Arizona State Ditches Nike to Partner With adidas

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Complex Original

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Come Summer 2015, Arizona State will leave Nike and partner with adidas for the Three Stripes to be the Sun Devils official athletic apparel sponsor.

In a deal that was reportedly "too good to turn down", Arizona State signed a deal with adidas where they will pay the school for 8-years at $4.225 million per year. The contract gives ASU the second-largest contract in the Pac-12 behind UCLA, and is among the 10 most lucrative deals in the country. As you know, Nike dominated the 2014 NCAA Football season, with the 4 teams making the playoffs all being Nike sponsored schools. For ASU, it strictly came down to money, as the adidas deal doubles up what they were receiving from Nike.

adidas will supply ASU with apparel and uniforms for all of their varsity sports, which wasn't the case for their deal with Nike. How will this affect ASU's on-field performance? Recently, Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino bashed Nike's influence on being able to land recruits as it's more appealing then Nike, but only time will tell how this affect ASU's recruitment process. Last year, we saw some sick uniforms for ASU from Nike, with the best being the "Copper State" look, so adidas has some high standards to live up to.

"Arizona State's rich athletic tradition, consistent success and bright future make them a perfect fit for the adidas family," said Mark King, adidas Group North America president. "Our long-term partnership with the Sun Devils highlights our commitment to U.S. college athletics and our focus on aligning ourselves with championship-level schools, teams and athletes. We are connecting with schools Americans love and will add more key partners like Arizona State to our roster as we continue to grow in college sports."

[adidas]

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