The Tennessee Volunteers are going back to Adidas as its primary apparel provider after a decade of wearing the Nike swoosh. On Wednesday, Adidas announced a $100M, 10-year deal to be the exclusive apparel provider for the school’s sports teams. The deal is set to begin on July 1, 2026, following the expiration of the current agreement with Nike. On the surface, it’s just another apparel deal between two popular brands, but in the era of NIL (name, image and likeness) in college sports, it’s a game-changing agreement. As part of the agreement, Adidas will establish a fund for NIL deals between the University of Tennessee and student-athletes. The German-based company will provide Tennessee with at least $10 million annually for the NIL deals, which, as of now, is about half of the $20.5 million that schools participating in the revenue-sharing model are allowed to give directly to student-athletes. That figure will almost assuredly increase with each passing year, meaning both current and future Tennessee V
