Under Armour again? Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick gives the latest on Irish athletics apparel deal
Notre Dame has been synonymous with Under Armour for nearly a decade. You can’t go to a Fighting Irish football game, pass by a Fighting Irish coach or student athlete on campus in South Bend, Ind., or watch a Fighting Irish athletics-related video on the internet without seeing the UA logo. It’s everywhere — just like the Notre Dame fan base itself.
The two entities’ 10-year apparel sponsorship deal expires at the end of 2024, though.
It’s difficult to look past Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick‘s son, Cal, being the lead collegiate sports marketing agent at Under Armour when hypothesizing which supplier Notre Dame will sign with next. Per Cal’s job description, it’s his duty to “manage [UA’s] servicing of collegiate and university partners and relationships.” Many have seen that connection and drawn a conclusion — the Fighting Irish will re-up their agreement with Under Armour, and that’s that. The writing is on the wall.
Right?
Maybe not. The elder Swarbrick warned against going that far.
“It’s still a very active process,” Swarbrick told BlueandGold.com Wednesday in a conversation that did not include his son’s direct or indirect role in negotiations. “We went through a formal bidding process where we had very active participation. We’re probably a month away from resolving it.”
Put simply, whichever way the resolution goes is a matter much bigger than an AD and his son. It’s about one of the most recognizable sports brands in the world and the supplier it chooses to pair with.
As of late June, Under Armour, Nike and Adidas are still candidates to supply all 26 of Notre Dame’s varsity sports teams with the latest and greatest gear. Swarbrick said there are three key components the company Notre Dame ultimately signs with has to admirably adhere to; financial support, satisfactory service and distinguished leverage.
“Not to reduce it to this, but the financial term is important,” Swarbrick said. “There is an interesting perception that we have all the money to do whatever we want to do. That’s not the case, right? The resources that are made available to you through a deal like this become very important. That’s number one.
“Two is the level of service. Part of that is the product itself. Part of that is the responsiveness. The delivery of things on time. The accommodation to the needs of student-athletes. And then the last one is the ability to leverage the relationship to promote the university.”
To Under Armour’s credit, it has delivered on every bullet point.
Why Notre Dame might sign with Under Armour again
At the time Swarbrick struck the expiring deal with UA in January 2014, it was believed to be the most lucrative apparel sponsorship in the collegiate athletics — somewhere around $90 million. Financial support? Check. Er — not so fast. Maybe not, again. Marketplaces are altered in a hurry.
Less than two years after the marriage of Notre Dame and Under Armour, Nike smashed the the $90 million mark by agreeing to a 15-year, $250 million contract with Texas. Under Armour signed a similar deal (15 years, $280 million) with UCLA in 2016 but backed out of it in 2020 via a $67.5 million settlement, igniting worries among Blue and Gold faithful that Under Armour might’ve lost its fastball as a predominant collegiate athletics sponsor.
If there is a school UA will flip a heavy bill for, though, it’s Notre Dame.
Under Armour has bent over backwards for the Fighting Irish for almost 10 years. The company knows where the money is. Right next to NBA superstar Steph Curry, Notre Dame is as much of a selling point for people to purchase UA apparel as any one person or any one thing in the world. Curry signed one of the richest endorsement deals ever with UA in March. He received $75 million worth of shares in the company. That was only a portion of his compensation. The exact terms of the deal were not released.
His personal opinion on Under Armour was.
“I believe in Under Armour and Curry Brand, the team now in place, and what we’re doing together,” Curry said in a statement. “We share a vision for a big future ahead.”
Sitting in a relaxed manner on the sofa in his office, Swarbrick spoke of Under Armour with the same radiant tone — even if he was not yet ready to admit Notre Dame is sticking with UA.
“I’ve loved their responsiveness,” Swarbrick said. “One of the things we did in this process was reach out to a lot of other schools. We found out everybody has problems. There is this perception that it all goes so well. No, everybody has problems. The question becomes, what is the responsiveness? For us, it’s been great.”
Service to the student-athlete, check. No asterisks. And if one ever was attached to a certain consumer-centric situation, all Swarbrick would need to do is make a call to his son. Cal could certainly handle an inquiry of that nature and get it taken care of. Professionally, of course.
Despite the UCLA settlement and not racking up as many deals across the country as competitors Nike and Adidas, Under Armour has always been nothing but just that — professional — in dealing with Notre Dame. That goes a long way in the eyes of an AD. And in the eyes of a student-athlete, for that matter. A snazzy warmup suit doesn’t need a swoosh or a Jumpman logo if all of the other ducks are in a row. There are many facets of customer satisfaction. UA always seems to turn over every stone.
For the eyes of a fan, stay glued to the TV this football season.
“[Under Armour] will do a commercial in the fall that I think will have a strong Notre Dame presence, just as they did with the South Carolina women’s basketball team, Swarbrick said. “They are able to do that with us. I’ve enjoyed that aspect of the relationship over the years.”
So long as UA keeps checking the boxes, it makes sense for Notre Dame to extend the contract.
Think of it like the Irish’s independence as a football program. If Notre Dame can get the appropriate amount of money through media rights deals with NBC and ESPN (by way of a partial membership in the ACC) and the program’s College Football Playoff inclusion is largely unaffected by remaining independent, then what incentive is there to join a conference? Similarly, if Under Armour matches or exceeds the monetary offers of Nike and Adidas and meets the mark in all the other areas then why does Notre Dame need to move on?
It doesn’t. So, maybe it won’t.
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