Under Armour and UCLA are taking the Diddy line “From East coast to West Coast, spread love son. And while you keep talking s**t, I count bank funds” to heart.
Under Armour, one of the fastest growing brands around, has channeled their inner “LL” and gone back to Cali for their latest deal, signing a 15 year, $280 million contract with UCLA, said to be the largest college contract in history.
The company has been staking its flag at some of the bigger schools lately, signing Notre Dame, Auburn and Wisconsin, and also signed a historic deal with Howard University, which made it the first HBCU school the company partnered with. With the UCLA deal, it now further strengthens its previously established west coast presence through its deal with Cal-Berkeley.
We knew that we were well-positioned to cut a deal, said Dan Guerrero, the UCLA athletic director. Under Armour came at us hard.
This deal was about geography, said Kevin Plank, who founded Under Armour in 1996. It was important for us to plant our flag in L.A.
New #UCLA Under Armour gear on display pic.twitter.com/cFn165Rg2S
Thuc Nhi Nguyen (@thucnhi21) May 24, 2016
This deal, announced today, eclipses the deal Ohio State had signed with Nike, which was a 15 year, $252 million deal. Per the LA Times:
“UCLA will receive $15 million in cash up front, according a person with knowledge of the agreement who was not authorized to speak publicly. The school will subsequently be paid approximately $11 million annually in rights and marketing fees.
Under Armour has agreed to supply about $7.4 million worth of clothing, shoes and equipment each school year and contribute an additional $2 million over the next eight years for upgrades at facilities such as the Morgan Center and the Acosta Athletic Complex.”
But this is not the first time that Under Armour and UCLA had discussed this opportunity. Back in 2001, they had talked about a sponsorship deal, which was subsequently taken up by Adidas. But this time Plank brought the rain!
Theyre still in their infancy, really, but look at the explosive growth theyve had, Guerrero said. Theyre aggressive, theyre motivated and we liked that.
