The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS • Nike gets a suite at Michigan Stadium for every football game, along with a box for basketball. It re- ceives 10 tickets for football games, home and away, along with an un- specified number for men's and women's basketball, including Big Ten and NCAA Tournament con- tests. Nike will receive 20 tickets for a Michigan bowl game and 12 for a Big Ten title game if Michigan foot- ball is involved. • Michigan coaches for football, along with men's and women's bas- ketball, are required to make two appearances each year on Nike's behalf. Other U-M coaches are man- dated for one such appearance. • Performance bonuses included $100,000 for a national champion- ship in football ($50,000 for reaching the title game), along with $10,000 for getting to the Big Ten champi- onship game and $20,000 for win- ning it. Men's basketball can bring in $25,000 for a national title and $10,000 for a Big Ten championship, with women's basketball earning $7,500 for an NCAA crown. • Michigan will be able to place three students per year as interns at Nike's headquarters over the sum- mer. • U-M garners a 15-percent roy- alty on net sales for non-footwear gear, along with five percent on footwear. Michigan is guaranteed at least $18.37 million in royalties. • Nike has to keep to its "Nike Code of Conduct," with regard to labor practices. • Michigan gets to maintain its existing deals with third-party sup- pliers for various sports and can ex- ercise its option to extend the Nike deal 13 months before it is sched- uled to end, on May 15, 2026. • U-M could incur penalties in the deal for any covering up of the Nike "swoosh" during contests, the fines reaching as much as $100,000 per game. ❏ Michigan Assistant Basketball Coaching Hires Announced Michigan moved quickly to shore up its assistant coaching vacancies in basketball, with head coach John Beilein hiring new assistants Billy Donlon and Saddi Washington on May 4. The two new coaches took the places of LaVall Jordan, who took a head coaching job at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Bacari Alexander, the new head coach at his alma mater, the University of Detroit. "We are forever grateful for the fine work that LaVall Jordan and Bacari Alexander brought to our program over the past six years," Beilein said. "Their departures, however, have opened up a great opportunity for our staff to grow. Billy Donlon and Saddi Washington are exactly who I felt we needed to be able to continue our success and compete for more