Betting on a bright future, Bulldogs take short-term apparel extension with Nike
Fresno State is extending its all-sports apparel contract with Nike for two years, taking a short-term deal and in effect banking on its football and basketball programs to make it more marketable in future negotiations.
The Bulldogs receive $575,000 per year from Nike in a six-year deal that expires at the end of May, a contract value that ranks in the bottom half of the Mountain West Conference. Colorado State, Boise State, San Diego State, New Mexico and UNLV all have deals that are about two to four times more lucrative than the deal Fresno State has.
"We have a great relationship with Nike and want to continue to move forward with that relationship," said Steve Robertello, interim athletics director.
"We just felt that with where we were and the timing of everything it made sense to do a shorter-term extension and then see where we stand from a market-driven point as we go forward into our next negotiations."
That move could pay off for the Bulldogs, who have 17 starters returning on a football team that went from 1-11 to 10-4 last season in the first year under coach Jeff Tedford.
The money isn't like at the Power Five level, where schools like Washington, UCLA, Nebraska, Ohio State, Texas and Michigan have apparel deals worth more than $10 million a year.
A school in a Group of Five conference will not come close to those numbers, but Mountain West apparel deals have been trending upward.
Colorado State has a five-year deal with Under Armour through 2021 that is worth $2.2 million per year in apparel and branding.
Boise State receives $1.275 million per year from Nike in a deal that runs through 2019 and San Diego State receives $1.2 million per year in apparel from Nike in a deal that runs through 2024. New Mexico and UNLV both have apparel contracts worth a little more than $1 million per year.
Wyoming on Thursday signed an eight-year deal with adidas through 2026 that reportedly is worth $5.75 million, roughly $720,000 per year.
Hawaii, a football-only member of the Mountain West, has a five-year contract through 2022 with Under Armour that is worth $10.27 million.
Nevada has a deal with Nike worth $400,000 per year and is exploring opportunities with Nike, adidas and Under Armour, the Reno Gazette Journal reported this month. Nevada's Nike contract expires at the end of May.
The Wolf Pack is hitting the market at an opportune time, with a basketball program that has won back-to-back conference championships and in March advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament where it lost to Loyola-Chicago.
Fresno State, which has had all of its sports programs outfitted by Nike since 2004, could be playing the apparel field in two years if it sustains success and gains greater national exposure in football and basketball.
Craig Leon, MBA program manager at the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, said Fresno State's short-term deal is a good idea "if you feel good about the direction your program is going.
"If you can get somebody else in there as a leverage point, where you can potentially use another company if an Under Armour or an adidas would be interested in doing a deal, then all of a sudden you have competition."
Winning, Leon said, definitely helps. But it is only part of the equation for Fresno State and other Group of Five programs.
"The leverage where some of these schools could try to improve on is, 'How do they activate with their student body on campus?'" he said. "That's a consumer that all of these companies are targeting. They want 18- to 23-year-olds wearing their gear. "
This story was originally published April 27, 2018 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Betting on a bright future, Bulldogs take short-term apparel extension with Nike."