The dream of many Notre Dame fans hoping to see the Fighting Irish partner with Nike at the end of its current deal with Under Armour reportedly ended on Monday. Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reported Monday night that Notre Dame and Under Armour have agreed to another 10-year deal that will keep the Fighting Irish tied to Under Armour while almost every other top program has moved over to Nike.
The new deal between Notre Dame and Under Armour is reported to be for $100 million over the course of the agreement – an increase of $10 million over the previous 10-year, $90 million deal that the two agreed to in 2014.
Other programs that have remained with Under Armour include Aurbun, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Utah, and Texas Tech. In recent years, however, the company canceled contracts with UCLA, Cal, Hawaii, and Cincinnati. Boston College also decided against renewing with Under Armour in favor of a partnership with Boston-based New Balance. According to Dellenger, though, Under Armour outbid both Nike and Adidas, who outfitted Notre Dame prior to the 2014 agreement with Under Armour, for the rights to outfit the Fighting Irish.
Over the first nine years of outfitting the Fighting Irish, Under Armour has done a fine job with designs, even if there were a few misses along the way – looking at you 2018 Pinstripes jerseys. The new jerseys Notre Dame unveiled on Monday, for instance, are great designs. Nike is widely viewed as the superior outfitter technology-wise, however. In terms of trendiness, the Nike brand still carries considerably more weight than that of Under Armour in the eyes of recruits.
Fans have been frustrated with Under Armour in recent years for the lack of availability of several designs seen on head coach Marcus Freeman as well. The frustration wasn’t helped on Monday when Notre Dame unveiled those new green jerseys that fans have received very well that are not yet available for purchase.
Football Scoop reported tonight that the new deal between Notre Dame and Under Armour will give the coaches more say in the uniform design elements.
Personally, I was hoping for Notre Dame to make the switch the Nike as long as it didn’t mean partnering with Jordan Brand because it makes no sense to me to have a basketball player from another school on your football jerseys. It’s doubtful that the details of the offers from Nike and Adidas are ever made available to know just how much more Under Armour was willing to pay to keep the Irish as a partner. So, hopefully, the second term with UA improves on some of the challenges that have occurred over the nine years.
If Under Armour were just to release the Marcus Freeman collection that fans have been begging to throw money at hand over fist for the last 18 months, any angst within the fan base about not partnering with Nike would subside pretty quickly.
