Notre Dame, Under Armour Agree To Most Lucrative Deal In College Athletics History

Notre Dame and Under Armour agreed to the most lucrative apparel deal in college sports history on Tuesday with a 10 year contract worth $90 million, ESPN reported.

The deal surpasses the previous record of $82 million over 10 years between Adidas and the University of Michigan.

If Under Armour's stock continues to rise (shares were up 80 percent on the year, according to ESPN) the deal could actually surpass $90 million, as the university is eligible to receive some of its compensation in stocks, according to Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbick

"We love the company we are partnering with, and we can't wait to grow with them," Swarbrick said, "We don't believe we're partnering with a $2 billion company," at which point readers of ESPN's story expected the next line to go something like: "We believe we're partnering with a small company that cares," but instead went: "We're partnering with a $20 billion company."

Clearly, both Under Armour and Notre Dame believe in the company's future prospects. Though each boasts an impressive reserve of cash, the bigger risk was probably taken by Under Armour, for Notre Dame isn't even allowing the logo to appear on their uniforms. Will an alliance really be worth the $90 million?

"It's just one of those things that is just so central to our identity," Swarbrick said of the program's sponsor free jerseys. "We want to be Augusta-like in that way, and that's why after we discussed it one time it was never brought up in conversation again."

Will Under Armor continue to grow? And what, exactly, has spurred their 80 percent growth in the last year? Do their scientists have new formulas for super hero-like fabric waiting to be used?

Unfortunately, I can't answer any of those questions, except point to the company's past performance. Even as a slew of other companies have copied their outdoor, spandex-like gear, they continually to lead that category while also developing some of the strangest fabrics and catchiest designs in the world of sports apparel (and this is coming from a guy who prefers Nike).