Nike or Under Armour expected to take over league apparel. [rQUOTEr]NBA uniforms will cease to have Adidas' three-stripe logo in 2017. The German company has dropped its bid to extend its apparel contract with the league and instead will focus on developing new products, endorsing more amateur teams and doubling its roster of NBA players. The company has been the league's apparel partner since it signed an 11-year deal in 2006 for a reported $400 million. The company has been in talks with the NBA about an extension since 2012 but this month decided to walk away. Chris Grancio, Adidas' global basketball general manager, said the deal hasn't been as lucrative as hoped. Adidas has been unable to make up lost ground with Nike and its Jordan brand, which account for roughly 96 percent of the basketball shoe business. "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." With Adidas out of the picture, Nike or Under Armour will likely be the league's apparel partner starting in 2017. Each is expected to bid on the contract. Grancio said he had "no idea" about whether Nike or Under Armour have bid on the deal. He said Adidas' decision was made independent of the bids of other parties. http://www.bizjournals.com/portland...-bid-redraws-basketball.html?ana=twt&page=all[/rQUOTEr]
I'm more in the Nike camp. I prefer Nike's basketball crap over Adidas basketball crap. Other sports, I don't really have a preference.
Hope this leads to a new design for the Rockets jerseys. Right now the ketchup and mustard are our only saving grace for the regular ugg jerseys we have
I'm not gonna buy/wear their stuff regardless of who it goes to other than maybe one t shirt, but I'd love to see Under Armour win the bid. Time to shake things up in this industry. Some healthy competition. And honestly, did anything really change when Adidas took it over from Reebok or whoever had it before? Sure they added shirseys to the mix, but I feel like that was the NBA's doing more than anyone else. I just think it's awesome from a business perspective that Under Armour is even in the conversation considering their story and how new they are. And I feel like regardless of who it goes to, the end product will still be pretty much the same. Remember that the players will still wear whatever shoes they want/are contractually obligated to.
The manufacturer has virtually zero say in the design/color scheme of the jerseys other than maybe the fabric used.
They can recommend a change. But the rockets have known we've needed jersey and court upgrades for about a decade now.
If it goes to UA, we'd never hear the end of the steph curry promoting. No to under armour for that reason alone. Spoiler Under Armour does make some really comfortable, high-quality apparel though.
UA has always been a football company to me. All their compression gear I bought during football season, vs no basketball gear. I mean, that was like 8 years ago though, UA could have vastly diversified themselves.