I hear ur anger, and rightly so. I agree w u on many points. They didn’t dump us, as opposed to not matching Adidas’ overvalued bid. Adidas is having buyers remorse; trust me. Adidas took a huge risk on us, and shame on us for just collecting a check after the chance they took on us. I told everyone here that if we don’t return the favor, you will see Adidas slow their hype on us like they did Michigan, which they’ve already done. UDub & Az St are their new babies, w KU as their dirty mistress b/c of all the dirt their in.
Your view of Nike is what it is I’m very connected in the shoe industry both on the Adidas front (although that will change shortly as my homegirl already accepted a position w Jordan Wings program), and Nike (due to a frat brother working for Nike, and my client is Howard White’s nephew (VP of Jordan Brand)).
At the end of the day, off strength on how we helped Nike get into the apparel sponsorship business, u’re absolutely correct....but being that I work in Corporate America, as I’m sure most here do, these new regimes can give two fcks about loyalty. ****, I’m experiencing that now w my current job; one bad QUARTER out of my 14 yrs w/ them, handling millions in premium that I acquired on my own, and they are like ‘what the fck have u done for me lately....do we have to go a different direction?’
We just need to make good on what we have. Adidas have tried to do right by us w listening to our complaints on jersey designs and hooking us up w Parley (although we are now 0-2 in them bihs, lol). At the end of the day, I am a Nike guy for several reasons, but my point is if we don’t get our chit together, our next contract ain’t going to be chit. We won’t get dropped; Financially Adidas is much, much stronger than UA....but we won’t get the same love.
OK, so I'm not going to give you a hard tine on Nike as much anymore, you have folks who work there (or will) and I've been operating under the assumption that you (like those illogical Nike fanboys) are still operating under the delusions that Spike Lee is still making Nike commercials, Michael Jordan is still competing in slam dunk competitions, and Bo Jackson is still walking around smoothly and painlessly.
I'm not sure your point on Michigan, which moved to Nike in 2016, I believe. As for those other universities, I don't even know what to say. They may be geographically diverse, but those three universities are either occasional one-sport wonders or don't have a strong brand/sell lots of merch. When you say "buyer's remorse", I just don't see it. Could adidas be doing BETTER if Miami was stomping out ACC football teams like the old days? Sure. But as I pointed out, adidas has been making TO Chain gear and selling it like crazy, that is just an opportunity that wasn't planned in the contract. If adidas is nimble and jumps on the train when Miami makes some ACC runs for football and hoops, they will be fine.
As for UM colorways, why did I have to buy my Crazy Explosives and Alphabounce from AllCanes? Why doesn't adidas release that stuff wider? That's on adidas. Not every UM fan has had an account at AllCanes for 30 years like I've had.
Miami needs a good, strong 3-4 years to convert HS age kids into UM fans for life. UM can end the cycle of mediocrity in the Coastal, there is nothing stopping us from 4 consecutive ACC-CG appearances (and we might even beat Clemson this year with some Covid-19 assistance). Hoops should be in good shape for the next 4 years too, now that the ADIDAS-CREATED cloud is behind us.
If adidas wants to sell more, then they need to drop evidence of Nike's wrongdoing and get some of Nike's flagships put on NCAA probation.
Anyhow, all respect to you, Relly, I may not have the time, money, or desire that is comparable to your level, but I do admire and respect your knowledge in this area.
Miami needs to win more games and sell more merch. adidas needs to take responsibility for their mistakes and adjust their expectations.
I honestly believe that adidas is in the same boat with Officer Candidate Zack Mayo...