Adidas has announced its longtime apparel sponsorship with the NBA will come to an end when the current contract expires after the 2016-17 NBA season. Adidas (after taking over for subsidiary Reebok) has supplied jerseys — including those hideous sleeved monstrosities — for the NBA since 2006, but chose not to bid on a new contract.
“While we have enjoyed a successful long-term relationship with the league, we continually review our partner agreements to ensure they are meeting our investment and delivering on our brand and business needs,” Adidas spokesperson Lauren Lamkin said in a statement.
Chris Grancio, Adidas’ global basketball general manager, added that the company would instead focus on individual players (Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose are the two biggest names currently signed to Adidas).
“We haven’t been able to elevate our brand for the basketball consumer that we’re targeting,” Grancio said. “We ultimately decided that we would change our investment strategy and invest more in players on the court.”
There are a couple other reasons why Adidas may have been hesitant to make a competitive bid. First, a prolonged lockout appears to be inevitable entering the 2017-18 season, the first year of the new deal. Adidas already experienced one lockout — in 2011 — and took a huge hit in jersey sales. Starting a brand new contract with no basketball probably isn’t very enticing.
Also, Adidas just dropped $1.3 billion on a 10-year Manchester United deal, which is by far the richest apparel sponsorship deal in all of sports. Nike (which lost the Man U deal) and Under Armor are expected to make bids for the new NBA apparel contract.
[ESPN, photo: Soobum Im/USA TODAY Sports]
