UK Athletics signs off on long-term Nike deal

UK Athletics has confirmed Nike as its official sportswear partner in a seven-year deal running from 2014 until the end of 2020.

The agreement means Nike becomes an official partner of the British athletics team and its governing body. Media reports said the contract is worth £15m (€17.7m/$23.4m), double the organisation’s current deal with Adidas.

Nike will provide kit to all Great Britain and Northern Ireland teams outside of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, including the IAAF World Championships and International Paralympic Committee World Championships, which arrive in London in 2017.

The deal between Nike and UK Athletics comes after a Dutch court rejected a claim from Adidas – the kit supplier for Britain’s track and field athletes since 2005.

Adidas stated its current agreement with UK Athletics included a “matching rights” clause that gave it the right to match any rival offer when the deal came up for renewal, but this stance was rejected.

British athletes – including Nike-endorsed stars such as Mo Farah, Perri Shakes-Drayton and Adam Gemili – will still have to wear Adidas kit at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro due to the German company’s contract as a tier one sponsor of the British Olympic Association, covering the 2013-16 cycle.