Adidas to Terminate Decade-Long NBA Apparel Contract

Adidas AG announced Monday that it will not seek an apparel contract extension with the NBA. Adidas's $400 million contract, which was signed in 2006, will expire at the end of the 2016-17 season. Adidas will no longer be the league's official supplier.

"While we have enjoyed a successful long-term relationship with the league, we continually review our partner agreements to ensure they are meeting our investment and delivering on our brand and business needs," Adidas spokesperson Lauren Lamkin said in a statement. "We are reimagining and reshaping our business and have evolved our strategy to look at new, cutting-edge ways to drive our brand and support our business over the long term. We will invest more in telling stories that matter to our consumer, building category-disrupting innovative products, reinvigorating youth basketball with our new Next Generation programs and doubling our roster of professional athletes to authenticate our brand on-court."

Adidas is currently the third largest shoe and apparel company within the United States. In January, Mark King, the North America president of Adidas revealed that the company would sign as many as 250 new National Football League and Major League Baseball endorsers each. The company also stated that it will focus on making new products that will promote youth basketball.

"We haven't been able to elevate our brand for the basketball consumer that we're targeting," Adidas global basketball general manager, Chris Grancio said reported by the Portland Business Journal. "We ultimately decided that we would change our investment strategy and invest more in players on the court."

The top two companies, Nike and Under Armour, are expected to offer the NBA competitive contracts to become the league's official uniform supplier. Nike and Under Armour have not commented about Adidas' departure.

The NBA spokesman, Mike Bass, stated that the league will not comment about this business deal.