K-State’s new apparel contract leaves Wildcats in ‘really good place’ with Nike

A few months ago, the future of Kansas State’s apparel provider became a hot topic in EMAW country.

Were the Wildcats going to keep wearing a Nike swoosh on their football uniforms? Or might they consider switching to another logo like Under Armour?

The debate came to an end with K-State and Nike deciding to renew their vows in the form of a new deal that will make them partners for at least another three years. Both sides have signed a contract that will go into effect on July 1, 2024 and last until the same date in 2027. But an option exists to extend the arrangement even further, until 2029.

K-State athletic director Gene Taylor is excited about how things worked out.

“It took a while, but we are good,” Taylor said. “We signed a new contract and we are good to go. We saw a couple Nike reps at the (College Football Playoff) championship game and had some great conversations with them. We are in a really good place with Nike.”

The Eagle obtained a copy of K-State’s updated contract with Nike via an open records request. It includes some interesting changes from their old deal that could work out well for both parties.

Perhaps the biggest change under the new arrangement is that K-State will begin profiting from all Nike sales on apparel and gear that features the Wildcats.

Starting in July, Nike will pay K-State a 14% royalty on net sales for any Nike products “bearing K-State marks,” except for footwear. Nike will pay K-State a royalty of 5% of net sales on any shoe or sandal that is connected to the athletic department and its teams.

This new stipulation was likely included in K-State’s apparel contract to motivate both sides to develop new gear and make it readily available to fans for purchase. In previous years, the university has been frustrated by a lack of Nike apparel in the market place, particularly when lavender became a hot color for the men’s basketball team.

“One of their big pushes is that we need to get our retail sales up,” Taylor said last April. “Our goal is to make sure our stuff gets to the retail side of thing as quickly as possible. We struggle with that a little bit because there are two different groups we work with at Nike and that is one of the things we will talk to them about when we visit with them.”

Furthermore, Nike shall no longer be permitted to license any of its K-State rights to other athletic apparel companies. That should make it rare for anyone to find K-State gear in a store with anything but a Nike Swoosh featured prominently on it.

It is worth noting that it appears T-shirt companies like Charlie Hustle and Homefield will be allowed to continue selling K-State items. The new licensing stipulation mentions 16 companies that are off limits (including Adidas, Reebok, Under Armour and other athletic apparel manufactures) but there is no mention of retro band companies.

There is one other way that K-State can profit from its deal with Nike.

The shoe company has agreed to pay the Wildcats performance bonuses whenever their teams succeed in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, track & field and cross country.

A national championship in football would net the largest payment of $100,000. Other bonuses include $20,000 for a Big 12 championship in football, $25,000 for reaching the Final Four in basketball and $10,000 for taking first place at the NCAA Outdoor championships in track & field.

Under terms of the contract, K-State coaches are expected to be available to make two appearances on the behalf of Nike every year.

It is also interesting to read just how serious Nike is about being the exclusive apparel provider for K-State.

For instance, all student-athletes at K-State are required to wear Nike clothing and footwear during the vast majority of team activities. The lone exception outlined in this contract is for “non-athletic footwear and apparel” when business attire is required. So K-State men’s basketball coach Jerome Tang is permitted to wear non-Nike dress shoes and a suit on the sideline. But sneakers and a pullover have to be Nike.

What if a coach or student-athlete suffers from pain or discomfort while wearing Nike footwear? If that can be verified in writing by a team physician then Nike will work with the university to create custom shoes for the individual. What if even those personalized shoes can’t fix the problem? Nike will furnish the individual with footwear of his or her choice, produced by any manufacturer, but with all visible identification removed or covered.

In other words, a K-State athlete can only wear shoes that aren’t produced by Nike during a game as an absolute last resort ... and even then they have to be stripped of all rival logos.

Some apparel companies have been known to pay schools large sums as a way to entice them to wear their product. That is not the case between Nike and K-State.

In previous contracts, Nike provided K-State with an annual product allotment of around $2 million.

The new contract is structured differently. Moving forward, K-State will receive a 66.6% discount on all the gear it orders from Nike up to $4.2 million in any given year. In other words, the Wildcats can get $1 million in gear for the reduced price of $333,334.

Nike does allow K-State to carry over an annual product allotment of $200,000 per year in unordered gear. The Wildcats are also permitted up to $200,000 of apparel each year through the Nike Elite store for the use of university coaches and other staff.

For K-State, the hope is that its new royalty fees will have money flowing both ways with its apparel provider.

Nike and K-State are moving forward together. Over the next few years, it will benefit both sides to sell purple gear.