Derrick Rose, Adidas Agree To Massive Endorsement Deal, According To Reports

Reigning league MVP Derrick Rose signed a max contract with the Chicago Bulls back in December, but his new endorsement deal with Adidas is by far the largest one he has signed this season. Rose and Adidas met on Friday afternoon and agreed to a 13-year, $185 million contract loaded with incentives, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The contract reportedly includes $185 million in guaranteed money, but how high can the explosive point guard push the deal with the included escalators? Aggrey Sam of CSN-Chicago is reporting that the deal could be worth a whopping $260 million, which fits with rumors back in December that the two parties were nearing an agreement on a lifetime deal worth at least $250 million.

Rose's new Adidas contract is the second-largest shoe endorsement deal in history, according to Darren Rovell of CNBC. The only bigger deal belongs Michael Jordan, and Rovell points out MJ still makes more than $60 million per year. For Adidas, locking up the 23-year old as the face of the brand makes a lot of sense. The length of the deal invites thoughts about Rose's durability issues and long-term viability as an explosive slasher, but he is growing in popularity in the international market and is clearly one of the league's best players when healthy. Perhaps Adidas needed to make a big move like this as well, because according to Rovell, the Jordan Brand is dominating the US market (63.4 percent market share in US) at the moment, while Adidas is lagging behind (4.7 percent share).

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