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SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah announced Thursday that it has signed an extension with Under Armour, making it the “official outfitter of Utah” athletics for the next 10 years.
The 10-year contract is valued at $65 million dollars and will begin July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2027.
“We’re thrilled to continue our relationship with Under Armour,” Utah Director of Athletics Chris Hill said in a statement. “The relationship has been positive from all angles — first and foremost the many ways it benefits our student-athletes.”
Utah will receive $6.5 million each year from Under Armour. The university said the details of the contract are broken down as follows: $11.6 million in rights fees, $48 million of product allowance, $1.5 million contribution to Utah’s scholarship fund, $3.9 million through marketing, sponsorship and licensing opportunities, and an opportunity for upwards $2 million a year in performance bonuses.
Utah was one of the first athletic programs in the country to partner with Under Armour in 2008, switching from Nike to Under Armour for the football program. The men’s basketball program, which was the only other athletic program sponsored at the university, had previously switched from Nike to Adidas in 2007 before Hill signed an athletic-wide partnership with Under Armour in 2011.
The new extension on the Under Armour contract will supply footwear and apparel to Utah’s 18-sport varsity men’s and women’s athletic programs. Under its current contract, Utah receives $2.4 million per season.
“The University of Utah has been a long-standing partner of the Under Armour brand since 2008 as one of the first all-school partnerships,” said Nick Carparelli, Senior Director of College Sports at Under Armour, in a statement. “They have been an integral building block of our brand’s growth in collegiate athletics and we look forward to outfitting the Utes in innovative footwear, apparel and equipment for the next decade and beyond.
Utah is currently the only school in the Pac-12 to have a partnership with Under Armour; however, California and UCLA signed agreements with Under Armour earlier this year, which don’t go into effect until 2017. Cal’s contract is valued at $86 million over a 10-year period ($8.6 per year), while UCLA’s contract is valued at $280 million over 15 years ($18.67 million per year), making it the largest college athletics sponsorship in history.
Under the past partnership agreement, football head coach Kyle Whittingham would “receive an increase to his share of the annual rights fees in the same percentage as his current share” of $275,000 per season should a new agreement be signed after 2015. Under his current contract, men’s basketball head coach Larry Krystkowiak receives $200,000 per year as part of his “official outfitter agreement compensation” that makes up his salary.
