Conversations about uniform and apparel brands have taken over the Tennessee social media wire in the last 24 hours.
Fox Sports Knoxville’s Cody McClure first reported on Wednesday that Tennessee’s contract with Nike expires on June 30, 2026, which could prompt a switch to Adidas. Knox News’ Adam Sparks confirmed the report about the expiring contract on Thursday afternoon, adding that Tennessee is “mulling different brand options.”
There’s been no official word on anything yet, but it has sparked enormous reactions from Tennessee fans online regarding the future of the Vols’ Nike uniforms and fan apparel. Fox Sports Knoxville’s breaking news post on X, for instance, has more than 250 responses with people giving their opinions.
The Nike deal officially went into action following the 2014 season. According to Sparks, the initial deal was set to run through 2023 but was extended to the 2025-2026 season by former Director of Athletics Dave Hart in June 2017.
Since that extension was signed, Tennessee’s athletic department has seen a widespread boom in success. From 2022-2024, Tennessee Athletics captured three-straight SEC All-Sports championships. Tennessee can now parlay that success into new negotiation strategies as it so chooses.
Though it’s been 10 years, fans remember the days of Jason Witten and Cordarelle Patterson wearing Adidas football uniforms or Tobias Harris and Josh Richardson in the Adidas basketball uniforms. The Vols also donned the striped brand during their 1998 NCAA Championship victory. Still, though, those memories also include a few wacky design elements such as the off-colored shoulder patterns on the football uniforms near the end of the deal.
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While fans seemingly enjoy being part of the checkmark brand for fan apparel, college athletics is an evolving landscape with athletic departments looking for more ways to bring money into the programs and sports. If Tennessee can secure a higher deal with its next contract, it would mean more funds to spread for resources and players.
Tennessee is also worthy of receiving a higher contract because of the aforementioned success across the sports world, no matter who it lands with. While there are bigger brands than the Vols, Tennessee is a prominent team in the SEC with a recent track record of widespread postseason participation. It’s not hard to imagine that Tennessee will consider itself and present itself as a premier name and brand in the collegiate sports world during these negotiations.
Nike and Tennessee have debuted several alternate uniform sets over the last few years, including a handful of Smokey Grey football uniforms, Dark Mode uniforms for football, men’s basketball, and baseball, and Summitt Blue alternates for women’s basketball. Tennessee also debuted a few new Nike baseball uniforms that have been used during the ongoing 2025 season.
Here’s a look at some of the conversations on X around the topic:
Adidas’ men’s uniforms look pretty good. Uniforms for women’s sports are an abomination. Maybe Candace being involved can help with that. From the few things I am told about Tennessee’s Nike deal I would walk away. They clearly look at Tennessee as a 2nd tier school
— Will West (@WillWestWNML) May 15, 2025
I haven’t read one article or heard one interview where a recruit mentioned the school apparel being the reason they picked the school. Tennessee recruited pretty well when they were Adidas. Miami is doing a pretty good job of recruiting vs Oregon and UGA lately. Strange. https://t.co/HygdB589Wz
— Jayson Swain (@SwainEvent) May 15, 2025
Adidas is for programs like #TexasAM, #MississippiState and #Indiana not #Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/puAiT2V2Ne
— Message Board Geniuses (@BoardGeniuses) May 15, 2025
Some of y’all have forgotten the mismatched, yellow, not Vols orange slop adidas put the Vols in and it shows. Never go back to that crap. https://t.co/6VvpfX5QvR pic.twitter.com/yN6lcOxn8O
— Chad Fields (Vols Uniform Boy) (@CfieldsVFL) May 13, 2025
One Response
Adidas is not as reliable as Nike. The uniforms are not as polished as Nike. Yes, Nike is more expensive but give the teams a professional look. Please, please do not go with Adidas.