It’s late on July 1, 2026.
The United States has moved on in the World Cup. It’s a blistering 100-plus degrees for much of the East Coast. Two people climbed the Empire State Building and displayed a flag.
And Penn State athletics’ official apparel provider is now adidas.
There was quite a bit that happened in and around Happy Valley as the new 10-year, $300 million partnership kicked off as Penn State ditched the Nike Swoosh for adidas’ three stripes.
Did you notice…
• You are alive. You lived. The world did not come to an end. Despite the heat, you did not spontaneously combust. Penn State switched its apparel provider and nothing bad happened to you.
For much of the last year or so, there has been concern and stress about Penn State leaving Nike among Penn State fans in particular. It was two brands that were intertwined for years. And then something changed.
It seems that Penn State – one of the early adopters of Nike – became less of a priority. There were subtle misses, like specific CFP uniforms and the lack of custom shoes for alumni players. Phil Knight – who spoke at Joe Paterno’s funeral – deepened his ties with now-Big Ten school Oregon more and more. Penn State alum Mark Parker, a long-time Nike executive, left the company.
This was, simply put, a business decision and one decision that seemingly aligned Penn State with someone who cares about Penn State the same way you care about Penn State. That $300 million effectively covers the cost of one year to run the athletic department. Moreover, it keeps Penn State competitive in the ever-present, never-ending rat race that is college athletics in the 21st century.
So while there are quasi-legitimate concerns over the quality of the gear you’ll be able to buy and the fact that the logo of one multinational corporation changes to another multinational corporation, it doesn’t appear all that bad.
The biggest piece of evidence for that argument: Penn State’s football jerseys looking exactly the same as they did last year.
Adidas was never going to come in and put tassels on the jerseys, flames on the pants and stickers on the helmets (although I remain a proponent of numbers on helmets.) They have stuff to sell you. And no one would buy that stuff if it wasn’t what made you, the fan, happy.
• When the clock struck midnight at Old Main, Penn State was quick to roll out the partnership with a coordinated attack of tweet notifications on my phone (I get one every time several athletic teams and properties post). It was all wrapped around the idea of the three stripes coming together on and around campus – with stops at each of Penn State’s athletic facilities. It was an impressive armada of posts from Penn State that was well coordinated as avatars and header images were changed almost instantly as well. Credit to Penn State’s social team on that.
While there was plenty of content on social media and on GoPSUSports.com to look at, there was one chunk of stuff fans had to wait until the sun rose over Mount Nittany to see. The stuff they could buy.
Most retailers, including Fanatics, The Family Clothesline, Lions Pride and more, didn’t sell the adidas-branded merch until 8:30 a.m.
To me, slightly a miss. But then again, I’m doubtful that many people stayed up to watch the clock strike midnight on a new fiscal year and a new era in Penn State athletics.
• Unsurprisingly when the merch rolled out in the morning, most of it wasn’t earth-shatteringly different than what Nike – or a handful of secondary licensees – had created last season. And that’s completely fine.
It’s early in the partnership. It’s going to take time for everyone to get to know each other.
Penn State seems to be beefing up the number of retro looks, something it carried from homecoming last year, into the adidas era. Many of those logos are from the vault and are something I want to dig a bit deeper into this offseason.
• By my count, there were only three uniforms to debut on Wednesday. The obvious being the football uniforms, which adidas cleverly promoted with a post on social media. Again, they understood and understand that people would lose their collective minds if the jerseys didn’t look basically the same. And I’m told that Penn State also wanted to make sure of that as well.
The other second uniform that makes a very brief appearance appears to be the women’s volleyball uniforms in another video that adidas posted.
Lastly, adidas is selling Penn State’s baseball uniforms which are a pretty direct 1-to-1 replacement of the Nike ones.
This seems to fit the overall vibe as Penn State is going to slowly roll these looks out over the next few weeks – and maybe even months. In part, a lot of this is all happening fast. The contract was only signed last year.
And in case you aren’t tuned in, there is a World Cup going on right now – which is adidas’ biggest event every four years and then some.
It will be interesting to see which Penn State uniforms get massive upgrades and which others stay the same. We also know that Penn State’s hockey teams will likely not adopt an adidas jersey as they’ve done the last few years with Nike.
And it sounds like Pat Kraft wants to unify the fonts on jerseys around campus, as he told Audrey Snyder. I am all for this. There are too many fonts – even for what’s available now in the various merch looks. I am partial, however, to keep the Lady Lions font as is.
• One item that I’m not sure on: Is this Penn State’s new soccer jersey? If so, I would like to buy one. Please let me buy one. Even if it is not, please let me buy one. This is the exact look I have been waiting for from adidas.
I did notice that a number of articles of clothing that weren’t available for purchase just yet. We will see if that changes.
• Rumor has it Rocco Becht is still sitting on top of the south end zone field goal post and will remain there until the team takes the field against Marshall.
• The real note is that Penn State relied heavily on student-athletes to model the assets. This was a massive piece of the deal. Adidas would become heavy players in the NIL space for Penn State and that seems to be starting day 1.
• The shoes are missing. Where are the shoes?
While there were a few pages that have links to the adiZero shoes (the adidas version of the Nike Pegasus for those who have been collecting them), I haven’t found any available for purchase.
I also didn’t see anything in the more classic adidas shoe look as well. This will likely be the first adidas item I buy.
• Is that a football jersey with pockets?
• The White Out shirt may have leaked. Then disappeared and then reappeared.
They are only available in youth sizes. Or well were. And then weren’t. But appear to be back now.
This was something I somewhat forgot was a part of the Penn State process. There needs to be a White Out shirt – and hopefully long sleeve and hoodies, too.
Overall, I like the vibe. However, my biggest grumble which was planted in my head by my wife is the fact that the three stripes are centered on the collar of most of the merch. With Nike, the swoosh was always to the side. That will take some getting used to.
• There was one graphic that bothered me and I’m curious if it came from a Penn State or adidas side. Actually it’s just one line in the graphic. Penn State’s campus – and football stadium – is located in University Park, not State College. There is a difference and anyone who wrote the incorrect dateline on a COMM260 piece knows it.
• The absolute highlight of the day was this social media post from adidas’s US football page featuring the Nittany Lion being fit for an iconic adidas tracksuit.
We can debate the ethics of the fact it is the same color and seemingly texture as the Lion’s fur some other time. But my god was it perfect. There were cameos from Abdul Carter and Ali Krieger – two professional adidas athletes and alums.
Above all – the best part is a subtle nod to the most important man in equipping Penn State football, Spider Caldwell.
At the end of the video, the Lion is seen having some fun in an office. It’s Spider’s.
A great touch.
• Overall, I’m whelmed. Not over. Not under. I think Penn State did a lot of great things on social media. I think some of the adidas stuff is fine and I think some of this will take some getting used to. But there are 10 years left in this initial partnership.
Or 9 years, 364 days but who is counting?
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