A sports apparel contract that is expect to unify university athletics was approved by the Board of Trustees Thursday.

CMU signed exclusive, five-year sponsorship deal to outfit all of CMU athletics with Adidas sportswear. The deal will cost Central Michigan University $225,000.

“It coordinates things,” said Athletics Director Dave Heeke.

Each sports program will now have a consistent look, with identical shades of maroon and gold. Currently, programs have different usage of the ‘C’ logo or the words ‘Central’ or ‘Chippewas.’

“It’s been one of the top agenda items I’ve had since I’ve become athletics director over three years ago,” Heeke said. “(The deal) saves the university money and also allows us to have a better look and brand identity.”

Sporting goods companies Nike and New Balance were also competing with Adidas for the contract.

“What Adidas put on the table for us was really quite lucrative and positioned themselves to be hard to beat,” Heeke said.

Club sports will get discounted rates on apparel and merchandise is available to the public across campus.

“Any apparel and shoe product that’s purchased on this campus essentially can be incorporated into the deal,” Heeke said. “We wanted to be sure we included club sports, intramural, university recreation.”

Heeke said the deal could save as much as $100,000 when things are calculated.

Trustees Vice Chair Stephanie Comai said having one apparel company will benefit more teams than just the high-profile sports like football or basketball. Each team will no longer have to fend for themselves regarding uniforms, footwear and other apparel.

“What we’re doing with this is combining all those efforts to one big effort,” Comai said. “Lower profile sports will have access to the same equipment.”

However, the football team will still see substantial benefits. Adidas and the athletic department is in the process of designing new uniforms for them by next season.

Much of the leverage required to make this deal happen was created by the success of the football program, Heeke said.

sports@cm-life.com

E-mail the author: Andrew Stover