Inside Russell Athletic's lucrative Southwestern Athletic Conference contract

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Sports apparel supplier Russell Athletics supplies hundreds of thousands of dollars in free gear every year to Southwestern Athletic Conference institutions in exchange for exclusive licensing rights.

The contract between the industry giant and the historically black universities sports collective also gives the educational institutions a $5,000 stipend for coaching gear, a $2,000 product credit for the conference commissioner, and a number of cash incentives for winning teams.

In exchange, Russell gets to supply all 10 conference schools with all apparel until June 30, 2016. Russell also gets mandatory in-stadium advertising and free tickets to basketball and football home and playoffs games among other contract provisions.

SWAC has a separate five-year deal with Nike to supply the schools with shoes and other gear. Both deals are part of an industry that generates $4.6 billion annually.

Two Alabama schools benefit from the deal: Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University. So do fellow SWAC members Alcorn State University; Grambling State University; University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff; Jackson State University; Mississippi Valley State University; Prairie View A&M University; Southern University & A&M College; and, Texas Southern University.

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