PSU Football
News & Information
News—Sept. 5, 2025—updated
Adidas will replace Nike at Penn State in July 2026
Penn State University announced on Friday, Sept, 5, 2025 that Adidas will, in fact, become the official supplier/manufacturer of athletic footwear, uniforms, apparel, etc. for all sports beginning July 1, 2026… Various media report that the 10 year deal with Adidas is worth in the $300 million range and will also include numerous marketing and NIL financial opportunities for Penn State student athletes… The contract still needs Board of Trustees approval, possibly as soon as Sept. 11-12, but this is considered a formality…
The Centre Daily Times newspaper reported that Penn State had growing concerns revolving around Nike’s “lack of cooperation” on certain athletic projects since Pat Kraft assumed the role of AD at Penn State in July of 2022… It also reported that Nike’s latest offer to extend its deal with PSU was not attractive and it reportedly declined to match the Adidas offer… It is also being reported that Penn State privately chafed at being treated in a “second-class” manner by Nike in recent years in relation to Oregon, and more notably, to Ohio State and Michigan... Adidas has said in the PSU release that it considers the Nittany Lions a “premiere” athletics program…
Adding to the recent Nike vs. Adidas intrigue, On3 reported on Sept. 4th that PSU QB Drew Allar had signed a new NIL deal with Nike… Generally, NIL deals are restricted to a single season, and this is Allar’s last year of eligibility, so this will not impact in anyway on Penn State’s future athletic apparel plans with Adidas…
Penn State football had been fully with Nike since 1993 when the company began to manufacture apparel in addition to shoes… The Nittany Lions officially began wearing Nike football jerseys in the 1994 season… The iconic Nike Swoosh first appeared solo on the front left shoulder (and sometimes top of the shoulder) of the jerseys made for use in the 1995 Rose Bowl Game… Previous football jerseys were Champion and Russell brands… PSU began to use the familiar Nike Swoosh footballs in 1997 and was one of the first major college football programs to do so (Wilson had been the prior maker of PSU footballs)… Penn State had been wearing Nike football cleats/turf shoes (and socks) since they were first available in 1983 replacing shoes made by Adidas and Spot Bilt… It is well-known that Nike founder Phil Knight and Penn State head coach Joe Paterno had a strong relationship dating back to the early 80s… Although that relationship began to fray, at least from a public perspective, at the height of the Sandusky allegations in late 2011, just weeks before Paterno’s death in 2012…
Longtime football fans will recall that the 1995 addition of the solo Nike swoosh logo to such a visible position on the Nittany Lions jersey fronts was not well received by the faithful and was criticized by some media notably ABC’s Keith Jackson who once likened it to “painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa”… Champion (used in the early 1990’s) and initial Nike jerseys had their logos “hidden” on the left sleeve either above or below the numbers while earlier Russell jerseys hid their logo patch at the waist, so it wasn’t seen unless the player was untucked…
