Under Armor is trying to terminate its $ 280 million, 15-year clothing and shoe contract with the University of California, Los Angeles.
“Under Armor has recently made the difficult decision to suspend our partnership with UCLA as we have been paying for marketing benefits that we have not received for an extended period,” the company said in a statement. “The agreement allows us to end in such a case and we are exercising that right.”
According to Armor’s statement, oblique reference was also made to the COVID-19 pandemic, which suspended almost all professional and amateur sports in the U.S.
“We know this has been a challenging time for athletes, sports programs and high performance clothing brands,” he said. “Under Armor will continue to preserve our strength in this challenging environment, while maintaining a strong network of partnerships with individuals, organizations, and leagues that make us the authority in the field for focused artists.”
UCLA said in a statement that it learned of Under Armor’s intentions last week and that it would be working to prevent it from happening.
“We are exploring all of our options to resist Under Armor’s actions,” the UCLA statement said. “We remain committed to providing our hardworking staff and student athletes with the footwear, apparel and equipment necessary to train and compete at the highest level, as they, and our faithful Bruin supporters, deserve.”
The agreement between Under Armor and UCLA set a record as the largest collegiate apparel deal when it was announced in May 2016. It officially went into effect in July 2017, when the UCLA deal with Adidas ended.
Until the UCLA deal, Nike held the previous record with a $ 252 million, 15-year contract with the state of Ohio that was agreed in January 2016.
Nike has some of the largest college deals, including a $ 250 million, 15-year partnership with the University of Texas and an $ 169 million, 11-year deal with the University of Michigan.
Under Armor still has a $ 86 million, 10-year contract with the University of California, Berkeley, which was signed in April 2016.
