Report: Notre Dame Switching to Under Armour

A couple weeks ago it was reported that Notre Dame was considering switching from adidas to Under Armour when it’s current contract expires at the end of the school year.  According to ESPN’s Darren Rovel, Notre Dame has decided to do just that.

Notre Dame athletics teams have been outfitted by adidas since 1997 when the Notre Dame switched from long time supplier Champion.  The two signed a 10 year agreement in 2005, but since then adidas has signed an even larger contract with Michigan.

With the current agreement up at the end of this school year, Notre Dame conducted a full review of their agreement and have reportedly decided to move on from adidas and switch to Under Armour.

Details of the deal are not yet known but an agreement should be signed imminently according to Rovell.

Signing Notre Dame away from adidas is a huge coup for Under Armoer as they try to battle their way up from 3rd in the uniform race behind adidas and #1 Nike.  Under Armor also has Auburn, Northwestern, Hawaii, Maryland, Texas Tech, Boston College, Utah, South Florida, and South Carolina making Notre Dame their most marquee name brand in their portfolio.   They also sponsor the Under Armour High School All-American Bowl on ESPN every year.

With the move to Under Armour, Notre Dame becomes the top school similarly to the place it held with adidas before they signed Michigan to a larger deal that guaranteed the Wolverines top status amongst the brand’s portfolio of schools.

It will be very interesting to see what Under Armour does with the Shamrock Series uniform once it gets a chance to create a unique look for Notre Dame.  I’d be shocked if Notre Dame;s standard uniform underwent anything more than subtle changes as it currently does from year to year.  adidas did a great job on this year’s Shamrock Series uniforms and last year’s Michigan Under the Lights uniforms as well so it will be interesting to see what Under Armour is able to bring to the table.

We’ll have more details as they become available.