The University of Utah's athletic department negotiated with both Nike and Adidas before selecting Adidas to replace Under Armour, according to internal briefings reviewed last week. The partnership, expected to average $8 million annually over ten years, marks Utah's second apparel transition in 12 years. Nike submitted a formal proposal. Adidas closed.
Under Armour's contract with Utah expires June 30, ending a relationship that began in 2013 when the Baltimore brand paid roughly $5.2 million per year. That figure placed Utah in the middle tier of Pac-12 apparel deals—above Oregon State, below USC—but Under Armour's collegiate portfolio has contracted 41% since 2019 as it refocuses on performance athletic wear and away from campus marketing spend. Utah's administration opened negotiations with Nike and Adidas in late 2023. Both brands visited campus. Both submitted term sheets. Adidas included a rider: direct NIL contracts for select football and basketball athletes, modeled on the Tennessee framework announced three weeks ago.
The NIL component matters more than the institutional check. Tennessee's Adidas deal, announced earlier this month, packages roughly $10 million in annual university payments with individual athlete endorsements—the brand's first large-scale attempt to bypass collectives and contract talent directly. Utah's arrangement follows the same structure: Adidas will offer NIL deals to 15-20 athletes across football, basketball, and Olympic sports, payments ranging from $15,000 to $75,000 per athlete depending on social reach and performance. The university gets cash and product. Adidas gets roster access and content rights. The athlete gets a check that doesn't flow through a booster collective, which means cleaner tax reporting and no donor strings. For Utah, the math worked: Adidas offered $2.3 million more per year than Nike's final number, plus the NIL infrastructure. For Adidas, the math also worked: Utah delivers 52,000 students, a Top 35 football television market, and Pac-12 (now Big 12) visibility at a price point 30% below what Nike pays Ohio State.
Nike's reluctance tells you where the brand sees margin. The Swoosh already sponsors 62 Power Five programs, including 11 of the top 15 athletic departments by revenue. Adding Utah would have required NIL matching, which Nike has so far declined to operationalize at scale—partly due to tax exposure concerns, partly because its NBA and NFL talent budgets already exceed $1.4 billion annually. Adidas, by contrast, sponsors 24 Power Five schools and is betting that direct athlete payments create enough campus leverage to close the gap with Nike in college sports apparel share, currently 58% to 18%. Tennessee and Utah are the test cases. If the model works, expect Adidas to deploy it in upcoming renewals at Texas A&M (2026), NC State (2027), and Louisville (2028), where contracts expire and Nike holds incumbent position.
Utah begins wearing Adidas kits for the 2025 football season. The first NIL athlete signings will be announced before spring practice, likely mid-March. Watch whether Adidas uses Utah's helmet design—a red interlocking U with matte finish—as a showcase property for the brand's new Primeknit football helmet line, expected to launch Q3 2025. Also watch whether Nike counter-moves by adding NIL riders to its next wave of renewals, starting with Michigan (2027) and Alabama (2028). The schools that negotiated institutional-only deals in 2020-2023 are now sitting in the wrong contract structure. Their athletic directors know it. So do the brands.
Utah's equipment managers start receiving Adidas samples in 90 days. The offensive line, which requested wider shoulder pad cuts during internal surveys, has already been fitted.
The takeaway
Adidas is bundling NIL payments with university contracts to compete with Nike; Utah's **$8M** deal tests the model before larger renewals.
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