I’d like to raise a glass to my friends in Atlanta who have suffered with Russell Athletic team apparel for far too long. Your long nightmare is coming to an end as the school’s contract with the brand is set to expire next summer. Georgia Tech has absolutely no designs on staying with Russell.
Georgia Tech is ditching its terrible Russell Athletic contract. We’re happy for them.
Welcome to 2017, Yellow Jackets.
Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images
Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury has been negotiating with Adidas, Nike and Under Armour to be the new outfitter of the Yellow Jackets.
“We’ve got another year in our contract, so we definitely, with the direction that Russell’s kind of moving in corporate-wise, we’re going to be making a transition,” Stansbury told the AJC.
The most recent contract with the brand was a 10-year deal which began in 2008. The school has been with Russell since 1992. The school receives a payout of just under $1 million in cash per year. It receives another in-kind sponsorship of over $1 million per year which is paid in apparel totaling a certain monetary amount. This upcoming athletic year will see $1.35 million worth of apparel come Georgia Tech’s way. It’s not uncommon for schools to do something like that.
The problem is the recruiting capital the Jackets lose by not being outfitted by any of the big three apparel dealers on the field. Russell just isn’t really a good look.
As it stands, the Yellow Jackets remain the only Power-5 program in the country using Russell Athletic as its official provider of athletic wear. They’re joined by only three other FBS programs in that respect, as well as the Arena Football League, the Harlem Globetrotters, and Little League Baseball. I mean no disrespect to a really fun indoor football league, the world’s most entertaining basketball team, or anyone’s children, but that’s not exactly the kind of exclusive company that a Power-5 athletic program should be aiming to keep.
College football recruits care about this sort of thing, and upping your cool factor by nixing Russell is a net positive for the program in more ways than just cash. Even the AFL got out of its Russell deal by recently signing on with Under Armour.
Enjoy the new swag next summer, Yellow Jackets. You’ve been through enough.
