Adidas—the world’s second-largest sporting goods brand after Nike—is in the fifth year of a reported $400 million, 11-year deal to be the NBA’s official uniform and apparel supplier.
That means Adidas pays the league an average of $36 million for the rights to design, manufacture and market all league apparel, including game uniforms.
The deal was expanded in March 2010 when the NBA granted Adidas exclusive rights to all apparel in Europe.
“Clearly, Adidas has much more direct loss in the sense that the NBA apparel license would be basically dormant” if a season was lost, said John Horan, publisher of Sporting Goods Intelligence, an industry news and research company.
It’s unclear whether Adidas’ contract with the league offers any contingency plans in the event of a work stoppage.
— Reported by Erik Siemers of the Portland Business Journal
