Where Does Utah Rank Among National Brands?

[The Miami Ute]

Well, if you ask Fanatics, not very high. I was perusing Fanatics this morning to see if there was any new Utah merch in their inventory, and I was shocked to see that Utah wasn’t one of the 80 teams on their web “quick link” (neither was BYU). To get to see Utah (and BYU) merch, you had to click on the “All 500+ NCAA teams” link. What made this surprising is the names of some of the teams that made their 80-team “quick link.” I’m talking about teams like Coastal Carolina, Cornell, Delaware, Eastern Carolina, James Madison, Providence, Liberty, South Florida, etc…

As far as the Big XII is concerned, only Utah, BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston weren’t included in the 80-team “quick link.” So, my question is this…what does this say, if anything, about the national perception of where Utah stands and of the purchasing power of their fans? Maybe nothing, but given how well Utah travels and how well supported the team is, you’d figure that they’d surely be placed among the 80 most popular teams in the nation. Who knows…maybe this is just a conversation starter.

[ALUF]

Because we all buy from dahlelama

Jk, I really don’t know but it may actually have to do with our fans shopping somewhere else. There is no way coastal Carolina is more recognizable than Utah or even byu-p

[UteBoysDad]

I’m wondering how often this is updated. Some of those teams might have interest right now because of what they are doing recently in different sports. Like Coastal Carolina in baseball and I believe Cornell just won the Lacrosse championship.

[The Miami Ute]

That could be the answer. Maybe the order of merit changes based on what’s going on in the college sports world.

[Utegator]

I also think the Utes really lack good merch. I frequently look for new ute gear to purchase and more often than not, I end up leaving empty handed. I know this has been discussed several times on here, so i’m not the only one who feels this way.

[GameForAnyFuss]

Speaking of merch, one thing I think we underestimate is how much the Under Armour deal is holding Utah back.
1. UA’s graphics and design are inferior to other brands, plus the prices are generally 15-20% higher than the others. I think this hurts when it comes to getting the Utah brand out on the streets.
2. The UA brand has less street cred than Nike/Jordan and even Adidas. Yes, UA has a nice niche in the hunting/outdoor segment, which appeals to some college sports fans, but they are definitely a tier behind Nike and Adidas in the mainstream sports markets. I think this might have a negative effect on recruiting.
3. It’s no secret that foot problems are associated with UA shoes. There are articles on Rivals, 247, and other sites about it. UCLA medical center did a study after their track team complained about UA’s shoes causing foot and leg injuries. I think this may drive athletes away from UA schools to some degree.
4. The fact that we have a “whole school” deal with UA hurts individual programs. The more successful programs (think football, skiing, gymnastics) could get a lot more money by being able to have bake-offs among multiple equipment manufacturers in their respective sports, but they can’t because they’re restricted by the UA deal.

I believe that someday, when this deal is over, we’ll realize the full extent to which the UA deal has hurt our athletics on multiple fronts.

[RedRocks]

Notre Dame is sponsored by Under Armor and has an artificial turf field.
These two items are often blamed for Utah’s injury woes.
I don’t recall hearing the same about Notre Dame. Granted, I don’t follow them closely.

That said, ‘brand power’ and design definitely seem lacking.

As @utegator mentioned above, I too have tried to buy Utah merchandise and come away empty handed due to the poor selection.

[Rick]

I think a lot of this is based on the active sports. Nothing more. I personally used to love UA shirts but they have changed their fit in the past 5-6 years and I do not care for them anymore. They are way to tappered and tight for my taste and waste. As for their shoes, my son made me buy him a pair of cleats back around 2009ish and the sole of the shoe completely fell off after a few weeks wearing them. I have never bought a pair of any of their shoes since. They are garbage and the feedback from our athletes and other programs confirms it. I would like to see us move to another brand as soon as we can.

[GameForAnyFuss]

I’ve told this story before, but just in case:

My son plays college soccer at an Under Armour school. When he got to summer training camp his freshman year, he was given UA boots. By the end of the first week, he couldn’t run due to plantar fascia and Achilles pain. At first the trainers blamed him and his fitness (no way – he showed up to camp in the best shape of his life) but the problem never went away. He finally had to go to an independent doctor. The doctor told him to go back to the boots he’d played in before college (Nike Mercurial). The coaching staff wouldn’t let him due to their UA contract unless he had a note. So he got the doctor to write a note allowing him to play in non-UA boots. He switched back to Nike and was back on the field in two weeks. He’s never had foot problems since. Funny enough, after that incident, about half of the team showed up with their own doctor’s notes allowing them to wear non-UA cleats.

[RoboUte]

I’ve been harping on this one for a year. we shouldn’t be in UA footwear.

[Yergensen]

You can’t juggle 3 different logos and wear a different uniform combo every week and expect brand recognition and brand appeal.

Decide on and use one logo. Commit to one home and one away uniforms. You want an alternate or themed uniform and helmet, fine but it is special occasions only like Mom’s fine china. Its jersey, pants and helmet don’t mix with standard uniforms.

UA is the other half of the problem. Don’t care if we are a priority for them. We have had a sleeve design problem for over a decade and pant stripe problem for half that time. Our merch, from all approved vendors including UA, is more miss than hit. You really have to look around for good stuff.

We’re doing our brand no favors with the above self inflicted errors. At the end of the day, our ADept and football program is either coming up with these bad ideas or signing off on them from our approved vendors.

[UteBoysDad]

A little of base, but somewhat related, I grew up and live near the beach and like to wear a Hawaiian shirt brand, Reyn Spooner. They make shirts with different university logos. For some reason they still don’t make any for Utah. They do for 10 of the Big 12 schools including Colorado, Cincinnati and West Virginia. But no Utah, BYU, UCF, Baylor, TCU or Houston. I’ve wondered if they just don’t see Utah as a strong market or is it something else? (Hard to believe that Cincinnati West Virginia or Iowa State are big markets). Maybe the university hard to deal with on licensing?

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