NCAAM teams
Brett McMurphy, College football reporter 10y

Sources: Louisville stays with adidas

Men's College Basketball, College Football, Louisville Cardinals, Louisville Cardinals, Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Louisville has signed a five-year, $40 million shoe and apparel deal to remain with adidas, sources told ESPN.com on Thursday.

The deal, through the 2018-19 school year, ranks among the nation's top five shoe and apparel deals for all college programs. Louisville has been affiliated with adidas for the past 16 years.

In January, Notre Dame and Under Armour announced a 10-year deal worth $90 million, the nation's most valuable, sources told ESPN.com.

Louisville's $8 million per year deal is slightly below Notre Dame's but similar to that which adidas signed with Michigan (10 years, $82 million).

Louisville's brand has increased dramatically with the Cardinals' recent on-field success. In the 2012-13 school year, Louisville became the first school to win a BCS bowl game (Sugar), have both its men's and women's basketball teams in the Final Four (the men were NCAA champions) and have its baseball team reach the College World Series in the same season.

On July 1, Louisville will move to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Other power conference schools with adidas deals include Texas A&M, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Indiana, UCLA and Kansas. In recent months, adidas has lost former clients Notre Dame to Under Armour and Tennessee to Nike.

A formal announcement of the Louisville's new deal will be Thursday afternoon.

^ Back to Top ^