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BYU wide receiver Kody Epps carries some Nike gear during report day before fall camp in August of 2022.

Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo

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A display of the Nike gear issued to BYU football players in August of 2022.

Donovan Kelly/BYU Photo

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BYU quarterback Jaren Hall (3) evades a Baylor defender during a college football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's John Nelson celebrates a sack against Baylor at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Football gear is set up and ready for the players in the BYU locker room at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Oregon quarterback Ty Thompson (13) celebrates a touchdown with running back Byron Cardwell (21) and wide receiver Josh Delgado (83) during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, in Eugene, Ore.

AP Photo/Andy Nelson

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An example of what the University of Oregon football team will wear for its game against BYU, designated "Nightmare" and made by Nike.

Courtesy Oregon Athletics

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An example of the Nike uniform BYU has chosen to wear for its game at Oregon on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2022. Designed by Nike, it is known as "Kalani Sitake Royal."

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The BYU-Oregon football matchup on at Autzen Stadium in Eugene is a battle of Top 25 teams and will be the feature game for FOX Sports on Saturday afternoon.

It’s also a game between two schools who eat, sleep and breathe Nike.

Oregon’s ties to Nike are strong. Former Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman and former Ducks track athlete Phil Knight created the brand in 1964 as “Blue Ribbon Sports,” using a waffle iron to make unique soles of running shoes. The company became Nike, Inc. in 1971, named after the Greek goddess of victory. In 2021, the net worth of Nike was estimated at $176.27 billion worldwide. The Nike brand alone is worth in excess of $32 billion.

Oregon sometimes refers to itself as the “University of Nike” and claims to have never worn the same football uniform twice. In 2017, the U of O and Nike reportedly agreed to an 11-year, $88 million apparel contract, so college football fans are going to continue to see bleeding-edge, neon football uniforms on Saturdays.

The world headquarters for Nike are in Beaverton, Ore., less than 90 minutes up I-5 from Eugene. The 286-acre campus has outdoor hallways adorned with bronze plaques honoring coaches and athletes from the 1990s, the era when the headquarters were designed and created.

One of those plaques features former BYU coaching legend LaVell Edwards.

Edwards and Knight became good friends and BYU has certainly benefited from that relationship as one of the few non-Power Five programs designated as “Nike Elite.” In 2019, BYU and Nike announced a seven-year apparel extension through 2026.

“We don’t have a better relationship in the country than the one we have with BYU,” said Knight, now chairman emeritus at Nike. “We are very proud of it. We love the relationship and the program.”

While BYU didn’t divulge the final figures, the news release indicated the agreement, “more than doubles the annual value of the previous Nike agreement and includes annual cash compensation for BYU Athletics.”

Head coach Kalani Sitake said, “Everyone loves the Nike brand–student-athletes, coaches and recruits. It’s a big deal to have Nike as our partner, providing our players with the best technology available in footwear, apparel and equipment. Being outfitted from head-to-toe by the top brand in the world is very important to us. Nike has been an amazing partner of BYU football for more than 40 years.”

BYU Deputy Athletic Director Brian Santiago said the relationship with Nike is “rock solid.”

“We’re fortunate to be partners with the best in the business,” he continued. “It’s been a long-standing relationship and Nike has been awesome with us.”

Research done by Boardroom, which was founded by Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman in 2019, bears out Nike’s dominance in college sports. As of 2021, 52.3% of the 130 Division I FBS football programs are Nike-affiliated (68). Adidas is a distant second (37), followed by Under Armor (17), Jordan Brand (7) and New Balance (1).

There are currently seven Nike schools in the Big 12 (Texas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Baylor, Iowa State and TCU) with one each for Adidas (Kansas), Jordan Brand (Oklahoma) and Under Armour (Texas Tech).

Of the four schools joining the Big 12 in 2023-24, three (BYU, Cincinnati and Central Florida) are Nike branded and one (Houston) is Jordan Brand.

“Going into the Big 12 will enhance our visibility,” Santiago said, “but the core relationship with Nike remains the same.”

As a Nike Elite school, all of BYU’s athletic programs are Nike “head to toe” and that’s no exaggeration. Santiago told a story about a Las Vegas Bowl appearance where one of the gifts was an Under Armour beanie. With colder-than-usual weather, some of the BYU players were seen wearing the beanies on the sideline to stay warm during the TV broadcast.

“It didn’t take two minutes for the phone to ring from Nike,” Santiago said.

Most sports at BYU have a staff member acting as a Nike liaison and they chose the gear that best fits their program.

“I work primarily with Nike on the contractual side,” Santiago said. “We have a great team of equipment managers who are heavily involved in the actual ordering. We’ve also got a great team that works with marketing and social media in designing some of the gear.”

Athletes at BYU look forward to the day their gear drops, replenishing their supply of t-shirts, hoodies, socks, shoes, hats and the like with the Swoosh logo. Each week, BYU football sends photos of that week’s Nike uniform choice out on social media.

The latest slang thrown around by the athletes to describe cool outfits is “drip,” and BYU’s Nike drip is the envy of every Cougar fan and prospective recruit on the planet.

“Our Nike gear is prominently displayed on every recruiting trip,” Santiago said. “At this level there are high stakes, and we want to outfit our athletes in the very best equipment and apparel. Nike opens doors for us.”

On Nike’s end, the company is prominently displayed on Saturdays in the fall on every network that broadcasts the sport.

“Nike is heavily invested with collegiate athletics and they get exposure on a very high level,” Santiago said. “You can turn just about any game and see the ‘Swoosh’ logo. It’s everywhere.”

A good example of that was last Saturday, when Nike schools BYU and Baylor met at LaVell Edwards Stadium on ESPN. Nearly every one of the Cougar fans in attendance was wearing eye-catching royal blue and much of that gear was made by Nike.

Santiago said the relationship with Nike is more than just a financial partnership.

“The cool thing about it is it’s not just transactional. This is a long-standing relationship that has produced life-long friendships, from the equipment manager level to the administrative level to executives at Nike. It goes way beyond the transaction of product.”

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