Shedeur Sanders signs with Nike, while Jackson State gets UA extension

Shedeur Sanders has a new deal with Nike, while his former school — Jackson State University — got an extension with Under Armour.

Jackson State University and Under Armour have reached a five-year extension , according to the Sports Business Journal. That deal will keep the SWAC program in Under Armour through 2029. Terms have not yet been revealed for the JSU-Under Armour Deal.

This news comes a day after former Jackson State quarterback and current Colorado football star Shedeur Sanders officially got an NIL deal with Nike. He is the first college athlete to have his own Nike NIL deal.

Nike dropped the Air DT Max 96 on the same day it announced Shedeur Sanders would be signing with Nike. That is the same signature sneaker that his father Deion Sanders wore at the height of his NFL and MLB career back in the 1990s.

The connection between these two stories, of course, is Deion Sanders.

Once one of the brightest stars in Nike’s 1990s athletic inventory that included Michael Jordan and Ken Griffey Jr., his relationship with the company soured as his playing days came to an end. He developed a relationship with Kevin Plank, CEO of the then-fledgling Under Armour company. The relationship lasted for over a decade by the time Sanders was hired as head coach at Jackson State in the fall of 2020.

Jackson State had a third-party deal that outfitted the SWAC school in Nike. Sources indicated at that time that Sanders was adamant about moving away from Nike — he never wore any JSU apparel with the swoosh. Shortly after Sanders was hired, Jackson State switched over to Under Armour, getting a direct deal with the company as opposed to a third-party. This deal was for the entire Department of athletics.

The two sides developed a relationship while Sanders was at Jackson State, developing a solid number of different uniform combinations that made the program stand out amongst HBCUs and FCS schools.

Sanders, of course, eventually left for Colorado — also a Nike school. Of course, Colorado’s Nike deal was different than the one JSU previously had through the third party. He made his press conference debut in a Nike hat and the two sides seem to have worked ou t whatever differences there once were as a Shedeur Sanders ad for Nike was plastered across Time Square on Saturday.

Jackson State University has maintained its relationship with Under Armour, which clearly sees the value in extending its partnership.

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