IU signs 8-year deal with adidas

All 22 IU sports programs will be outfitted in adidas gear for at least the next eight years. IU signed an 8-year contract with adidas America that could also pay out more than $21 million to IU Athletics, according to recruiting database www.scout.com.\nThe deal will provide uniforms, shoes and equipment to all of IU’s NCAA athletes. It will also provide IU with officially licensed gear and clothing for sale at the IU Varsity Shop and www.iuhoosiers.com, the athletics Web site.\n“We are proud to extend our relationship with adidas,” IU Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan said in a press release. “We appreciate their willingness to provide our student-athletes and coaches with the best products to aid their development and training, as well as their financial assistance to our department.”\nIU originally signed up with adidas for the 2004-05 school year. According to an IU Athletics press release, adidas also committed to certain labor and human rights provisions, including sustainability and sweatshop rules. The agreement states that adidas will report to IU on its labor use and efforts to fight human-rights violations.\nSeveral IU coaches endorsed the deal in the press release. IU football coach Bill Lynch said he was “very happy” about the agreement, while IU men’s soccer coach Mike Freitag said the company has been part of IU soccer’s success “for over 30 years.”\nAccording to www.scout.com, IU’s contract is comparable to deals signed by the University of Nebraska and Kansas University in recent years, but is significantly smaller than the reported $60 million deal signed by the University of Michigan in 2007.