Nike extends contract with Arizona Wildcats through 2025
Aug 13, 2015, 7:50 PM
The Arizona Wildcats extended their contract with athletic outfitting giant Nike through the 2025 season, the school announced Thursday.
“Through conversations with student-athletes, coaches and staff, we concluded that NIKE was the preferred apparel company for the University of Arizona,” said athletic director Greg Byrne. “This was confirmed by a peer institution who recently conducted a survey of student-athletes, resulting in an overwhelming majority stating that their brand of choice was NIKE.”
Within the state of Arizona this deal is significant. Arizona State just this month officially began wearing adidas gear after leaving Nike this summer (Coincidentally, former ASU star James Harden officially left Nike for adidas when the ‘Swoosh’ didn’t match a $200 million contract offer on Thursday).
Any expectation about how Nike and Arizona would respond to ASU’s rebranding became clear in the image released along with their announcement. Included was a picture of a navy blue state of Arizona branded with the ‘Swoosh’ and the school’s name in cardinal red.
In one way, it’s just another way to fuel the Territorial Cup.
But it’s also about two sports companies fighting for territory.
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