Rutgers & adidas: a quick look at the preliminary numbers

One of the advantages of being a beat reporter is that, well, that’s all you have to do. Unlike the rest of us. So it isn’t a surprise that both Keith Sargeant of New Jersey Advance Media and J.P. Pelzman of Gannett were able to spend time tracking down folks at Rutgers - including Athletic Director Pat Hobbs - and get some details on the new deal with adidas.

Officially, Rutgers has not released any details. Both both Sargeant and Pelzman came up with the following:

• the deal is worth $1.7 million to Rutgers in 2017-18, rising to $1.8 million at the end of the six-year deal
• RU will get an additional $300,000 allotment in year one since all the teams will need to be re-outfitted.

Pelzman reported the AD said he was “not looking for an apparel provider,” but instead “someone who is going to partner with us and help take Rutgers to a championship level.”

In that light, Sargeant reported that Rutgers will be getting money from adidas for marketing purposes, $100,000 in year one and $75,000 per year over the next five. Said Hobbs, “These are dollars that help them, dollars that help us to promote Rutgers with the adidas logo prominently. I think there's going to be opportunities beyond that, too. They spend millions in marketing each year, and given with what they want to accomplish in the Northeast, I think they’re going to look at every way possible to market Rutgers.''

There is a key component in this deal that On the Banks will talk more about in a follow up post. But, as reported by Sargeant, Rutgers will be receiving wholesale-pricing discounts on adidas’ entire line of products, up to 50 percent in some cases. That is very significant and we will revisit that point.

As for actual uniform design, Hobbs said that adidas likes an 18-month window (Nike had a similar clause in its contract) for design work. Any changes in the coming year may be fairly simple.