Story by
Texas Tech's 10-year deal with adidas signed at last: Contract details here
- Story by
- Texas Tech's 10-year deal with adidas signed at last: Contract details here
Texas Tech's 10-year agreement with adidas to become the official uniform, shoe and apparel supplier for the Tech athletics department is for $59.25 million.
The contract includes $50 million in total product allotment and $9.25 million in total cash, which encompasses rights fees, marketing and support of athletes. Those are according to a document obtained from Texas Tech.
Advertisement
The Texas Tech football team was spotlighted in a uniforms reveal on July 1 and Tech sports teams have worn adidas apparel all fall, but attorneys continued to review details of the long-form agreement for the past five months. It was finally signed and executed Dec. 6, Tech senior associate athletics director Robert Giovannetti said Friday.
"It'll show up across the board in all of our sports," Tech deputy athletics director Jonathan Botros said. "Something that was really important — and adidas supported us in that aspect — is that we wanted the product allotment to be sufficient to take care of all of our needs and everything we need to compete at the highest level.
"So we got to a number that we feel strongly will do that so that we don't have to come out of pocket. We have been spending significant amounts outside of our allotment in the past. (In fiscal year 2025), we won't have to do that.
"That (paying out of pocket for product allotment) is actually pretty typical regardless of the apparel partner. A lot of times it's not necessarily a significant product allotment like you see here. A lot of times it'll be a purchasing agreement, so it may be, 'For every dollar you spend with us, we'll give you two, three, four dollars of free allotment.' And so for us, being able to receive that annual cash plus that annual allotment, it's fantastic."
Advertisement
Related: How Patrick Mahomes II, Joey McGuire worked with adidas to bring Texas Tech football a new look
Texas Tech athletics on July 1 began a 10-year, $59.25 million contract with adidas to become its official supplier for uniforms, shoes and apparel.
In addition to the product allotment, adidas will pay shipping costs, a perk Tech did not have in its previous contract with Under Armour that expired June 30.
"You don't think that's a big deal, but we were paying 6 percent (on shipping)," Botros said, "so that's significant."
Comparing Texas Tech's deals with adidas, Under Armour
Under Armour had been a Texas Tech partner since 2006 and its official supplier since 2009. The most recent deal between the two sides was for four years and $12.9 million, which included $11.2 million in product allotment and $1.7 million in cash for rights fees, marketing and support of athletes.
Advertisement
The shipping cost Tech paid over the life of the four-year deal was $672,000.
The average annual value of total product plus cash in the adidas contract is $5.925 million, and the average annual value of total product plus cash in the last Under Armour contract was $3.225 million.
"When you look at just on an overall value standpoint," Botros said, "it's an 84-percent increase over where we were. When you look at it on a cash value standpoint — so if you take the product at a wholesale, 50 percent, and then you take the shipping savings that we have — it's 106 percent."
More: Patrick Mahomes wants Texas Tech, adidas to make an impact on 'the entire world'
Advertisement
Tech's total possible bonuses from adidas over the life of the contract are $4.425 million, and the total possible bonuses from Under Armour were $457,500.
"I do want to say how thankful we are to Under Armour," Botros said. "An 18-year partnership, as loyal as they come. (Under Armour chief executive) Kevin Plank and Kirby (Hocutt, Tech athletics director) have a close relationship, and they have maintained that, even though we're making a switch here. It's been really, really special.
"When you think about it, some of the greatest moments in Tech athletics history will have been wearing that logo, so we're appreciative of them."
Texas Tech adidas uniforms are seen on display during the Red Raider Club kickoff luncheon on Thursday, August 22, 2024, in the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center.
How Texas Tech athletes, associated retailers stand to benefit
In 2022, adidas launched a name, image and likeness network for college athletes. The ones at Texas Tech have been able to immediately take part.
Advertisement
"They've got a fantastic, what they call, NIL ambassador network," Botros said, "and so all of our student-athletes ... will have the opportunity to engage with adidas from an NIL perspective whether that's free gear or other campaigns with other types of compensation."
Track and field sprinter Terrence Jones was the first Texas Tech athlete known to have an adidas NIL deal while in college. That came to light in August 2023.
Botros said adidas also took an active role in marketing, assisting licensed retailers of Tech apparel.
"In addition to the financials included in the contract," Botros said, "adidas is making a seven-figure investment in even our local retailers here, to re-outfit them with adidas signage and adidas merchandise sets and things like that. ... It's pretty incredible what they're doing from that perspective."
Texas Tech's Lauren Allred wears adidas batting gloves during a fall softball exhibition, Sunday, October 20, 2024, at Rocky Johnson Field.
Patrick Mahomes plays central role in Texas Tech, adidas partnership
Hocutt has given much of the credit for the new partnership with adidas to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the Tech alum who's one of the company's biggest brand ambassadors. In August, the former Tech QB gave name, image and likeness agreements to six Tech athletes, one each from six sports.
Advertisement
He unveiled the Mahomes Gladiator logo, one formed by his PM initials interlocking, in August 2021. The Red Raiders debuted it on their football uniforms in a Nov. 2 game against Colorado.
"There's really primarily four logos in college athletics," Botros said, "so to have the opportunity to introduce a new logo into college athletics, we're just extremely thankful to Patrick to have that trust in us to do that this year. I know there have been other schools that were hopeful to introduce themselves in that in the past, and thankful to Patrick that he wants us to be seen in that logo."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech's 10-year deal with adidas signed: Contract details here
