Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Players on the basketball team wear Addidas shoes and athletic socks.
Non-revenue sports have been the biggest winners in the Athletic Department’s eight-year, $26.67 million sponsorship deal with Adidas.
The contract began in fall 2005 when the previous deal with Nike ran out. Nike only sponsored men’s basketball and football. Other sports bought shoes and apparel for athletes using money from a budget that also had to cover travel, coaching salaries, equipment and other items.
Junior distance runner Paul Hefferon said the change benefitted the track and cross country teams.
“We used to use the shorts from last year’s uniform for training,” he said.
During his freshman year while the Nike contract was in effect, Hefferon said he bought his own clothes to train in. Now, he said he had everything he could need for practice.
Senior women’s golfer Chelsey Pryor said her team appreciated the change, as well. She said that before, her team had enough to get by but nothing fancy. Now, they’re equipped with two sets of rain gear, for both warm and cool weather, multiple golf shirts, fleece, vests, jackets, T-shirts and socks.
They also get three pairs of golf shoes, compared with the two provided using money from the team’s budget in the past.
Shoes are particularly important for distance runners like Hefferon. His Adidas Boston Classics slap the pavement thousands of times during his nearly 90 miles a week of training. Hefferon wears a pair of shoes out in about two months. With Adidas supplying the footwear, he’s allotted two pairs at a time and can trade an old pair out for a new one at the track office when he needs to.
Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony said the inclusion of non-revenue sports was a big reason behind the change from Nike to Adidas.
“Adidas saw the value, more than the other companies, of outfitting all of the Kansas teams,” he said. “Nike was not as interested in outfitting all of the teams.”
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Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony said the inclusion of non-revenue sports was a big reason behind the change from Nike to Adidas.
Marchiony said about half of the $26.67 million was paid by Adidas in the form of apparel given to athletes.
Not everyone jumped on the Adidas bandwagon at first. Hefferon said many of the styles preferred by he and other distance runners on the team weren’t available. They often traded in the shoes at local shoe stores to get the styles they wanted. They complained to coaches and Adidas responded by providing what they needed.
“Now it’s not a problem,” he said. “We’re at a point where we have all we need.”
Pryor said she appreciated the inclusion of the non-revenue sports in the contract.
“We know football and basketball make the money, and we understand that,” she said, “but the fact that they did something for everybody was really nice.”
Kansan staff writer Kyle Carter can be contacted at kcarter@kansan.com.
— Edited by Sharla Shivers
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