Last year, the Texas Longhorns and Nike agreed to a contract that was, at the time, the most lucrative sponsorship deal in college sports history. Shortly after that, Nike proceeded to back up the Brinks truck again in order to sponsor the Michigan Wolverines, and now Nike has once again decided to break the bank for Michigan’s eternal rivals.
The Ohio State Buckeyes and Nike have agreed to a 15-year, $252 million dollar sponsorship deal, which means this is now the most lucrative deal in the nation. Here’s more from the official press release:
The majority of the benefits take effect in August 2018, when the previous contract would have expired. Other benefits — including cash and product commitments — will be provided immediately in addition to commitments that NIKE will continue to provide under the terms of the previous contract.
With 36 varsity sports and more than 1,000 athletes, Ohio State has one of the largest self-sustaining athletics departments in the country. The athletics department is also a significant contributor to the broader university, contributing more than $30 million a year to support projects such as the renovation of the Thompson Library.
“We approached this as a university contract, not one that’s purely focused on athletics,” said Gene Smith, Ohio State’s vice president and Wolfe Foundation-endowed athletics director. “Under this partnership, every student — whether they play club sports, Division I sports or no sports at all — will be eligible to benefit.”
This will continue a relationship between sponsor and school that has lasted for over two decades now, and it’ll push the relationship into the mid-2030s if all goes well. There’s no word on whether or not we’ll see more black uniform experiments like we saw during football season, but I’d probably expect to see that type of stuff and then some for the Buckeyes in the future.
With that being said, Nike has done a good job of respecting most of the traditions of a blueblood school like Ohio State, so hopefully that will continue as they enter into this long, lucrative agreement.
