USC Athletics and Nike announced a ten-year partnership extension running through 2036, worth more than $110 million in cash and product. The deal, signed eighteen months into USC's Big Ten membership, resets the conference's apparel pecking order and makes the Trojans the highest-paid West Coast program in team sports kit deals.
The extension replaces USC's previous Nike agreement, inked in 2019 for $66.8 million over eight years. The new structure delivers an average annual value north of $11 million, a 65% increase over the prior contract and $4 million more per year than UCLA receives from Under Armour. The cash portion alone exceeds $7 million annually, with the remainder in footwear, apparel, and equipment allocations across 21 varsity programs. Nike retains branding rights for football, basketball, and Olympic sports, including women's water polo, which won its fifth consecutive national title in May.
The timing signals two markets converging. First, USC's Big Ten media windfall—the school will collect an estimated $70 million annually from the conference's broadcast deal starting this cycle—gives athletic director Jennifer Cohen budget clarity to negotiate from strength rather than necessity. Second, Nike is defending premium college inventory as On, New Balance, and Jordan Brand (Nike's own subsidiary, operating semi-autonomously) chase six-figure helmet decals and courtside visibility. USC's deal includes performance bonuses tied to CFP appearances and March Madness runs, language that didn't exist in the 2019 contract. The school declined to specify bonus thresholds, but two people familiar with Pac-12 apparel economics said similar clauses typically trigger at $500,000 per football playoff berth.
The extension also purchases stability. Cohen inherited a department carrying $345 million in bond debt, much of it tied to the Coliseum renovation and the John McKay Center rebuild. Locking a decade of apparel revenue—structured as a licensing agreement, so it flows directly to the athletic department rather than the university general fund—makes the financial model legible to the lenders and boosters Cohen needs for phase two of Heritage Hall upgrades. The department's total operating revenue for fiscal 2024 is projected at $185 million, meaning this Nike deal alone represents 6% of top-line income, a margin that matters when coaching salaries and facility arms races are measured in eight figures.
Nike now holds apparel rights at 13 of the 18 Big Ten schools. Penn State (Nike, $48 million over six years) and Michigan (Jordan Brand, $169 million over eleven years) remain the conference's top deals, but USC's contract—negotiated on a per-year basis rather than total value—positions the Trojans to renegotiate or extend before the next media rights cycle in 2029. That optionality is the real asset. Oregon, Nike's flagship campus, operates on a quasi-partnership model with no disclosed contract value, making direct comparisons pointless, but USC's deal is now the closest thing to a public West Coast benchmark.
Watch for Nike to announce a women's basketball-specific activation with JuJu Watkins before the 2025-26 season. Watkins signed a signature shoe deal with Nike in October, and the company typically bundles individual athlete rights with team partnerships when the player is a projected top-three WNBA pick. USC's women's basketball team averaged 10,800 fans per home game last season, fifth in the country, and the program generated an estimated $8 million in ticket and sponsorship revenue, making it a standalone asset inside the broader deal. Separately, Cohen has hiring authority for a deputy AD role focused on brand partnerships; the job has been unofficially open since January, and two former NFL team sponsorship executives have been seen on campus.
The deal closes the week Nike reported Q3 revenue down 8% year-over-year, with North America sales falling 10%. College sports remains one of the few growth vectors in the company's domestic portfolio, and USC delivers two things Nike needs: a program with CFP and March Madness upside, and a Los Angeles zip code where recruits, sponsors, and broadcast partners make decisions.
The takeaway
USC's $110M+ Nike extension through 2036 resets Big Ten apparel economics and locks a decade of revenue clarity for a department carrying $345M in debt.
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