University of Tennessee athletics will switch from Nike to Adidas in 2026 as its official apparel supplier in a blockbuster 10-year deal that plans to make the Vols the brand’s flagship college program while paying its athletes for their name, image and likeness.
In short, Tennessee will be to Adidas what Oregon is to Nike and Notre Dame is to Under Armour.
And Adidas has big plans beyond that. They include a broader collection of fan gear, stocking stores year-round with new team apparel, marketing campaigns featuring UT athletes and a line of Vols signature shoes.
“We’ve been trying to do this for the past decade, so it’s exciting that we’re finally here,” Chris McGuire, Adidas Vice President of Sports Marketing, told Knox News.
Adidas apparently made an offer too good for UT to refuse, and Nike didn’t counter.
“My best guess would be that Adidas’ offer was so strong that (Nike) chose not to (make a counter offer),” UT athletics director Danny White told Knox News on Aug. 13, the day the deal was announced.
Neither Adidas nor UT disclosed financial terms of the deal because its unique structure would provide a competitive advantage if revealed, a UT spokesperson said.
“It’s important for our fans to know that it’s not just about the money. It’s about partnering with the right brand,” White said. “But it’s one of the biggest deals in the history of college sports. We will be the flagship to Adidas.”
Adidas will become UT’s official footwear, uniform, apparel and sideline partner, beginning July 1, 2026. It had previously served as the Vols’ apparel provider from 1995 to 2015.
Now Adidas is back with its groundbreaking NIL program, which signs high school and college players for major marketing campaigns. The brand wants to feature UT nationwide and offer NIL opportunities for athletes in all 20 sports for the Vols.
“Tennessee has always been a priority for us,” McGuire said. “Knowing there was an opportunity to start conversations with them, we jumped on that immediately.”
Who will design Tennessee’s Adidas uniforms?
Nike will remain the Vols’ apparel and uniform supplier for the 2025-26 academic year while UT prepares for the switch to Adidas.
UT designs its own uniforms in house and collaborates with the brand to bring them to the field, the court and official team stores.
That doesn’t guarantee that fans will like every uniform design. But it does ensure that UT won’t be caught off guard by a color scheme or design that it did not intend. That independence was a precondition for any UT apparel provider.
“From day one of these conversations, Adidas has assured us that the existing design ethos of Tennessee athletics is critically important to their ambitions for our brand,” said Alicia Longworth, UT deputy AD/chief marketing officer.
How Adidas could pay Tennessee athletes for NIL
The change from Nike to Adidas could be a divisive decision among UT fans.
During the previous partnership, there were highs like the Vols wearing Adidas football jerseys during the 1998 national title season. And there were lows like the awkward uniform designs during sub-par football seasons late in the Adidas era.
But the lucrative Adidas contract will help fund UT’s revenue sharing pool to pay athletes.
Plus, Adidas prioritizes college sports, so it could open doors to national branding campaigns for elite UT athletes with signature NIL deals. At Nike, most of those opportunities were reserved for NFL and NBA players.
That’s a new concept in the NIL era, where schools can facilitate corporate contracts for their athletes. National campaigns then feature those college athletes in ways they couldn’t do in the previous era.
“Obviously, we’ll always have the big school relationship. But it’s great to use different marketing campaigns in and around campus (featuring UT athletes)” said McGuire, an Adidas executive for the past 26 years.
“Some will go national, depending on who they are. Some will be regional campaigns. And if it’s a new football jersey or basketball jersey that needs to be sold, we’ll use athletes there on campus, and they’ll be compensated.”
Vols signature shoes and other NIL opportunities
Adidas is a leader in NIL because it dove headfirst into the industry once it was adopted by the NCAA in 2021. And the company has remained aggressive in the NIL space.
Adidas is already working to land NIL deals with current UT athletes.
Once the partnership begins in July 2026, every UT athlete will be eligible to participate in Adidas’ NIL Ambassador Network, which touts more than 12,000 college athletes who earn a percentage of the sales they drive for key products and campaigns.
The NIL Ambassador Network is only available to athletes at Adidas-partnered Division I schools.
Adidas’ NIL approach is different for each school it partners with, and that’ll be the case for UT.
At Texas Tech, Adidas created “Team Mahomes,” an NIL squad featuring NFL MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs alongside six high-profile athletes from different sports at his alma mater. That could provide a blueprint for Adidas’ NIL plan at UT.
Texas A&M, Miami, Nebraska, Mississippi State, Kansas, Washington, Indiana and Arizona State are among other Adidas schools. They were featured with school-specific signature shoes in Adidas’ College Collection, which will include Tennessee in a future design.
“Tennessee will be in that mix (in a signature shoe collection) in the future,” McGuire, the Adidas VP, said. “We do different renditions of footwear throughout the course of the year – some more lifestyle, some more performance driven.
“So believe me, Tennessee will have their fair share of everything we have to offer.”
How Lady Vols legend Candace Parker impacts Adidas deal
UT already has a signature former athlete at Adidas in Lady Vols legend Candace Parker, the president of its women’s basketball division. Before Parker earned two WNBA MVP awards and two Olympic gold medals, she led the Lady Vols to NCAA titles in 2007 and 2008.
Parker helped facilitate the Adidas deal with UT, and she will have a voice in the brand’s marketing strategy with her alma mater.
“Candace has been a great partner of ours, obviously, from her days at Tennessee. I hear from Candace a lot on the importance of the Volunteer nation and how it would be great if we were back to being partners,” McGuire said.
“We use Candace quite a bit in the background to help facilitate some different ideas that we can bring to the university. (She) was able to share some great insights for us across all (Tennessee) sports.”
How dropping Nike could impact Vols recruiting
Traditionally, athletes have considered the apparel brand when choosing a school. In fact, a decade ago, it was common for a recruit to have that as a top priority, and Nike was a popular choice.
That’s undoubtedly still true for some athletes, but those instances are dwindling.
In the NIL era, the school’s apparel brand has slid down the priority list in recent years. Instead, the highest priority is now player pay, and by a wide margin. Athletes want to know how much money they can earn in NIL and direct school-to-player pay.
In theory, UT should fund a more talented roster with increased revenue from Adidas or, at least, leverage the partnership to land touted prospects.
Adidas has been aggressive in signing some of the nation’s top high school athletes in hopes of continuing that relationship in college and the pros. UT recruits many of those same players.
How Tennessee let Nike go after 12 years
UT’s contract with Nike runs through June 30, 2026, according to the amendment provided by the university to Knox News.
The deal was initially set to run through 2023, but former AD Dave Hart signed an extension through the 2025-26 academic year.
Nike is scheduled to pay Tennessee $1.2 million in base compensation in 2025-26, with an annual product allotment of $4.5 million. UT gets an annual Nike ELITE credit of $100,000 for the athletics department and an additional $100,000 for football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and administration.
Per the contract, UT and Nike began negotiations for extending the deal in late 2024. But that exclusive negotiating window ended March 30.
That’s when Adidas and other brands came into the picture. Nike could’ve matched the highest bid, but it balked on that opportunity.
The Vols are a popular brand in college sports. They have an enormous fan base and enjoy the widespread exposure of the SEC. That made UT a coveted client, and Adidas submitted a bid that wouldn’t be beaten.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email [email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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