Hallelujah! Wisconsin is now free of the chains of horrendous looks from the fine folks at adidas.
On Friday, the long-rumored and earlier reported deal between the Badgers athletic department and athletic apparel supplier Under Armour was announced. According to multiple reports, that deal is for 10 years and worth a staggering $96 million to the athletic department.
While that is game-changing money for an athletic department that barely keeps itself in the black today, there is one other reality that must be addressed — the look of the Wisconsin Badgers on the field.
That reality is one of a school that is rather plain and has also been subject to the awful postseason whims of adidas and its horrendous design department. Don’t expect the Badgers to change that plain look all that much though, as early mock-ups were presented following the announcement on Friday.
#Badgers officially going @UnderArmour. pic.twitter.com/PdHHRRw6zz
— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) October 9, 2015
Under Armour as a company isn’t a stranger to doing things in a different fashion, after all it disrupted the athletic apparel world in a major way when it burst on the scene as a more fitness-based company back in the early 2000’s.
However, those hoping for some changes to the Badgers’ plain-Jane look on the football field and basketball court are likely to be in for a major disappointment.
What those who what bold and dramatic changes fail to realize is that there’s one old-fashioned man at the helm of the UW athletic department. As long as Barry Alvarez is in charge, you can expect very little change to occur.
Perhaps we’ll see a few different tweaks or maybe the in-fashion black jersey look. Heck, maybe the red helmet look will make a comeback as well.
Just don’t expect Under Armour to come in and immediately make bold changes to the overall look of the Wisconsin Badgers main programs — football and men’s basketball. That’s because there’s the man upstairs who isn’t concerned or wanting to be involved in the latest fashion trends, and that’s Mr. Alvarez himself.
It was hinted at in the athletic director’s statement to the media on Friday.
“Our brand is very important,” Alvarez said. “We took 25 years to build this brand and I think we have a very valuable brand. I do not want to go away from the brand.
“It’s something that we have earned and what we want to build off of.”
How exactly do you build off of something you aren’t really interested in tweaking in a meaningful way? One way is to advance the offerings to the general public. Luckily, the fans can take solace in the fact that Under Armour offerings are much more varied, forward-thinking and fun to wear than anything adidas has had to offer.
Wisconsin gear standing out in the crowd would be a welcome change, especially if it was of the forward-thinking variety.
However, until Alvarez isn’t around, don’t expect the Badgers uniforms to be changing all that much. Just expect everything else to change around those boring uniforms.
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