Nike invests in college sport for the next decade

06 July 2009 | Posted in Sponsorship, Athletics | By Adam Fraser

Nike has signed a ten-year, multimillion dollar contract with the University of North Carolina.

Nike will provide UNC's athletics department with shoes, uniforms and other equipment until 2018, as well as making a number of payments - an initial US$1 million will be used to overhaul lighting and acoustics at the school's Dean E. Smith Center, while an extra US$2 million will go to the Chancellor's Academic Enhancement Fund.

US$1.625 million of the money has been allocated for team travel and trips, while US$450,000 will be used to fund university-sponsored tournaments. US$1 million will be held in reserve for bonus payments based on achievement. In total, the deal has been valued at US$37.7 million over the ten years, and will also see 19 UNC coaches receive a significant annual stipend from Nike. Only seven coaches received payments from Nike under the previous deal.

"I'm pleased that Nike was willing to do that," said UNC athletic director Dick Baddour of the coaches' deal. "That was a priority of mine, something that I put on the table early on, because it would help the department to maintain a competitive level in head coaches' salaries without having to generate the income through ticket sales and student fees and private funds."