Georgia Tech switching to Under Armour for uniforms, apparel
Georgia Tech has signed a 10-year contract with Under Armour to be the school’s athletic apparel provider.
Tech’s athletics teams will begin wearing Under Armour on July 1. Tech will continue wearing Adidas until then.
“In any scenario, and why we ended up in this partnership, was you want someone that desires to be with you,” Tech athletic director Ryan Alpert told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “When I look at all of our revenue and our partnerships, I want a partner that believes in, not only who we are today, but who we can be in the three, five and 10 years. Based on the offer and the interest from Under Armour, it was very clear that they believe in not Georgia Tech of the past, not Georgia Tech of last year, but where we can go.
“That’s the type of partner that you want, that believes in your ability and your marketplace, and I think that’s what Under Armour is.”
While specific financial terms of the agreement were not made immediately available, Tech stands to make nearly six times more its annual average value than what it was receiving from Adidas, according to a person with knowledge of the contract. Tech was receiving an average of $3.11 million annually from Adidas in cash and product over its original six-year contract that was signed in 2018.
“This deal financially puts us in a more level playing field with our P4 (Power Four conference) partners,” Alpert said.
In 2024, Tech and Adidas extended their original agreement two years. Many apparel companies and universities alike took a wait-and-see approach at that time during the shifting landscape of college athletics that now incudes increased name, image and likeness (NIL) payments and the ability of colleges to pay athletes from revenue sharing.
Thus, surveying which company suited Tech’s needs most, and which company was willing to give the school a significant financial boost became imperative as former Tech athletic director J Batt, now at Michigan State, navigated the competitive market.
“It’s significantly better than where we were before,” Alpert said. “They’ve made a significant investment into Georgia Tech at putting us as one of their top-tier programs. It’s not just on the apparel side, which is obviously a worldwide brand when it comes to the leading edge of apparel, but we have a great opportunity for R&D (research and development) here. They also have significant interest and are continuing to look at different ways to partner with the institute.”
Alpert came to Tech from Tennessee, a program that recently announced a switch from Nike to Adidas. Penn State also recently announced a switch from Nike to Adidas and South Carolina switched from Under Armour to Nike. Under Armour recently announced partnerships with Northwestern and Maryland, among others.
Nearly three months into his tenure as AD, Alpert said Tech’s deal with Under Armour has more benefits than just the financial windfall. The company also will prioritize NIL opportunities for Tech players (the initial investment includes signing 10 current athletes to NIL partnerships), and Under Armour plans to partner with Tech to develop innovations.
Alpert added that Under Armour apparel will also be more accessible, and more diverse, for Tech’s fan base.
“I think one thing for us, and as we look forward, is how can we continue to bring brands to the table that we can help,” Alpert said. “We have the smartest engineers in the world here, how can we create and a new and intuitive product that can help us compete at the highest level.
“They’re really committed to athletics. They’re really committed to Atlanta. They’re really committed to continuing to find other ways to, not just partner in Atlanta, but partner with the institute so they can be on the leading edge, knowing that we have the top engineers in the world.”
Before its partnership with Adidas, Tech had worn Russell Athletic for a quarter century. But it was in 1996 that Tom Conner, Tech’s equipment manager, purchased gear from Under Armour, one of the first significant sales for Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank. Now, 30 years later, all the Jackets officially will be donned in Plank’s apparel company.
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