Don’t Look Behind The Curtain

Good Monday morning, Uni Watchers. I hope everyone had a good weekend, and your internal clocks aren’t too affected by the weekend’s “Spring Ahead.”

Just a wee bit of housekeeping before we get into today’s main article. First off, big, huge, double-plus thanks to our own Susan Freeman and Jamie Rathjen for stepping up big while I was bonspieling this past Thursday->Sunday. And also to our founder, Paul, for also pinch-posting with an update on his his childen. Thanks guys!

And ICYMI, the Athletics have announced their first-ever sleeve ad Friday afternoon. So as of now, we’re now down to six ad-free teams (a number likely to lower as the season progresses): the Mariners, Nationals, Rays, Rockies, Twins, and White Sox. (The other 23 teams who’ve sold out their uniforms to advertisers, excluding the just-announced A’s, are the Padres, Red Sox, D-backs, Angels, Astros, Reds, Marlins, Mets, Cardinals, Tigers, Guardians, Yankees, Blue Jays, Brewers, Dodgers, Giants, Braves, Royals, Rangers, Orioles, Pirates, Phillies, and Cubs.) The Nationals also expect to secure a sleeve advertiser later this season.

And speaking of the Bonspiel, it was the 2025 GNCC Men’s Senior Championships, held this year at the Norfolk Curling Club. My rink (team) flew out of the box, winning our first three games and advancing to yesterday’s A Final. I’ll probably have more to say about this soon — but this was a very big deal for us. Here’s a shot of my rink holding our medals for reaching the finals.

It was actually the first “A” final for three of us (including me), so we definitely played over our heads for the first three games. My goal of getting piped in was met. Unfortunately, our opponents in the Final far outclassed us as a team (even if every one of us had played our absolute best game, we probably wouldn’t have stood a chance — as it was, collectively we four had our worst game of the Championships in that Final). Still, it was a great and very successful weekend!

Now then.

Today our friend KC Smurthwaite returns. KC, you recall, was instrumental in setting up the UW/University of Hawai’i Uniform Design Contest (and it looks like we will have TWO more contests in the near future — more details to come when available). KC has also given us an insider look at the world of uniform design with a pair of posts, Our Jerseys %#!*& Suck, and Come At Me, Brand Police: Athletics and Academia. KC returns today with another great piece giving us a peek behind the curtain, as it were. Enjoy!

• • • • •Don’t Look Behind The Curtain
by KC Smurthwaite
@KCSmurthwaite

Congratulations, Uni Watch Fam — we’re pulling back the curtain today, and yes, you will want to take a peek.

From Scottsdale Community College (Go Artichokes!) to Ohio State, apparel deals come packed with perks—gear, branding, “cash,” and, ultimately, big savings for athletic departments.

The “Cash” Factor

Gone are the days when schools could expect a fat check just for switching brands (unless you’re a blue-blood program, and even then, it’s more “cash” in air quotes than actual cash). Over the last decade, apparel partners have shifted priorities. Just look at Nike—they run the pro sports world and even sublicensed their MLB contract with Fanatics. So, where have they pulled back?

Collegiate athletics.

Enter vendors like BSN Sports and Game One (we’ll save that deep dive for another day).

Now, let’s rewind to 2020 and take a look at Under Armour. This isn’t a knock on UA—it’s more of a perfect storm hitting at the worst time. They aggressively signed college deals, offering record-breaking contracts.

Then COVID hit. Sales were already slipping, and the pandemic absolutely crushed them. They had to buy out deals, go to court to escape contracts, and cut back on “cash” incentives for schools to switch brands.

Instead, they adjusted other numbers—let’s break those down.

__________The Basics of a Deal

To explain this more effectively, let’s use a fictional school: the University of Canada, home of the Fightin’ Moose. They have an apparel contract with a jersey company called Club Colors (which, fun fact, is a real company, but they don’t do official NCAA jerseys—just roll with it). I’m using them because I work with them on some projects, and I’d rather not get 32 texts from apparel company folks in the industry asking why I didn’t use [insert vendor name here].

The Fightin’ Moose x Club Colors Deal

• Term: Five years (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2030)

• Promo Money: $500,000

• Purchase Minimum: $600,000 annually

• Discounts: 50% off non-shoes, 40% off shoes

• Extras: 12 comped men’s and women’s basketball jerseys per year

It’s UW, we have to have a logo to go along with this fictional school. (Shout out to Tyler Stevenson!)

__________Promo Money: The Glorified Gift Card

Promo money is what some schools call “cash,” but really, it’s just a glorified line of credit to buy the brand’s products—usually at close to retail pricing. Now, before you scream, “That’s a bad deal!”—take a breath. Would you rather have $500,000 in credit to outfit half your teams or a big, fat zero? Schools strategize differently: some spread it across all teams, while others give it to a few fall sports to “get ahead” on the budget.

Other deals that I’ve seen also stipulate where some of the money goes, but this is not the norm. I believe this is to protect the company’s investment, they want the “money sports” to get the revenues because that’s the biggest ROI for them.

 

Purchase Minimums: Swipe That Card

Once promo money runs out, it’s shopping time. The Fightin’ Moose must spend at least $600,000 annually with Club Colors. These brands often have exclusive catalogs for athletic departments (some items even stay out of retail entirely), so schools get first dibs on new gear.

 

Discounts: Gear Galore

That required $600,000 spend comes with solid discounts: 50% off non-shoes and 40% off shoes. This is inclusive of jerseys! Most discounts usually range around the 40% mark.

While $600K sounds steep, you’re getting a lot of gear. Plus, Club Colors, like other vendors, buys in bulk for multiple schools, meaning they secure great pricing on their end while still turning a solid profit.

Club Colors also knows that their brand will be in every local store and bookstore… jerseys to hats.

 

The Fun Perks (And The Fine Print)

These deals aren’t just about gear—apparel companies get perks too. That means signage, promotional opportunities, and the guarantee that their logo appears on X number of assets, as well as season tickets. Yes, those “holds” that athletic departments keep until 24-36 hours before a game? Your apparel provider has some of those, and no, they’re not showing up to USC Upstate games to cheer on the squad. (They should though… how awesome is this 800-seat arena–painted in black!)

Gone are the days when brands would also offer to redesign a school’s look as part of the deal. Schools swap vendors too often now, and most have their own designers or work with outside firms.

Translation? No more “free” rebrands. There was also a licensing and legal component to that too…

Let’s take a look at some other components as well.

Interns, eh? I’ve seen this in a handful of deals, all 10+ year deals. I think they hope somebody would forget, right?

The incentive to spend… rough estimate, most contracts have some sort of incentive to spend more whether it comes in the form of a bonus or other areas are manipulated like the purchase minimum is bumped up… but your promo money goes up too.

Now that you are experts in Promo…

Ah, the exclusions… the big vendors don’t make everything… thus, more contracts!

Bonuses!

__________Final Threads

Apparel contracts are like a well-tailored suit—what’s included (and what’s not) makes all the difference. For the most part, the industry is actually regressing in terms of promo money, especially at non-big-brand schools. The ROI just isn’t there for these vendors, nor the time. Hence… BSN Sports and Game One (next post!)

Stay tuned, because we’ll be stitching together more insights on these deals soon. In the meantime, just remember: when it comes to apparel contracts, the devil’s in the details—and so are the discounts.

Thanks for having me, Phil and UW Family!

• • • • •Thanks, KC! Another great look behind the curtain, as it were.

Readers, I’m sure you guys have questions for KC — fire away!