Nike had a problem. Not its slumping stock price. Not questions about the brand. This was mid-August, and the sneaker giant had a looming Duke University problem.
It threatened to be a gut punch.
The long-standing Nike university was in talks with Adidas, per sources. The Blue Devils’ contract with Nike was set to expire in July 2027, and the university was considering a flip. Officials at Duke booked a two-day trip from Durham, N.C., to Portland to visit the Adidas North America headquarters. That little cross-country field trip, sources at Duke tell me, never got off the ground.
As one Nike insider quipped, “a brutal U-turn.”
The sneaker company gave Duke’s athletic department a $5 million check to not get on the plane, per a source. Nike also kicked in an additional $10 million signing bonus for the Blue Devils, I’m told. The terms of Duke’s contract extension have not been revealed publicly, but I’m told it’s a 10-year deal worth approximately $6 million per year.
Will Nike confirm it basically used a blank check to take Duke off the table?
“Have you seen them with anyone else?” Nike vice president Ann Miller told me on Thursday. “Officially, it’s ‘no comment.’ But let’s say the future is bright.”
Miller did confirm that the University of Miami is flipping its partnership to Nike. The Hurricanes had spent the last 11 years with Adidas. They’ve signed a 10-year deal worth $200 million, as first reported by the Miami Herald earlier this week.
Said Miller: “Phil is excited about this.”
Yes, as in… Phil Knight.
The Sneaker War is officially back, isn’t it? After a decade-plus with both companies claiming they aren’t gunning for each other or even thinking about each other, it’s apparent that the high-stakes skirmishes between Adidas/Nike are back.