Penn State wrestling lifted its fifth straight national championship trophy, women’s volleyball won its eighth national title and football came back from a 28-7 deficit to win the 2016 Big Ten Championship in the iconic Nike swoosh.
But after 33 years, the Nittany Lions will be repping a new logo — Adidas’ three stripes.
In September, Penn State announced a $300 million, 10-year deal with Adidas. Beginning Wednesday, the brand will serve as the university’s official athletic department-wide footwear, uniform, apparel and sideline partner.
Sports marketing experts say the deal, at its core, is about more than a simple logo change. It reflects the business-orientated approach to college sports, with apparel companies competing for proximity to the marquee brands.
“Supposedly, it’ll make things stronger, better, more effective, more successful on both sides, treating the athlete now as quasi-professional,” Mark Conrad, director of the sports business concentration at Fordham University, told The Daily Collegian. “In addition, utilizing that as part of the Penn State brand to attract athletes by potentially giving them some money in their pocket.”
A partnership of this magnitude adds a layer of financial pressure to smaller programs, as Adidas is giving the Nittany Lions a hefty boost in Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), considerations for the nation’s top recruits.
“What you’re going to see is basically a ‘haves and have nots’ situation, meaning that the powerhouse schools could very well go from strength to strength,” Conrad said. “The mid-major type schools are going to have a more challenging situation, because they don’t have the kind of money, arguably, to pay. They don’t have necessarily that kind of alumni support, and they’re not going to have the size to necessarily play in that environment.”
Penn State’s success on the national level and long list of traditions make its brand attractive, and the program has a very passionate fanbase with one of the largest alumni networks worldwide. Adidas stands to gain a lot of revenue from the popularity of the Nittany Lion brand.
“(Nike and Adidas) are competing for positioning, they’re competing for brand equity, so Adidas isn’t really buying logo placement,” Brett Christenson, the director of Smeal Sports Business Programs at Penn State, said. “This is a brand alignment — proximity to high-quality sports brands. Adidas is that, and Penn State is that.”
Nike’s failure to treat Penn State as a priority was a major factor contributing to the change, according to reporting from the Centre Daily Times. The outlet also reported Nike had the opportunity to match Adidas’ offer, but elected to withdraw.
The Nittany Lion walks outside Beaver Stadium before the Penn State Homecoming football game against Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025 in University Park, Pa. The Wildcats beat the Nittany Lions 22-21.
Matt Cropp
Penn State was one of four schools to originally partner with Nike alongside North Carolina, Miami and USC in 1993.
Nike’s co-founder Phil Knight and former Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno forged a deep friendship that began at Nike-related business vacations. The relationship continued up until Paterno’s death in 2011, and Knight delivered the eulogy at his funeral.
Knight graduated from Oregon in 1959 and was a member of the track and field team where he ran under coach Bill Bowerman before the pair co-founded Nike.
“No one’s going to supplant Oregon as being favored by Nike as a company as long as Phil Knight is alive,” Rick Burton, the David B. Falk Emeritus professor of sport management at Syracuse University, said. “Penn State has always been a Nike school, and this is an abrupt switch, which may be a reflection of schools trying to keep up with whoever they think has got an advantage.”
But Penn State isn’t immediately jumping into a position where dominance is guaranteed, despite the expectation of being Adidas’ priority. On the football field, programs like Indiana are actively making a case to push for greater heights.
Other notable programs currently partnered with Adidas include Washington, Texas A&M and Miami. Tennessee will join Penn State in switching from the swoosh to the three stripes on Wednesday. Competition on the field will be paramount to the continued success of the deal long-term, regardless of the initial contract’s financial worth, according to Burton.
A Washington football player kneels at the field goal post at Penn State football’s White Out game against Washington on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions crushed the Huskies 35-6.
Kevin Cheng
“Winning solves all problems,” Burton said. “The consumer likes to be associated with a winner. Let Penn State go out and prove it on the field, and they’ll reap the rewards with their marketing partners.”
Former Penn State safety Malik Golden who was with the team from 2012-16 , like many other athletes at the time, grew up wearing Nike. Golden said he assumed Nike and Penn State would maintain a lifetime partnership, because “that’s what everyone kind of figured.”
Penn State safety Malik Golden (6) celebrates after stopping Wisconsin on fourth down to seal the win during the Big Ten Football Championship Game between Penn State and Wisconsin at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. The Nittany Lions defeated the Badgers 38-31.
Max Petrosky
“(Nike) was the pinnacle of athletic wear,” Golden said. “So, when I got to Penn State, and it was one of the top Nike schools at the time, you get excited about all the new stuff.”
In his playing days, Nike was the undisputed premier apparel brand in college football. The company’s subsidiary, Jordan, launched uniforms featuring the “Jumpman” logo for Michigan in 2016.
But Golden believes the gap between these companies is shrinking, calling recent developments “an arms race to see who can really set themselves apart.”
This isn’t the only time a Penn State tradition has changed in recent years. Penn State Athletics sold West Shore Home naming rights to Beaver Stadium last March, a deal made as the stadium undergoes a $700 million revitalization.
“With the NIL and the changing of the landscape in college sports, they’re just more brand conscious, especially in high school, and more worried about life outside of the sport,” Golden said. “It helps you when you get to the NFL, or whatever professional endeavor you’re trying to get into.”
The NIL is the dominant force behind recruiting, particularly in football, and there’s a newfound emphasis on the individual player. That’s where the new deal is strongest.
“There is a media component that is unavoidable,” Christenson said. “That’s part of a new growth in the sports world, which is that sponsors are going to help support the student-athlete. Not just by clothing them in this case, or giving them performance apparel, they’re also going to help build their brand as well. We wouldn’t have seen that 10 years ago.”
Penn State Athletics will usher in the new era with an exclusive merchandise sale at Pegula Ice Arena on Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The pop up sale series will also continue from July 8 to 12, and fans can enter through Gate A at the arena to access the Mount Nittany Room where the sale is occurring.
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Fans on Beaver Stadium’s west side will have a birds eye view of the action.
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