These atrocious fanny pack Adidas jerseys must have been the catalyst for changing sponsors:
That's a big chunk of change for Wisconsin. Much like conference television deals, apparel sponsorship money has exploded in recent years as college athletics has become a booming industry. In July, Michigan signed a deal with Nike that will
net them $169M over 10 years.
For those interested, UConn signed a 10-year, $45.5M with Nike back in 2008 (
here is a link to download/view the entire UConn-Nike contract PDF).
With their current Nike contract set to expire in 2018, UConn can expect a jump in that total for their next contract. For reference, Cincinnati signed a new deal with Under Armour earlier this year that nearly
doubled their previous apparel sponsorship money.
We all bellyache about UConn's finances while in the American - and rightfully so - but our upcoming apparel deal can hopefully help in this regard, where schools are evaluated individually, and not by their conference peers.