temperatures.  Also, I think the styling of the Adidas M gear is getting better, but could stand even more improvement.

 

Joined: 02/15/2009

MGoPoints: 3973