So why would Adidas be a bad choice? I want whichever deal is best for the university, specifically as it relates to money, branding, and recruiting. Assuming the gear/equipment is of a comparable quality, Adidas would be a bad choice if: (1) the total $$$ value of the deal is less than what Nike is offering (which is what many have said); or (2) the total $$$ value of the deal is only negligibly better than Nike's (because contrary to your unsupported claims, Nike is the most popular apparel brand among HS football and basketball players, which are the only two sports that matter in this discussion). If the total $$$ value of Adidas' deal is more than negligibly better, then it's probably the better deal. That's simply my original point. I wasn't responding to your original post, nor do I what your point was a week ago. Adidas right now is actually the more exciting/growing brand and could very well be a decade from now. That slash is doing a lot of work. More exciting brand? Among who? Where? Definitely not HS football players and HS basketball players, which is the only thing that matters from a recruiting perspective. From a royalties percentage, it's even more favorable for Nike, as the people buying that gear are still buying more Nike gear. Faster growing brand? Same question, and with the caveat that it's easier to claim more growth when you have ~60% of the bigger brand's sales. If I weigh 200 lbs. and lose 20 pounds, and if you weigh 400 lbs and lose 45 pounds, you've got a greater percentage of weight loss. But it almost certainly doesn't make you healthier (you just had more bad weight to lose). As @TheOriginalCane alluded to, statistics can be tricky, for some. Not a single time anywhere did I ever say Nike would be a bad partner or likely to die. I am upset at the garbage job they did the last time with our UNI's but all that is half joking. I'm sure the entire design team is different now. This part has been explained and discussed ad nauseum, but I will acknowledge our Nike gear got worse over time and our Adidas gear has improved some over time. That said, I think it's also fair to point out the Adidas gear got better after Rad and Mario's arrival, and I suspect UM's tougher recent approach (like not even wearing our alternate jerseys one season because Mario reportedly didn't like them) has had a positive impact. Of course, some of this is clearly subjective and a matter of personal taste.
Nike's 7 consecutive negative quarters would be useful in a negotiation with a brand like Miami. Hey Nike............show me the $. I don't know if that makes a difference to Nike, but I'm not a Nike stockholder so I'm not concerned about earnings. Definitely not when their sales still dwarf the next competitor (Adidas).
Are you a founding member of the CIS Nike fanclub? They've really hurt you in this thread, haven't they?
