Sources: UT Athletics Mulling New Apparel Deal With Adidas
Image: Tennessee Athletics
By Cody McClure
Sources have indicated to Fanrun Sports that the likelihood of Tennessee Athletics moving its apparel rights from Nike to Adidas is “high.”
The University of Tennessee and Adidas have already met about a potential reunion, according to people familiar with the situation.
Adidas feels good about how the meetings went. They are going hard after Tennessee and landing the deal is currently their top priority.
It is accurate to say at this point that Adidas has presented an offer. The company was UT’s apparel partner pre-2015 when the school agreed to a deal with Nike.
The Adidas deal isn’t done yet, though, as Nike still has a card to play known as “first right of refusal.”
Tennessee is required by contract to present any bona fide offer to Nike, in which Nike will have 15 business days to decide whether or not it wants to match.
Tennessee’s current deal with Nike, which was extended in 2017, will come to an end on June 30, 2026.
UT was required, per the contract extension, to negotiate in good faith with Nike in terms of a renewal of the deal.
“The parties shall not be obligated to enter into an agreement if they cannot settle on mutually satisfactory terms,” the extension states.
Per the extension, the parties had until December 30th, 2024 to settle on terms.
The fact that Tennessee has now met with Adidas would imply that UT and Nike were not initially able to come to an agreement.
March 30th, 2025 was the exclusive negotiating end date with Nike, thus UT has only been permitted just recently to negotiate with Adidas.
There has been quite a bit of smoke recently on the message boards and Vol X about the potential reunion.
It is rumored that Adidas has ponied up big to land UT, perhaps even doubling a previous offer from Nike for the rights to the Vols’ uniforms.
Nike’s original deal with Tennessee wasn’t great from the school’s perspective. It provided UT with minimal compensation compared to other, better deals that have been signed by SEC peers.
The amendment in 2017 improved it somewhat, providing UT with just over $1 million per year in base pay and an estimated annual value over $4 million in added product allotment.
Some recent deals that schools reportedly worked out with Adidas:
Texas A&M, 5 years, $47 million
Louisville, 10 years, $160 million
Nebraska, 11 years, $128 million
Washington, 10 years, $119 million
Miami, 12 years, $93.6 million
And Nike?
Nike is paying Ohio State $252 million over 15 years, which comes out to $16.8 million per year.
They’re paying Texas close to the same amount as Ohio State, whereas Oregon is getting about $8 million per year.
Understandably, Ohio State and Texas are bigger brands than Tennessee.
But with the Vols’ deal being in the $5-5.5 million per year range in terms of total value, one might say Tennessee was getting ripped off.
It is expected that a decision between UT and Adidas could be made in the next 45 days, which would give the parties roughly a year to work on product development.
Whether folks like it or not, in the days of NIL, the best deal wins.