Nike doubles down on partnership with BYU, extends agreement through 2025-26

For nearly 40 years BYU has been synonymous with the swoosh and it will look to stay that way through 2026.

In an unsurprising, yet reassuring move, BYU announced a seven year extension with Nike as their all-sport footwear, apparel and equipment supplier. The worldwide leader in sports apparel has been a partner of BYU athletics for nearly 40 years, dating back to early years of the LaVell Edwards era.

The announcement is relatively unsurprising considering the relationship between BYU and the Oregon-based brand. The football and basketball teams are routinely outfitted with Nike’s top-of-the-line uniforms, including various throwback and alternate options not afforded to every program. In addition to outfitting Cougar athletics, Nike has seen an increased presence on campus with the BYU Store’s expanded apparel section dedicated to the swoosh. Also, in 2018 BYU partnered with Nike to create custom gear for their annual BYU50 giveaway.

If there was anything that was surprising about the announcement, it was the fact that BYU noted how the new agreement “more than doubles the annual value of the previous Nike agreement and includes annual cash compensation for BYU Athletics.” A doubling of the annual value likely means that the previous deal between Nike and BYU was well below market value or that BYU was being pursued by another brand. Either way, an big jump in apparel revenue would help a program looking to compete with their wealthy P5 counterparts.

Nike founder and former CEO Phil Knight might be pumping his money into Oregon’s athletic department but his business’s partnership with BYU appears to be second-to-none. “We don’t have a better relationship in the country, than the one we have with BYU,” said Knight, per the release from BYU. “We are very proud of it. We love the relationship and the program.”

Now that BYU has locked down a deal with Nike for the foreseeable future, the biggest apparel-related question that remains for Cougar fans is if the program will fully transition to royal blue. All of the promotional photos showcase BYU athletes wearing royal uniforms, with the lone exception being the softball team which is represented by their black getup with royal highlights. Most BYU teams still use navy in their primary uniform sets but royal blue has been integrated more each year.