Penn State Sports Magazine
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O C T O B E R 2 0 2 5 11 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M including the defending national cham- pion women's volleyball and wrestling programs." It's the latest in a series of big moves by Kraft. He is also overseeing a $700 million renovation of Beaver Stadium, and PSU has several other facilities projects in various stages of completion, such as a thorough overhaul of Jeffrey Field that is currently under construc- tion and the recently unveiled Morgan Academic Center. This is the second time Kraft has steered an athletics department toward Adidas. He also did so in 2021 when he was athletics director at Boston College. That year, Kraft helped put together two separate deals to replace the school's previous agreement with Under Ar- mour. The football program switched to Adidas, while the school's other 30 varsity programs signed with New Bal- ance. Earlier this year, the football pro- gram joined those other varsity teams, moving to New Balance, which is based in Boston. Much has changed in the four years since Kraft helped negotiate those deals, notably the growing importance of NIL backing. Elite schools need to be able to recruit at a consistently high level, and that increasingly means having to keep pace with free-spending rivals in the NIL economy. Tennessee's deal with Adidas is ex- pected to help the Volunteers compete in that realm. "They've been heavily involved in NIL since its inception," Tennessee athletics director Danny White told Volquest.com. "They have an entire division focused on NIL. They have student-athletes from all over the country, some of which compete for our teams right now that are signed up with their NIL program. So, there are a lot of reasons why we feel like they're the best partner for us as we march into the modern era of college sports." Penn State is marching alongside the Vols. While it's not known how much money Adidas will provide either school to enhance their NIL efforts, the com- pany's offers were sufficient to bring about the end of their longstanding relationships with Nike. The Vols had been with Nike for 12 years, but as White noted, "Adidas separated themselves significantly." One person who has not had a lot to say about PSU's switch to Adidas is football coach James Franklin. Once the season gets underway, the coach often prefers not to entertain big-picture questions about the state of college football or Penn State's place in it. That was the case when he was asked about the pending Adidas deal a few days be- fore the Nittany Lions' game against Florida International. "That's something that the admin- istration is working on," Franklin said. "Obviously, I have an awareness of what's going on, but we're focused on our opponent for Saturday." ■ Drew Allar Inks Apparel Deals The day before Penn State officially switched its apparel partnership, the university's soon-to-be-former outfitter announced that it had signed senior quarterback Drew Allar to a name, image and likeness deal. Nike announced the news via Instagram on Sept. 4. Terms of the deal were not available. "The Pride of Pennsylvania," Nike wrote on social media. "Welcome to the family @ drew.allar." Allar's pact with Nike was his second major NIL deal in recent weeks. In August, he an- nounced a partnership with American Eagle that included a photo shoot in which he posed with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith and Connecticut women's basketball star Azzi Fudd, among others. The campaign was aimed at promoting Kelce's vintage clothing line dubbed "Tru Kolors." Allar told the York Daily Record that the photo shoot was "a great experience." "I had a great time meeting all the people involved in that and really getting to see the behind-the-scenes sort of thing," he said. "It's really cool to be a part of a project like that. I'm really excited for all the things that it will bring, for sure, but it was definitely a blessing to be a part of that." Allar is Penn State's top athlete in the Rivals NIL tracker with a projected valuation of $3.2 million. He ranks ninth among all athletes nationally and eighth among football players. — Greg Pickel Former Penn State All-America linebacker Micah Parsons signed an endorsement contract with Adidas in 2024. He welcomed his alma mater's partnership with the company, saying he didn't want "anything less than the best for my fellow Nittany Lions." PHOTO COURTESY ADIDAS