Ohio State has 36 variety sports – Texas has 20 – and more than 1,000 athletes. A fourth consecutive 12-win season for coach Urban Meyer and a Fiesta Bowl victory – among other factors – were enough to earn the Buckeyes the accolade for a second consecutive year.
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According to the Wall Street Journal, Ohio State will receive a whopping $112 million in Nike product, as well as “at least $103 million in cash, not including royalty income”.
The unique and prosperous deal between each side is for a reported $252 million, according to Dave Briggs of the Toledo Blade. The massive deal surpasses the $250 million contract between Texas and Nike from October, as well as Michigan’s 9 million deal from July.
Cleveland.com obtained the full contract between Ohio State and Nike, which you can read below.
Nike declined to comment on the news.
“We approached this as a university contract, not one that’s purely focused on athletics”. It includes “a significant endowment for student scholarships and NIKE internships for both athletes and non-athletes”. “We’re proud to make Nike products available for our student-athletes”.
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Just to put that in perspective, Nike sees the power of the Ohio State brand on par with that of the likes of LeBron James and Tiger Woods. “The majority of the benefits take effect in August 2018, when the previous contract would have expired”, per Davey.
