Said it then. Saying it now. Our Adidas deal sucked. Period. Time will show that. Both before and after the signing. They deal has to be viewed in cash. Apparel is a company write off essentially.
But. I recognize we had little choice and leverage. So. Iiwii. Got probably the best we could with smart business men making deals with institutional weenies whom never really ran a company.
One thing to consider, at the time we inked our deal, Adidas stated they were about done with P5 apparel deals. They didn't come out and say it, but my interpretation of that comment was, "we have about hit the wall in return on investment projections specifically for power college teams. Our adv and marketing dollars are much better spent elsewhere. ie G5 teams where we're not in a bidding war with Nike and professional sports worldwide". This was pre FBI NCAA apparel company indictments. They (Adidas) very well could have seen a significant loss of market share in the segment that their investment in P5 college athletics targets, triggering a re-assessment to pull back or go all-in. Also, there was a cleaning of house so to speak at the top in the Adidas company division that deals with college athletics apparel deals. They probably have a significantly different strategy and game plan regarding apparel deals than the previous management team.
Our deal was a combination of just bad luck timing with basically across the board downturns in college athletics revenue streams and our relative negative negotiating position with a departing supplier getting out of the business. Regardless, could our deal have been better? Of course it could. At the same time, we are in a much, much, much better place than we were and should be in a better place still at the time of the next deal. I think TS did about as good he could with what he had to work with. I'm very happy to be with Adidas, I think it will prove to be a relationship of mutual benefit.