Nike to give UW as much as $39M

By GREGG BELL | The Associated Press • Published August 08, 2008

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SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies now have 39 million reasons to bow down to the swoosh.

The University of Washington athletic department and Nike Inc. have agreed to a new 10-year partnership worth a potential $39 million that will provide all 23 of the Huskies’ intercollegiate teams with uniforms, equipment and cash. The deal is worth more than three times the school’s current 10-year contract with the sports retail behemoth.

The deal isn’t noteworthy that it was done; virtually all major college athletic departments have agreements with sports apparel companies. What’s remarkable is its value. The minimum monetary and product value is nearly $35 million, the school announced Friday. Incentives could ultimately make the total package worth $39 million.

It’s a level below the Michigans and Tennessees of the college sports world, but plenty high for a Huskies athletic department that hasn’t excelled on a national scale in the highest revenue sports of football and men’s basketball over the last couple of years.

“It definitely is,” big, said Scott Woodward, the university’s vice president for external affairs. “It’s in the top tier nationally.”

This year, the final one under Washington’s old deal, Nike will pay the school $1.3 million — just over $1 million in products and the rest in cash. Next year, thanks to the new agreement, UW will get $3.5 million from Nike.

Not bad for a school that hasn’t been to a football bowl game since 2002, or one that is still without an athletic director.

UW president Mark Emmert is still looking for a replacement for Todd Turner, whom Emmert forced to resign last December

When asked during a phone interview Friday night if Nike’s offer surprised him, Woodward said, “It kind of did.”

He added Nike appears to be buying into what the company believes will be increased visibility in the future, when Huskies football and men’s basketball returns to national prominence.

“In market parlance, they are buying stock that has been beaten down a bit,” Woodward said.

“This agreement also represents a resounding endorsement of the future of Husky athletics.”

Nike will not be developing a new Huskies logo or new colors under the new agreement, as it did under the old one.

A school spokesman said the athletic department has already started discussing its own designs for a new logo and new mascot, though those changes are a few years off.

If approved by UW regents, the agreement becomes effective on July 1, 2009. Beyond an average of $2.6 million per year in product, a key component of the new contract is a cash payment worth an average of $725,000 annually to Washington.

Under the old agreement, the school spent $750,000 on uniforms, apparel and equipment. The new deal means Nike will pay for all that — with exceptions such as tennis rackets and crew boats, for instance. Nike doesn’t manufacture that equipment.

Woodward said even though it is large, the new Nike deal won’t instantly make Husky athletics rich or give UW a new, competitive edge in the Pac-10.

After all, nine of the conference’s 10 schools have deals with Nike — UCLA is outfitted by Adidas. And costs such as transportation to games have skyrocketed in recent years.

“It helps,” Woodward said of the windfall, “but it will get eaten up quickly.”