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Thursday, July 23, 2015

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS

Nike, Michigan ink 
$169 million deal

The agreement 

creates the largest 
college apparel deal 

in the country

By ZACH SHAW 

Summer Managing Sports Editor

One week after announcing 

that it had agreed to a record-high 
apparel deal with Nike, the Michi-
gan Athletic Department released 
details this morning about the 
overwhelmingly popular contract.

The highlight of the agreement 

is that Michigan will receive $169 
million over the duration of the 
15-year contract, 
including $76.8 
million in cash 
alone, $12 mil-
lion in upfront 
money and $80.2 
million in appar-
el.

The 
deal 

blows past the 
10-year, 
$90 

million contract 
Notre 
Dame 

signed with Under Armour ear-
lier this year as the largest in the 
country. But with Adidas, Under 
Armour and Nike all offering simi-
lar amounts of money, cash was 
only one step of the five-month 
process that saw Nike emerge as 
the obvious choice.

“This decision, this partner-

ship is about more than Michigan 
athletics,” said Interim Athletic 
Director Jim Hackett. “At the core, 
it is about our University com-
munity and it is 
about two great 
names reuniting 
for an opportu-
nity that speaks 
to 
more 
than 

uniforms 
and 

apparel.”

Michigan 

football, 
men’s 

basketball 
and 

women’s 
bas-

ketball were listed as the three 
flagship sports in the deal, while 
baseball, hockey and softball will 
continue to have equipment pro-
vided from third parties. In total 
11 sports will continue to use their 
current equipment providers, so 
long as that provider isn’t Adidas, 

Under Armour, Reebok or Puma.

Also included in the deal are 

plans to expand the partnership 
beyond apparel. The initial agree-
ment includes an obligation for 
Nike to hire at least three summer 
interns from the University each 
year at $15,000 per student, and 
two community events to be host-
ed in Ann Arbor each year.

According to the Term Sheet, 

Michigan and Nike also have 
a “shared interest and goal of 
improving working conditions in 
the subcontracted factories used 
to make (Nike) product.” This 
clause is largely in response to 
community outcry in the past over 
Nike’s reputation for low-wage 

sweatshops.

Mentioned 

in another seg-
ment of the Term 
Sheet 
released 

Wednesday are 
tentative 
but 

unspecified 
plans for Michi-
gan 
and 
Nike 

to 
collaborate 

in 
“furthering 

research 
and 

innovation in regards to sport 
performance and (environmen-
tal) sustainability.” Language was 
included in the contract to include 
Michigan’s Recreational Sports 
Department in such collaborations.

“The University of Michigan 

ranks high among the world’s great 
institutions of higher learning and 
enjoys a rich, tradition-laden histo-
ry in college sports,” said Joaquin 
Hidalgo, Vice President and Gen-
eral Manager, Nike North America 

in 
last 
week’s 

announcement. 
“We 
eagerly 

look 
forward 

to bringing out 
the best in each 
other.”

In 
addition 

to 
shattering 

the record for 
the largest deal 
in NCAA his-

tory, Michigan will also receive 
15-percent royalty rates on appar-
el purchases. This exceeds the 
10-percent 
Michigan 
currently 

receives in its deal with Adidas, 
passes Notre Dame’s 13-percent 
and is believed to be the highest in 
the country.

“It is about two 

great names 

reuniting for an 

opporunity.”

Michigan will 

also receive 
15-percent 

royalty rates.

Student tickets up 54 percent

By ZACH SHAW 

Summer Managing Sports Editor

Less than a day after reveal-

ing it had sealed the largest 
apparel deal in college sports 
history, the Michigan Athletic 
Department revealed more good 
news for the program Thursday.

After a 2014 season marred 

by national embarrassments, 
student protests, a resigning 
Athletic Director and a losing 
season, Michigan announced 
that it has ended season ticket 
sales for the 2015 season at 
89,795, the highest total since 
2012.

After selling just 11,597 stu-

dent tickets last season — its 
lowest total in decades — Michi-
gan has announced a 54-percent 
sales increase, capping student 
ticket sales at 17,899.

With home games against 

both Michigan State and Ohio 
State and the hotly-anticipated 

debut of Michigan coach and 
former star quarterback Jim 
Harbaugh, it’s no surprise that 
ticket sales are up. But after giv-
ing away nearly 63,000 tickets 
in seven home games last season 
— including 16,923 in the team’s 
home finale against Maryland — 
to keep the program’s 100,000-
fan attendance streak alive, the 
increase in sales is a welcome 
sign for Michigan nonetheless.

The sales increase is most 

notable in the student section, 
where sales have fluctuated 
from record lows to the high-
est total since 2012. There are 
many factors to such a rise, but 
price stands as the most notable 
change.

After charging students $295 

for tickets the previous two 
seasons, the standard season 
ticket price for football fell to 
$175. In addition to the nearly 
40-percent discount, the Ath-
letic Department announced in 

February that need-based stu-
dent tickets would be available 
for $100.

All three price points are 

lower than that of men’s bas-
ketball season tickets, which 
remained the same at $200 and 
offered $120 need-based tickets. 
Per-game prices, however, are 
still highest in football at $25 
per game.

Student 
seating 
will 
be 

assigned based on attendance at 
the 2014 season’s games, with 
the policy rewarding better seats 
in 2015 to students who attended 
at least six games last fall and 
arrived more than 20 minutes 
before kickoff. The policy change 
comes after a shift to a general 
admission model prior to the 
2013 season, which was met with 
uproar by the student body.

Non-student 
sales 
also 

increased to 72,076, the most sold 
since before renovations began in 
2009.

FILE PHOTO/Daily

The Michigan Athletic Department announced total season tickets sales reached 89,795, the highest since 2012.

