Deion Sanders has been famously, steadfastly, loyal to Under Armour in recent years -- so much so that Sanders through his sheer will of force brought the apparel brand to Jackson State to handle his teams' gear.
So it was a minor but compelling subplot as to what would happen with the 'Coach Prime' brand once he accepted the job atop the Colorado Buffaloes program last December.
The Buffaloes, for years, have been a Nike-adorned athletics program.
And equipment folks in Boulder, Colorado, began immediately to assemble custom "Prime" gear once Sanders full immersed himself the Buffs' job.
Now, with an Instagram post, Sanders has signaled a return to Nike.
Wearing a black Nike crewneck with Prime stitched across its left chest and a Swoosh on the right, as well as a team-issued Nike Colorado Buffaloes cap, Sanders poses for a photograph with a pair of his former Nike signature-edition sneakers on his lap.
Nike confirmed it has reached agreement with Sanders in a statement to USA Today, telling the outlet: "We welcome Deion Sanders back to the Nike family."
The loss of Sanders is a tough one for Under Armour, which has seen its global sales mostly flat the past three years at around $5.5-5.7 billion; Nike, for comparison, posted sales of $46.71 billion in 2022 per the same source, Statista.
Under Armour has been engaged in intense negotiations for months to keep its flagship apparel school -- Notre Dame -- beyond the scope of its outgoing contract. Both Nike and Adidas have made offers to outfit Notre Dame, though sources have indicated the Fighting Irish have received a far more lucrative offer from UA.