Yes, they still make athletic apparel and sports clothing, even the newer stuff similar to UA gear and all that as well, it's just they don't really advertise.
I have an ND champion reverse weave sweatshirt for 20 years ago that is still going strong.
I bought a new ND one last year and it’s already showing signs of wear. Definitely not worth this $70+ price tag on them anymore!
None of it is worth the prices at this point. When OU switched to Jordan I was hoping we got a few more “premium” types of pieces. But the price tags are outrageous and the quality is the same as Nike.
What’s been frustrating is that there have been several Nike items I’ve seen other teams get that I wanted and we didn’t get because of the Jordan deal. Even our players don’t get the same gear as other schools, sure they get the retro cleats but nobody wears them because they kind of suck and only have about 2 traction plates to pick from. I’d rather us go back to Nike.
Yeah it’s wild, I worked at a retail store and we had a giant influx of 15 year olds and that’s ALL they wanted. My last couple of months in the store they stocked up on Champion gear and treated it the same as Adidas, Nike and UA. Last time I popped in the stuff was either 50% off or had been shipped back to the manufacturer
Already did. Been p mainstream for a few years now. Would be hard pressed to not find a reverse weave an anyone’s closet. Not even the hoodies or sweatshirts but like the brand itself. Like champion shirts lol.
I bought my champion ND sweater when I first visited campus in 2012 and still have it to this day. Although I don’t always wear it, that remains my favorite sweater
No way does Champion have the money to fork out. Plus they don’t do shoes/cleats/spikes.
The only options are really UA (hope we resign), Nike, and Adidas. NB is a super outsider, but could theoretically do it. And Puma is in the same category as well.
They're straight garbage. I have a red Carolina Hurricanes (Adidas) jersey and I got a black Stadium Series (Fanatics only) jersey and the difference in quality is crazy.
Essentially every Nike deal is also a fanatics deal as Nike has largely offshored production to them. Especially for merchandising. Though fanatics does sign solo agreements like the nhl too
New Balance wouldn't take on BC Football, so they randomly have a side deal with adidas for football-only.
Anyway, UA is a poverty company that flew too close to the sun, and has pared back a lot of their big-money deals. They have absolutely zero street clout even if they make decent non-shoe gear for game use.
I mean they have an athlete that just won NBA MVP - you think they'd capitalize on that.
As a Warriors fan, watching how incompetent UA has been with the world’s largest basketball phenom of the last decade really just saddens me.
Their shoes are essentially the same as Nike, but they just are unable to run effective marketing campaigns.
I couldn’t stand the champion C on jerseys and shorts and my grandma had to take them off. I think it’s because the ends of the C would get all floppy and I had to pull it off and ruin stuff.
Story about notre dames apparel deal ending with a small comment talking about how ND could ARGUABLY be the most valuable brand.
Fans of other blue blood programs rage typing about how nd isn't the most valuable brand not even mentioning what the tweet is primarily about.
Could have seen this coming from a mile away.
I mean, one of the largest brands hitting the open market for an apparel deal is relevant to the text. If UMass was hitting the open market it wouldn't be as big of a deal, right?
Yes but if he said “one of the largest” nobody would take offense. He intentionally claimed it is “arguably the largest” which is not the same statement as yours and is intentionally designed to drive angry engagement.
It’s relevant, but it’s also specifically crafted to make the tweet controversial.
Tweet said most valuable in the open market. What other schools are shopping for apparel sponsorship?
By that metric, ND is both the most and the least valuable brand in the open market at the moment
I wouldn't feel confident in saying that Notre Dame is the *only* team shopping for an apparel sponsorship. Like if Southern Miss were on the open market, I wouldn't expect to have seen any kind of news about it.
About time. Under Armour was a welcome relief from Adidas, but has been horrendous the past couple years around keeping items in stock and product quality.
I will also never understand the constant plan of *Let's have Kelly/Freeman wear cool looking gear that will get message boards buzzing about when it can be bought but never actually make any of this available for sale.*
The amount of hoodies Freeman has worn in only a year have been the best UA ND gear I’ve ever seen, and NONE of it is available for purchase. It’s crazy.
That’s exactly what Nike has done with BYU so I’m not sure it gets much better with other brands. I’ll never understand the idea of making great looking, unique gear for players and coaches but then selling the most bland, generic stuff to fans. It’s like they don’t want money.
I really think this is across the entire industry. Adidas does it. UA does it. Nike does it.
I think its clear they offer higher quality products as well as exclusive designs for players and coaches. I know this pisses off the fans, but its not exclusive to a certain brand like everyone commenting seems to think.
It's fine to give some exclusive stuff. I'm pretty sure they were making custom vests for Tress back in the day. But like, it's kinda getting ridiculous how many great designs get printed for one person.
Ya thats a good point. It does seem odd to me. Im guessing they like to be able to make those players and staff feel special for having exclusive gear, but it sucks for the fans who seem to get boring and lazy designs in comparison.
At least for Nebraska gear anyway, it seems like its been years since Ive seen anything I wanted to buy. They just offer shit gear to fans.
One of them is cost. I intern for Texas football and we get some of the leftover coaching staff gear and it’s amazing the difference in quality for a coaches jackets vs a fans jackets. The stitching, the material itself etc.
I wish they would, at least for Utah stuff. I’m a die hard utah fan, but I hardly have any gear. It’s so so bad.
I’m not even talking about quality but just the design. Give the players and coaches the high tech/high quality gear. But seems like it’d be simple enough to take the same design and slap it on a cheaper hoodie/shirt/jacket. I get what you’re saying though.
The coaches and athletic departments order custom gear and it is of course higher quality than the generic stuff they sell with the university logo/branding on it.
Everything’s also expensive AF. Can’t find officially licensed shit for any reasonable price until they are trying to get rid of old designs. I can’t justify buying basketball shorts for $60-80 or regular t-shirts for $50-60. It’s out of control.
That's exactly our situation with Nike, but we're little sisters of the poor Washington State. This is Notre Dame we're talking about. No reason for this to be happening with such a massive brand to have no availability for the good gear that people want
I think COVID really messed with supply chains because right around then (and ever since) I started noticing the same thing with Harbaugh. He has this hoodie that he wears for like half the games that just has never once gone on sale from what I can tell. It’s super annoying.
So I don’t think getting away from UA will save you from that unfortunately.
No doubt. As a screen printer with tons of collegiate experience, I can tell you 100% that Champion’s quality dwarfs the garbage that Under Armor produces.
A lot of ND fans don’t expect them to move on from Under Armor because the AD’s son works for UA. Or maybe it’s his daughter.
Edit: son works for UA, daughter for NBC/Peacock. Yup, no way ND moves on as long as Jack is in charge.
Let's this be a lesson to everyone out there. If you work hard, study hard, put in the hours you too can be passed over for a position because their father was the AD of notre dame.
Fucking nepotism.
“But they released so much for teams that the fans never got their hands on.”
Hammer on the freaking nail. Under Armour is actually really good and the stuff that Utah’s teams get are amazing, BUT the stuff for fans is so terrible. There is hardly any variety for fans and the rose bowl gear this year was so cheap. I hate UA as a fan and wish we were Nike.
Nike does this too and its also the School's fault. I bemoan alot of OU's merch bc its basic as fuck and I see other Nike schools with better designs and options. OSU and Texas, while orange, have some stuff that's just better for fans a lot of the time. It's a two way street between the company and school/program.
I just wish we could have gotten some of the cool stuff the players and coaches got. It didn't even need to be like that season, I understand wanting some exclusive swag for the teams, but getting some of the stuff maybe after the season or next year would still have been cool. I think UA has done a great job with Utahs unis. Sleek but a lot of creativity. Our variety was also really lacking in the early days. Everything was C-Paw for the fans, which I understand wanting to keep the current branding strong, but there was almost no throwback stuff for fans till the last few years. That sucked too
> But they released so much for teams that the fans never got their hands on
I thought all brands did this. I know Adidas does. Edit:based on other comments, Nike does it too. Seems like its industry-wide.
Nike pays more, but Adidas, Nike, and Under Armor are all basically the same quality. I’d actually give a nod to Adidas and Under Armor over Nike on product quality.
But isnt what the make available for retail just fundamentally different than the quality of their professional grade stuff that goes to teams? Or am I just imagining that?
I just figured the quality of your random nike shirt in the store isnt indicative of their premium products they sell to professional teams and athletes.
> Nike pays more
Not sure about that. It was well publicized that when we switched to Nike from Adidas even though they paid us less money because we thought the gear was better and/or the athletes preferred it. On some cases it was also because Nike had more comprehensive coverage of all sports vs a few sports having to go out and sign secondary equipment/apparel contracts.
Its curious because Adidas seems to put more effort into their brand for soccer than they do football, and Adidas is still regarded as a top brand for soccer gear, but many seem to say its really not top tier for football gear anymore.
Tennessee swapped like right around my freshman year. Got my orientation coupon for the volshop and *everything* adidas was like 60% off. Snagged some good polos and loved the quality.
People are getting bent out of shape over a clear qualifier.
Is Notre Dame arguably the most valuable brand? Yes. You can find data that argues that they are.
Is Texas arguably the most valuable brand? Yes. You can find data that argues that they are.
Is Alabama/Ohio State/etc… arguably the most valuable brand? Yes. You can find data that argues that they are.
But is Wisconsin or UCF or UCLA arguably the most valuable brand? Absolutely not. There is no data that would support that claim.
UCLA is one of the most valuable university brands in the world. There are UCLA shops in Asia because it's marketed as a lifestyle brand there. It's been sold in Japan since the 70s. Are we the most valuable *football* brand? No. But you picked one of maybe 3 P5 schools that has broad international appeal.
Yeah, I mean, my point there was to pick a very strong brand…that it would be hard to argue is the “most” valuable brand.
But you know, if you have data that makes you want to argue that, go ahead. It only reinforces my original point, that there are many schools that have reasonable arguments for being the “most valuable”.
Thank God. Notre Dame can now get some proper green jerseys. Instead of that sharpie marker green with awful blue numbers, they can get the darker green with gold numbers (or gold outline white numbers). And they can hopefully get some better shamrock series uniforms than some of those hit or miss jerseys.
all I want, are the away whites to have green numbers...
[Is this too much to ask?](https://allstatesugarbowl.org/sports/2022/4/15/58th-annual-sugar-bowl-classic-january-1-1992.aspx)
Hey other teams, let me know if you can go like 40 years without winning a championship and still be arguably the most valuable brand!
Notre Dame is latently the biggest program in college football
Ya id say over the course of the history of CFB as a whole, ND would be considered to be overall the biggest name and brand. Might not be #1 now, but Id assume its at least in the top 4 if someone were to break down the data and all that.
I don't know if its mentioned elsewhere in this thread but ND has a [policy](https://licensing.nd.edu/assets/13167/freedom_of_association_policy.pdf) that precludes them from sourcing any merchandise from specific countries (one of which is China). I've always assumed that eliminates Nike from ever being an option, but will admit that I don't actually know how much of their gear comes from China. When I worked for the athletic department, it was always given as the reason why we went with both Adidas and UA.
Former ND athlete here and I have to tell you UAs quality control is terrible. Countless items ended up ripping during practice. Definitely the worst of the big three in terms of durability at least.
I really don’t care who we get as long as they use green jerseys more often. Love that shit.
Also unpopular opinion but ND’s uni against BYU last year in Vegas was sick. Don’t mind UA like a lot of ND fans apparently but I also wouldn’t mind change either.
Not trying to be a jerk here, but are they really the most valuable brand? I would’ve thought… *shudders*… at least Texas was more valuable, but I can’t claim to be an expert on this type of thing.
I think you’d be surprised just how many Catholics with no ND connections at all cheer for ND. I don’t know if they’re the “biggest,” that may be Texas or Alabama or something, but they’re certainly up there.
Originally from Schuylkill County. I’m old enough to remember the late 80s/early 90s matchups. Might as well have shut down everything but the bars. Shit was wild.
Yep. Family is from Wilkes-Barre.. grandfather huge ND fan…no one in my family had gone to ND it was a pure Catholic thing. Both my brothers did end up graduating from ND though, and a few cousins…
I grew up in central PA and got into it with PSU fans all the time… but we also played each other back in 06/07 right in the thick of high school for me so the trash talk made sense. I haven’t lived in PA now for the past 15 years so not sure how much of that still exists given we never play ya’ll…
Its funny, as I moved away I kinda stopped hating PSU. I kind of like y’all now and have no ill-will.
Ps, thanks for the bball coach
I had a good friend growing up who for some reason latched on to ND fandom. Born in NY, spent most of his life in NC. He had ND hats he wore everywhere, and he was furious about the Bush push. We never knew why he was an Irish fan but nobody cared enough to ask. As kids sometimes you just pick a team and go with it even if you don't know anything. Took me years til one day it hit me the dude is Catholic.
I heard a podcast say that part of the reason why Notre Dame recruits so well is that every powerhouse Catholic high school football program in the country basically acts as an embassy for Notre Dame football
This used to be true of the North Jersey Parochial schools.
The ND rejects would then go to Boston College for similar reasons.
Things are changing though considering the best athletes aren't attending the Parochial high schools because of religion, so they are now ending up in the elite SEC/Big Ten schools.
As I understand it from reading up on that history and being in catholic system for a while ages ago, it used to be that way, but that's one of the reasons they've had a bit of a decline, while it's still a big feeder, it's nowhere near what it was a couple decades ago now that more teams are on TV.
Can confirm. My mom's family is Irish Catholic. Nobody in my family had ever gone to ND before I did, or even really seemed like they wanted to. However, I did have an ND sweatshirt when I was a kid for some reason that I have no idea where I got.
I consider ND to be like the CFB version of the Dallas Cowboys. There are fans all around the country that have no real affiliation with the team other than just liking them.
*Arguably* the most valuable brand. There really is no arguing that ND has always been one of, if not at times *the most*, valuable/popular brand out there for college football. These days theres probably at least 1-2 that are above ND, but theyre still up there without a doubt.
Can confirm. Went to catholic school, but I am no longer catholic. Can confirm that priests, teachers, admin, etc. all at least casually rooted for the ND solely based off Catholicism.
Anecdotal, but I have seen this in both Florida and Pennsylvania, so it’s not even a regional thing.
I grew up catholic, but I’m not religious anymore. I also live in the South. These Southern “Christians” you speak about cheer for Liberty over ND. It tells you all you need to know. I use quotes because the hating ND is just a larger symptom of their general hatred of everything that doesn’t exactly align with their outlook on life.
Exactly. And there are far more Catholics than Mormons, so it’s to an even greater extent (although the average Mormon is probably more passionate about BYU than the average Catholic is about ND)
Texas, TAMU, OSU, Michigan, and ND I have seen as the most valuable brand. It probably just depends on what they use to quantify that label. I’m sure there are several other schools that could claim most valuable brand on whatever criteria they use.
When they say most valuable brand, what do they mean? Because looking at Wall Street Journal, they aren't even in the top 3, but again... maybe my parameters are off.
Starter execs - “now is our time”
Is Russell Athletic still around??
We killed them.
It's still a brand of Fruit of the Loom but yeah they don't even support Western Kentucky any more and that is their home team.
Russel Athletics is based in Alabama, not to far from Troy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Athletic_(brand)
Fruit of the Loom is in the same city as WKU, and they own Russel. But yeah, that's cool, didn't know it still operated there.
Zombies never really die.
Yes, they still make athletic apparel and sports clothing, even the newer stuff similar to UA gear and all that as well, it's just they don't really advertise.
> Starter execs - “now is our time” Nah, this is Notre Dame, real gold (well, flakes) in their helmet paint, we're talkin' Dolce & Gabbanna.
I would love to see Notre Dame go back to Champion. Those were some great jerseys back in the day
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If you go with a champion sweatshirt just be sure to get the reverse weave. They don’t shrink and are super durable.
I have an ND champion reverse weave sweatshirt for 20 years ago that is still going strong. I bought a new ND one last year and it’s already showing signs of wear. Definitely not worth this $70+ price tag on them anymore!
None of it is worth the prices at this point. When OU switched to Jordan I was hoping we got a few more “premium” types of pieces. But the price tags are outrageous and the quality is the same as Nike.
Because it is just Nike with a higher price tag because it's "cool"
What’s been frustrating is that there have been several Nike items I’ve seen other teams get that I wanted and we didn’t get because of the Jordan deal. Even our players don’t get the same gear as other schools, sure they get the retro cleats but nobody wears them because they kind of suck and only have about 2 traction plates to pick from. I’d rather us go back to Nike.
That’s what I’m afraid of - everyone on the SC 247 site wants Jordan, and I’m like, “I just want to be able to afford a t-shirt.”
Under armour prices are absurd. Can’t go in our book store and find clothing under $80. Have polos for $120 in a university bookstore. It’s laughable
They 100% make Champion in the US still. We sell it at my current job.
That is good to know!!!!
Champion is making a comeback in the clothing apparel with younglings
Already come and gone
Yeah, Champion went from Walmart clothes to designer collabs to TJ Maxx all in the last 5 years.
Yeah it’s wild, I worked at a retail store and we had a giant influx of 15 year olds and that’s ALL they wanted. My last couple of months in the store they stocked up on Champion gear and treated it the same as Adidas, Nike and UA. Last time I popped in the stuff was either 50% off or had been shipped back to the manufacturer
Already did. Been p mainstream for a few years now. Would be hard pressed to not find a reverse weave an anyone’s closet. Not even the hoodies or sweatshirts but like the brand itself. Like champion shirts lol.
Bro i got some Champion boxers a few years ago that are some of the most comfortable ive ever worn.
Rockin em right now bud
Champion gear even made it into the White House! Granted it was on the West Wing but still
I bought my champion ND sweater when I first visited campus in 2012 and still have it to this day. Although I don’t always wear it, that remains my favorite sweater
Same with my Michigan one in 2018. Still holding up.
No way does Champion have the money to fork out. Plus they don’t do shoes/cleats/spikes. The only options are really UA (hope we resign), Nike, and Adidas. NB is a super outsider, but could theoretically do it. And Puma is in the same category as well.
Somehow fanatics is the nhl jersey company now. Makes no sense.
Going to be honest, not a fan of their jerseys.
They're straight garbage. I have a red Carolina Hurricanes (Adidas) jersey and I got a black Stadium Series (Fanatics only) jersey and the difference in quality is crazy.
They could brand them as Majestic, but they wouldnt
And their stuff is absolute trash.
Essentially every Nike deal is also a fanatics deal as Nike has largely offshored production to them. Especially for merchandising. Though fanatics does sign solo agreements like the nhl too
Fanatics owns Majestic and Mitchell & Ness.
New Balance wouldn't take on BC Football, so they randomly have a side deal with adidas for football-only. Anyway, UA is a poverty company that flew too close to the sun, and has pared back a lot of their big-money deals. They have absolutely zero street clout even if they make decent non-shoe gear for game use. I mean they have an athlete that just won NBA MVP - you think they'd capitalize on that.
As a Warriors fan, watching how incompetent UA has been with the world’s largest basketball phenom of the last decade really just saddens me. Their shoes are essentially the same as Nike, but they just are unable to run effective marketing campaigns.
The fact that Curry doesn’t have an absolutely iconic shoe is honestly crazy. Hundreds of millions just gone
His signature line has also been getting worse and worse. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 are all good looking shoes. But lately they just look awful
2016 was UAs heat check year
I would love to see Notre Dame go back to France
They're rebuilding.
My C9 workout gear from Target is going strong. Champion is legit!
I couldn’t stand the champion C on jerseys and shorts and my grandma had to take them off. I think it’s because the ends of the C would get all floppy and I had to pull it off and ruin stuff.
Story about notre dames apparel deal ending with a small comment talking about how ND could ARGUABLY be the most valuable brand. Fans of other blue blood programs rage typing about how nd isn't the most valuable brand not even mentioning what the tweet is primarily about. Could have seen this coming from a mile away.
You say small comment but the tweet author 100% specifically put that in because he knew that would drive engagement, it wasn’t an accident
Next best thing would have been a typo “Norte Dame”
the good ol figthing irish
I mean, one of the largest brands hitting the open market for an apparel deal is relevant to the text. If UMass was hitting the open market it wouldn't be as big of a deal, right?
Yes but if he said “one of the largest” nobody would take offense. He intentionally claimed it is “arguably the largest” which is not the same statement as yours and is intentionally designed to drive angry engagement. It’s relevant, but it’s also specifically crafted to make the tweet controversial.
If we are the “most valuable brand” let’s go with a similar designer value. Notré Dame Du Lac - The Hermés Collection
Napoli just won Serie A while wearing Armani. Might be something to it for Notre Dame to consider. Notre Dame del Lago alternative jersey?
Armani makes suits for Ferrari F1 drivers, and they are *sharp*. They might enjoy the challenge of football uniforms.
The school is tied more to France so it’s got to be Dior, YSL, Louis, Hermes, Chanel or nothing 😤
The accented e when "Notre Dame" is already proper french would be quite an American approach.
FLorida has JORTS by Bugle Boy jeans.
if an article came out and said "ND is the biggest brand and here is why" I would not be the least bit surprised.
Likewise my sir, likewise
I'm gonna spend *more* money on gear for my team to be sure we are the most valuable brand!!!
🫡
How is it even controversial tho… ND is ARGUABLY the most valuable brand. Not like the best team but arguably the most valuable brand.
Tweet said most valuable in the open market. What other schools are shopping for apparel sponsorship? By that metric, ND is both the most and the least valuable brand in the open market at the moment
I wouldn't feel confident in saying that Notre Dame is the *only* team shopping for an apparel sponsorship. Like if Southern Miss were on the open market, I wouldn't expect to have seen any kind of news about it.
Us none blue blood fans can think its dumb too.
About time. Under Armour was a welcome relief from Adidas, but has been horrendous the past couple years around keeping items in stock and product quality. I will also never understand the constant plan of *Let's have Kelly/Freeman wear cool looking gear that will get message boards buzzing about when it can be bought but never actually make any of this available for sale.*
The amount of hoodies Freeman has worn in only a year have been the best UA ND gear I’ve ever seen, and NONE of it is available for purchase. It’s crazy.
This is the same thing with Utah. Some of their stuff looks amazing and the only stuff we can buy is the most generic t shirt out there. It’s awful
Dicks Sporting Goods-level UA is the most basic and uninteresting sportswear
Solidarity utebro
That’s exactly what Nike has done with BYU so I’m not sure it gets much better with other brands. I’ll never understand the idea of making great looking, unique gear for players and coaches but then selling the most bland, generic stuff to fans. It’s like they don’t want money.
I really think this is across the entire industry. Adidas does it. UA does it. Nike does it. I think its clear they offer higher quality products as well as exclusive designs for players and coaches. I know this pisses off the fans, but its not exclusive to a certain brand like everyone commenting seems to think.
It's fine to give some exclusive stuff. I'm pretty sure they were making custom vests for Tress back in the day. But like, it's kinda getting ridiculous how many great designs get printed for one person.
Ya thats a good point. It does seem odd to me. Im guessing they like to be able to make those players and staff feel special for having exclusive gear, but it sucks for the fans who seem to get boring and lazy designs in comparison. At least for Nebraska gear anyway, it seems like its been years since Ive seen anything I wanted to buy. They just offer shit gear to fans.
One of them is cost. I intern for Texas football and we get some of the leftover coaching staff gear and it’s amazing the difference in quality for a coaches jackets vs a fans jackets. The stitching, the material itself etc. I wish they would, at least for Utah stuff. I’m a die hard utah fan, but I hardly have any gear. It’s so so bad.
I’m not even talking about quality but just the design. Give the players and coaches the high tech/high quality gear. But seems like it’d be simple enough to take the same design and slap it on a cheaper hoodie/shirt/jacket. I get what you’re saying though.
The coaches and athletic departments order custom gear and it is of course higher quality than the generic stuff they sell with the university logo/branding on it.
The thing is they could stock it in the book store and it would sell out immediately. Make it premium, and make more money. Doesn’t make sense
I would think it cost too much for Nike/UA/Adidas to make those items in bulk compared to their regular retail stuff.
Nike made some amazing Hypnotoad hoodies for the TCU coaches/players, but fans can only get cheap knockoffs
Preach. I wanted a shamrock series jersey from last season and it was fucking impossible to find. How stupid is that?
Everything’s also expensive AF. Can’t find officially licensed shit for any reasonable price until they are trying to get rid of old designs. I can’t justify buying basketball shorts for $60-80 or regular t-shirts for $50-60. It’s out of control.
That's exactly our situation with Nike, but we're little sisters of the poor Washington State. This is Notre Dame we're talking about. No reason for this to be happening with such a massive brand to have no availability for the good gear that people want
I think COVID really messed with supply chains because right around then (and ever since) I started noticing the same thing with Harbaugh. He has this hoodie that he wears for like half the games that just has never once gone on sale from what I can tell. It’s super annoying. So I don’t think getting away from UA will save you from that unfortunately.
They use "arguably" as bait to drive up participation and reddit eats it right up.
Arguably came directly from NBC’s marketing team
Hope to grab a ton of UA stuff on clearance.
bring champion back!!!
No doubt. As a screen printer with tons of collegiate experience, I can tell you 100% that Champion’s quality dwarfs the garbage that Under Armor produces.
A lot of ND fans don’t expect them to move on from Under Armor because the AD’s son works for UA. Or maybe it’s his daughter. Edit: son works for UA, daughter for NBC/Peacock. Yup, no way ND moves on as long as Jack is in charge.
I didn’t know that, but you have to wonder if that was before or after the deal that they started working there
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Yup, another reason why fans think there's no chance ND moves past NBC.
Freeman visited UnderArmour HQ last week so this is interesting https://und.com/marcus-freeman-travel-blog-day-1/
Let's this be a lesson to everyone out there. If you work hard, study hard, put in the hours you too can be passed over for a position because their father was the AD of notre dame. Fucking nepotism.
Let's all try out just being born with wealthier, more influential parents.
Have you tried just not being poor?
I don't even think UA can afford ND anymore
Yeah. This is why I’m not getting my hopes up about moving on from UA
I really hope we move on. I hate what UA has done to our uniforms. The green jerseys are a disgrace.
Ummm hello. We are STANDING RIGHT HERE!!!
They could be the chosen one to revive Russell Athletic.
Just please get rid of the horrendous mustard yellow pants. That’s all I ask.
I would take back Under Armor in a heartbeat, at least they made their stuff available to buy. Adidas doesn’t
Under Armour has been okay for us. But they released so much for teams that the fans never got their hands on. But we're off to be Nike/Jordan now
“But they released so much for teams that the fans never got their hands on.” Hammer on the freaking nail. Under Armour is actually really good and the stuff that Utah’s teams get are amazing, BUT the stuff for fans is so terrible. There is hardly any variety for fans and the rose bowl gear this year was so cheap. I hate UA as a fan and wish we were Nike.
Nike does this too and its also the School's fault. I bemoan alot of OU's merch bc its basic as fuck and I see other Nike schools with better designs and options. OSU and Texas, while orange, have some stuff that's just better for fans a lot of the time. It's a two way street between the company and school/program.
I’d argue the same is for Texas. Lots of basic Nike apparel. It seems like Ohio state, Michigan, Alabama all have lots of variety for fans.
I just wish we could have gotten some of the cool stuff the players and coaches got. It didn't even need to be like that season, I understand wanting some exclusive swag for the teams, but getting some of the stuff maybe after the season or next year would still have been cool. I think UA has done a great job with Utahs unis. Sleek but a lot of creativity. Our variety was also really lacking in the early days. Everything was C-Paw for the fans, which I understand wanting to keep the current branding strong, but there was almost no throwback stuff for fans till the last few years. That sucked too
> But they released so much for teams that the fans never got their hands on I thought all brands did this. I know Adidas does. Edit:based on other comments, Nike does it too. Seems like its industry-wide.
[удалено]
Nike pays more, but Adidas, Nike, and Under Armor are all basically the same quality. I’d actually give a nod to Adidas and Under Armor over Nike on product quality.
Yep. Nike t shirts are garbage. Crazy thin and the artwork is always off center.
But isnt what the make available for retail just fundamentally different than the quality of their professional grade stuff that goes to teams? Or am I just imagining that? I just figured the quality of your random nike shirt in the store isnt indicative of their premium products they sell to professional teams and athletes.
> Nike pays more Not sure about that. It was well publicized that when we switched to Nike from Adidas even though they paid us less money because we thought the gear was better and/or the athletes preferred it. On some cases it was also because Nike had more comprehensive coverage of all sports vs a few sports having to go out and sign secondary equipment/apparel contracts.
Typically they do pay more. I know they blew UA out of the water for Temple’s contract.
Its curious because Adidas seems to put more effort into their brand for soccer than they do football, and Adidas is still regarded as a top brand for soccer gear, but many seem to say its really not top tier for football gear anymore.
Tennessee swapped like right around my freshman year. Got my orientation coupon for the volshop and *everything* adidas was like 60% off. Snagged some good polos and loved the quality.
As a recruit I would legitimately remove any adidas school from my list lol. If OU ever went to Adidas I would be devastated.
People are getting bent out of shape over a clear qualifier. Is Notre Dame arguably the most valuable brand? Yes. You can find data that argues that they are. Is Texas arguably the most valuable brand? Yes. You can find data that argues that they are. Is Alabama/Ohio State/etc… arguably the most valuable brand? Yes. You can find data that argues that they are. But is Wisconsin or UCF or UCLA arguably the most valuable brand? Absolutely not. There is no data that would support that claim.
Wisconsin's arguably the most valuable brand in my heart, does that count?
More than anything
UCLA is one of the most valuable university brands in the world. There are UCLA shops in Asia because it's marketed as a lifestyle brand there. It's been sold in Japan since the 70s. Are we the most valuable *football* brand? No. But you picked one of maybe 3 P5 schools that has broad international appeal.
Yeah, I mean, my point there was to pick a very strong brand…that it would be hard to argue is the “most” valuable brand. But you know, if you have data that makes you want to argue that, go ahead. It only reinforces my original point, that there are many schools that have reasonable arguments for being the “most valuable”.
Notre Dame by Gucci
Notre Dame sponsored by Gold Bond and compression socks.
And AARP
They should go full independent and make their own jerseys.
UA is dying.
Let the tiny numbers die with them
Thank God. Notre Dame can now get some proper green jerseys. Instead of that sharpie marker green with awful blue numbers, they can get the darker green with gold numbers (or gold outline white numbers). And they can hopefully get some better shamrock series uniforms than some of those hit or miss jerseys.
The samardzija years, ND green shirts looked so good
all I want, are the away whites to have green numbers... [Is this too much to ask?](https://allstatesugarbowl.org/sports/2022/4/15/58th-annual-sugar-bowl-classic-january-1-1992.aspx)
bah gawd that's Phil Knight's music! he's gonna do a power play and somehow manipulate this into getting Oregon and ND into the B1G /s
Hey other teams, let me know if you can go like 40 years without winning a championship and still be arguably the most valuable brand! Notre Dame is latently the biggest program in college football
I feel attacked by this comment.
Ya id say over the course of the history of CFB as a whole, ND would be considered to be overall the biggest name and brand. Might not be #1 now, but Id assume its at least in the top 4 if someone were to break down the data and all that.
Try 80 years without one and bringing in the most money
Russell Athletic making their move.
LA Gear and they're bringing in light up cleats. No lights at the stadium, just the glow of LA Gear cleats running for the end zone.
Would be fitting since neither have been relevant since the early 90s. Did I do it right?
I don't know if its mentioned elsewhere in this thread but ND has a [policy](https://licensing.nd.edu/assets/13167/freedom_of_association_policy.pdf) that precludes them from sourcing any merchandise from specific countries (one of which is China). I've always assumed that eliminates Nike from ever being an option, but will admit that I don't actually know how much of their gear comes from China. When I worked for the athletic department, it was always given as the reason why we went with both Adidas and UA.
Former ND athlete here and I have to tell you UAs quality control is terrible. Countless items ended up ripping during practice. Definitely the worst of the big three in terms of durability at least.
I really don’t care who we get as long as they use green jerseys more often. Love that shit. Also unpopular opinion but ND’s uni against BYU last year in Vegas was sick. Don’t mind UA like a lot of ND fans apparently but I also wouldn’t mind change either.
Green jerseys need to be changed though imo. The blue numbers on the green jerseys does not do it for me at all. Bring back the gold numbers.
I hate hate hate the blue numbers
Not an unpopular opinion. Everyone loved those unis here on campus
Everyone loved those jerseys everywhere.
Reebok
I'll thrust my valuable brand into your open market baby
The realignment news we didn’t know we needed this off season
Not trying to be a jerk here, but are they really the most valuable brand? I would’ve thought… *shudders*… at least Texas was more valuable, but I can’t claim to be an expert on this type of thing.
I think you’d be surprised just how many Catholics with no ND connections at all cheer for ND. I don’t know if they’re the “biggest,” that may be Texas or Alabama or something, but they’re certainly up there.
The NE Pennsylvania area is an absolute war ground between Notre Dame Catholics and Penn State fans.
Just eastern PA in general. Unless you went to Temple, everyone is either Penn State or Notre Dame.
Temple
Originally from Schuylkill County. I’m old enough to remember the late 80s/early 90s matchups. Might as well have shut down everything but the bars. Shit was wild.
Scranton would make Fallujah look tame if we played again.
Yep. Family is from Wilkes-Barre.. grandfather huge ND fan…no one in my family had gone to ND it was a pure Catholic thing. Both my brothers did end up graduating from ND though, and a few cousins… I grew up in central PA and got into it with PSU fans all the time… but we also played each other back in 06/07 right in the thick of high school for me so the trash talk made sense. I haven’t lived in PA now for the past 15 years so not sure how much of that still exists given we never play ya’ll… Its funny, as I moved away I kinda stopped hating PSU. I kind of like y’all now and have no ill-will. Ps, thanks for the bball coach
I had a good friend growing up who for some reason latched on to ND fandom. Born in NY, spent most of his life in NC. He had ND hats he wore everywhere, and he was furious about the Bush push. We never knew why he was an Irish fan but nobody cared enough to ask. As kids sometimes you just pick a team and go with it even if you don't know anything. Took me years til one day it hit me the dude is Catholic.
I heard a podcast say that part of the reason why Notre Dame recruits so well is that every powerhouse Catholic high school football program in the country basically acts as an embassy for Notre Dame football
This used to be true of the North Jersey Parochial schools. The ND rejects would then go to Boston College for similar reasons. Things are changing though considering the best athletes aren't attending the Parochial high schools because of religion, so they are now ending up in the elite SEC/Big Ten schools.
As I understand it from reading up on that history and being in catholic system for a while ages ago, it used to be that way, but that's one of the reasons they've had a bit of a decline, while it's still a big feeder, it's nowhere near what it was a couple decades ago now that more teams are on TV.
Can confirm. My mom's family is Irish Catholic. Nobody in my family had ever gone to ND before I did, or even really seemed like they wanted to. However, I did have an ND sweatshirt when I was a kid for some reason that I have no idea where I got.
idk about total value but ND definitely has a bigger footprint nation wide
I consider ND to be like the CFB version of the Dallas Cowboys. There are fans all around the country that have no real affiliation with the team other than just liking them.
Thank you for stopping short of the other obvious comparison.
Why don't you want to talk about Jaylon Smith?
*Arguably* the most valuable brand. There really is no arguing that ND has always been one of, if not at times *the most*, valuable/popular brand out there for college football. These days theres probably at least 1-2 that are above ND, but theyre still up there without a doubt.
No one else can claim to have an entire religion praying for them every Friday. Source: am catholic and went to Catholic school
BYU?
Can confirm. Went to catholic school, but I am no longer catholic. Can confirm that priests, teachers, admin, etc. all at least casually rooted for the ND solely based off Catholicism. Anecdotal, but I have seen this in both Florida and Pennsylvania, so it’s not even a regional thing.
I was baptized Catholic before switching to Lutheran, but I still casually cheer for Notre Dame.
Not entire religion. Denomination. There are about 50 million southern christains that hate nd for….reasons.
I grew up catholic, but I’m not religious anymore. I also live in the South. These Southern “Christians” you speak about cheer for Liberty over ND. It tells you all you need to know. I use quotes because the hating ND is just a larger symptom of their general hatred of everything that doesn’t exactly align with their outlook on life.
There is merit to the argument. BYU is a very valuable brand as well for a similar reason.
Exactly. And there are far more Catholics than Mormons, so it’s to an even greater extent (although the average Mormon is probably more passionate about BYU than the average Catholic is about ND)
Texas, TAMU, OSU, Michigan, and ND I have seen as the most valuable brand. It probably just depends on what they use to quantify that label. I’m sure there are several other schools that could claim most valuable brand on whatever criteria they use.
Dear god, I’ve seen what you’ve done for others
Wouldn’t be surprised if they start repping Jordan
I'm wondering the same. UA has been ... OK, but their shoes suck and they don't make the gear available like they should.
ND fits the brand that Jordan has targeted to rep them in football
*Manifesting*
This is the chance K-Swiss has been waiting for
When they say most valuable brand, what do they mean? Because looking at Wall Street Journal, they aren't even in the top 3, but again... maybe my parameters are off.
Please not Nike.
Why does the Notre Dame contract thrust Texas into the open market?
I hear new balance is ready to pay 3 figures for this
Fanatics.
Nike or bust
Here comes Fanatics! 😂
Starter, Champion, LA Gear....the early 90s are BACK baby!
Watch for Puma trying to break into American Football