Wisconsin athletics’ contract with Adidas for team apparel could be extended, sweetened

Wisconsin’s Adidas deal could get more lucrative

MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Madison athletic department’s licensing contract with Adidas America Inc. is about to get sweeter for both sides.

A proposal up for approval by the Board of Regents this week would extend the company’s contract to supply Wisconsin’s 23 athletic teams with equipment, apparel and footwear through 2016 and give Adidas added exclusivity.

Under the agreement, the wholesale price of goods provided by Adidas would increase from $950,000 this year to $1.3 million next year and nearly $1.38 million in 2015. The company’s annual cash payments to the department would jump from $450,000 to $850,000 next year, and to $900,000 in the final three years of the deal.

In all, the five-year contract would be worth roughly $11 million, compared to $6.35 million over the last five years.

Adidas would get an exclusive license to make and sell “replicas and authentics” of the teams’ uniforms and coaches’ sideline apparel. UW-Madison would also agree not to license or sell any products made by Adidas competitors Nike Inc., Under Armour Inc., Puma and New Balance.

Adidas would also continue receiving other benefits, such as the ability to have coaches make promotional appearances and tickets, parking passes and other perks worth approximately $80,000 per year.

Adidas first won the contract in 2001 after UW-Madison let its agreement with Reebok International Ltd. expire. In 2005, the regents approved a contract extension through 2011. They will consider the latest proposal during meetings in Madison on Thursday and Friday.

According to a report given to the regents, UW coaches and athletes were recently surveyed and are “pleased with the product and service provided by Adidas.” Without the contract, UW-Madison would have to buy $1.5 million in equipment, shoes, uniforms and equipment for its teams every year, the report said.

The agreement would keep a provision that gives UW-Madison access to inspection and monitoring reports for all overseas factories, part of an effort to make sure Badgers apparel is not manufactured in sweatshop-like conditions. UW-Madison has been considered a leader on that issue.

Just last month, the university claimed credit for helping pressure Nike to give $1.54 million to help workers who were owed severance after being laid off from the company’s subcontractors. UW-Madison had announced in April it was canceling its license that allowed Nike to make Badgers apparel to protest the situation.

After last month’s announcement, UW-Madison said Nike could reapply for reinstatement. That, however, won’t happen if the exclusivity provision in the Adidas contract is approved.

Nike spokeswoman Kate Meyers said the company understood and had no hard feelings.

“We appreciate their stance on our announcement a couple of weeks ago,” she said. “We wish them well.”