Georgia Tech, Adidas partnership may just be the start of something bigger

Adidas has been dominating the shoe industry recently, and that could translate into dominance of the college uniform landscape as well.

The announcement of a Georgia Tech Adidas partnership could be just an example of several such deals which may follow over the coming years if trends in the shoe industry continue.

Breaking from its longstanding partnership with Russell Athletic, Georgia Tech will have its uniforms and other athletic gear provided by Adidas going forward. The value of the deal hasn’t been disclosed, but it is known that Nike was also in the running. This isn’t the only place where Adidas is outperforming Nike.

Actually, the competition for Georgia Tech’s uniform rights is a small swarm in comparison to the larger colony that Adidas is dominating. The athletic and “athletic casual” shoe market has seen a decline in general, but that decline hasn’t hit Adidas anywhere nearly as hard as it has its competitors like Nike and Under Armour.

According to Avi Salzman of Barron’s, traffic on Adidas’ sales platforms has actually increased over the same period that Nike has seen significant dips. Even though there is virtually zero pricing difference and despite offering fewer sales, Adidas has taken 44 percent of the market from Nike since 2015 and gained 26 percent of the running shoe market while Nike has lost a significant portion of its share of that specific market.

Most importantly for Adidas and fans of college athletics, numbers suggest that this trend isn’t going to fly by as quickly as a yellow jacket. Adidas is not only likely to retain its market share, but could continue acquiring more of the shoe market. If that ends up being the case, then that has big implications for the college uniform landscape.

If Adidas is already outbidding its competitors for schools, that ability to win the bidding wars would only grow as Adidas’ dominance of the shoe business continues. That will have a positive effect for Adidas, as more uniform deals mean more fans of college athletics will be purchasing Adidas apparel and gear.

Next: 50 best college football stadiums

Within a decade, Adidas could add many more colleges to its already impressive roster which includes Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, Miami, Mississippi State, NC State, Nebraska, Texas A&M and now Georgia Tech.