Recent comments suggest there’s some interest, from at least one side.
Syracuse.com’s Chris Carlson attended the “No Huddle Tour” event in Albany on Thursday, and (along with the rest of the attendees) got to ask some questions of Syracuse Orange athletic director John Wildhack.
Specifically, Wildhack spoke about Carrier Dome renovations a little (nothing crazy), and SU’s current contract with Nike as its official partner for athletics gear. We’ve had some deep dives into the long-running Syracuse/Nike relationship before. Obviously it’s hard to accept change, but that goes especially for this fan base. And I include myself in that statement.
But Wildhack did float the idea that Nike may not always be around -- even if right now, he’s totally on board with the world’s largest sportswear brand.
"We've got a couple years left on our Nike deal. My philosophy is you always give your incumbent the first opportunity if they've been a good partner to you and Nike has.
At the same time, we've done some research about our brand, the Syracuse brand. It's more than just a regional brand. It's more than a state brand. We are a national brand. I'm going to use that and we're going to leverage that to the best of our ability. We've already received, there's interest in the market from Under Armour and Adidas, so at the appropriate time we'll negotiate with all parties. We're going to use the strength and the respect and the impact that the Syracuse brand has nationally to get the best we can for our student-athletes."
SO MUCH #BRAND.
While Nike’s affiliation with Jim Boeheim and the overall athletic program has been a long-term plus for the Orange (especially on the basketball side), there’s money to be made by changing things up. The UCLA Bruins recently signed with UA for $280 million over 15 years -- the largest apparel sponsorship in NCAA history. Syracuse isn’t getting that sort of money from anyone. But UCLA’s not the only school to make a switch of late.
Several programs like Notre Dame, Michigan, Miami, Wisconsin, Arizona State, and Rutgers have all switched in the last couple years. The Scarlet Knights’ new deal with Adidas could be worth up to $10 million, which is insane for that athletic program (and a big boost from where they were with Nike before that). It certainly gets you thinking about just how much SU could get on the open market.
Still, Nike does own college athletics apparel, and that can’t just be discounted. The impact’s been obvious for basketball -- though not so much for football. Which is where any potential move would likely be focused. That shouldn’t mean it’s at the risk of basketball, but... it could be.
So what do you think? Interested in bailing on Nike, in part so we can get some better football uniforms (theoretically)? While I’m all for finding out how Syracuse can make the most money from apparel, I also don’t want to just assume UA and Adidas will present us with visual improvements. I mean, look at some recent work by each at Maryland and UCLA, respectively.
Anyway, weigh in below.
