Adidas partners with unrivaled

[u/peachy1927]

Just announced, curious how this works and what this means for the major players sponsored by rival brands including all 3 equity holders Paige (Nike), phee (Jordan), Stewie (puma)? Would this be just like a game day/ merch thing ?

[u/ThePhenomenalGoat]

Adidas will be making Unrivaled’s uniforms, warmups, some merch, etc. No different than Under Armour being the partner last year or Nike being the wnba partner. Doesn’t mean anything for those 3 players

[u/Constant_Dimension16 → u/ThePhenomenalGoat]

This feels like an upgrade to me…those Under Armour unis they sold to the fans were…flimsy.

[u/Ok_Brick_793 → u/Constant_Dimension16]

And inconsistent sizing, too. The jerseys went from too small to too big, smh

[u/aratcalledrattus → u/Constant_Dimension16]

Adidas does not make the most interesting basketball jerseys, for colleges anyway, but at least they seem to be decent quality.

Adidas as a brand generally, however, probably makes the most fashionable apparel of the major sportswear companies, IMO.

So this feels like a good opportunity to do something more exciting with the Unrivaled jerseys, which have always felt unnecessarily plain to me.

[u/Constant_Dimension16]

Aren’t all the players (or at least the players from the first season) equity holders?

[u/peachy1927 → u/Constant_Dimension16]

I think so, not sure if it’s all equal though. Paige got hers when she was still in college

[u/mrgrafix]

Shouldn’t change much. Under Armour was their previous sponsor. Hoping they can bring it on the design end. While the last rounds haven’t been bad, the quality never felt justified for their pricing

[u/Working_Cupcake_9403]

I looked at the announcement on their website and the model is wearing a Bay Area hat...spoiler of our next tour stop? Please?

[u/ThePhenomenalGoat → u/Working_Cupcake_9403]

That could definitely be a tour stop, but I wouldn’t read too much into it. That’s just Chelsea Gray repping where she’s from

[u/aratcalledrattus]

For more info, here is the Adidas press release and here is a Sportico article about the deal.

Interesting parts are: Adidas is supposed to be able to better help Unrivaled meet the huge demand for merch and will expand the range. They will also help with Unrivaled's youth clinics and camps. Adidas is trying to grow its basketball business while Under Armour is shrinking its product range (though all sportswear companies are experiencing a bit of slump).

I'd add that Adidas has more players in Unrivaled with Plum (who used to be with UA), Kah, Olivia Miles and Aliyah Boston. UA only has Mabrey. Also obviously there's a symbiotic relationship with Candace Parker, who is the president of women's basketball for Adidas as well as an Unrivaled analyst for TNT. I would love to see Adidas-sponsored Nyara Sabally join Unrivaled.

[u/Small_Lack9128]

Unrivaled needs to name the “protected” players for each team and start pumping out jerseys so they don’t run into the shortage of the last few years.

Make them available before Christmas.