How Georgia Tech and Adidas came together

Another layer of difficulty is that one shade of color might appear different on football pants or a jersey than it does on a helmet, as they’re made of different materials and reflect light differently.

The shade that Stansbury selects will not replace old gold as an official school color, but will be the one that the athletic department uses.

Regardless, uniformity is the goal. It has been a process that Stansbury has led, not just with color but also logos, fonts and other means of branding.

“We’re not going to touch the ‘GT,’ but we’re going to make sure that the ‘GT’ you see is the same every single time,” Stansbury said in his July podcast.

Adidas has already brought in its “identity team” to participate, said Jim Murphy, the Adidas sports marketing director for the NCAA.

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“The same group that goes in and does (Leo) Messi, the same group that goes in and does the NBA, the same group that goes in and does the NHL, that’s the same group that’s coming in and meeting with Georgia Tech and going through their marks, their identity, their logo slicks,” Murphy said. “We’re just trying to clean all that up so we can just have some consistency in the marketplace.”

One result of the Adidas contract is that fans will eventually see more Tech apparel, made by Adidas, and in one shade of gold.

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“It definitely provides us with an opportunity to get our gold out there,” Stansbury said. “That’s one of the things I’ve always heard: ‘Well, I want to wear gold to the games, but I can’t find it.’ I think that’s going to be one of our priorities, is, how do we work with them to make sure that the people who want to find Georgia Tech gold can find it.”

It is, undoubtedly, part of Tech’s appeal to Adidas.

Said Murphy, “I’m sure the fan base is starved for product.”