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Adidas will not attempt to extend its apparel deal with the NBA
It always seemed rather incongruous that Adidas would stand as the maker of the NBA’s official apparel, when all but a handful of NBA stars wore Adidas sneakers. The company, which announced on Monday that it would not look to extend its apparel contract with the league when the agreement between the two companies expires in 2017, failed to see any significant growth of its particular basketball brand despite its association with basketball’s top league, which played a significant part in its decision to walk away.
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Another significant shift came when the company was told by the NBA that the league would allow others to bid on the sponsorship when the current contract runs out after 2016-17. From Matthew Kish of the Portland Business Journal, who broke the story:
A source familiar with the bidding process said Adidas made the decision after it was informed last week that the NBA planned to open the competition to other bids. The source noted Adidas has fallen behind its competitors.
The move by the NBA likely meant Adidas would have been a longshot to renew.
Adidas signed a $400 million contract with the NBA in 2006, but after nearly a decade of putting company logos on all manner of jerseys, warm-ups and the like, only 70 NBA players currently wear Adidas shoes. Stars like John Wall, Damian Lillard, Derrick Rose, and Dwight Howard all wear popular-selling Adidas models, but that wasn’t enough to keep the company from being overtaken by Under Armour for domestic sales last year.
Both that company and Nike are expected to be in the running to vie for Adidas’ former position with the NBA in 2017, around the same time the league and its players will engage in heated labor negotiations as they attempt to split up the kajillions in revenue the league as glommed off of Joey Consumer. One that could threaten the 2017-18 season.
Adidas told the PBJ that the company isn’t getting out of the basketball business, noting that they’re “going to invest more money in basketball over the next five years than we ever have,” as it works with younger talents like 2014 top overall pick Andrew Wiggins.
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The move from one shoe company to another probably won’t change much regarding how the NBA does business. Both the league and that company were widely criticized for putting sleeves on some of the alternate jerseys that it asks its teams to wear from time to time, but it’s more than possible that any other apparel company could do the same thing at the NBA’s behest in an attempt to flood the market with more and more products to buy.
The same goes for the myriad other alternative jerseys (to celebrate environmental causes, the Chinese New Year, the league’s Latino heritage, its Christmas Day games, et cetera) that the league loves to pump out. The NBA’s ability to run out a half-dozen or more uniforms per team will continue unabated, regardless of the shoe company logo on the jerseys. And don’t think that NBA commissioner Adam Silver isn’t counting down the days until he could turn your son and daughter into a walking billboard, as other advertisements on jerseys aren’t far away.
The league is a moneymaking machine. And it will look slightly different, possibly a little swooshier, starting in 2017-18.
Assuming the NBA has a season that year.
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is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
