Colby Miltenberger is an ASU Cronkite Schoolf of Journalism student assigned to cover Saguaro High School for AZPreps365.com

The Saguaro football team competes for more than just a record.

It turns out that the branding of high school jerseys is a competitive sport, too. Saguaro previously was an Adidas Premier school because of its winning football team, which meant the Sabercats got jerseys at a discounted rate. But since 2021,Saguaro has made the transition to being a Nike Elite team.

“If you’re one of the best teams in the country, Adidas wants to give you more bang for your buck. So a lot of times, it might be buy one set of uniforms, get two more sets free.” Saguaro athletic director Matt Harris said.

To get these deals, the school worked with a third company, BSN Sports, an apparel and equipment supplier. BSN Sports works with a variety of brands to negotiate deals for the schools. In 2020, Harris’s first year at Saguaro, the school’s former BSN representative attempted to make a deal with Nike.

“He went and provided [former] Coach [Jason] Mohn’s and Saguaro’s resume of success, and said, ‘Hey, we think it would be really wise to take on Saguaro as a Nike Elite team.’ ” Harris said.

Despite Saguaro’s success in football – the Sabercats won eight of the ten championships from 2010-2020 -- the school was not accepted into Nike’s program. Although Nike was not convinced by Saguaro’s accomplishments, the company did show interest in the school, and the option to join the company in the future remained on the table.

“Nike said, ‘Hey, we’re not adding any more teams at this juncture [2020], but we’d still love Saguaro to wear Nike,’ ” Harris said.

Since the Sabertcats weren’t chosen for the Nike Elite program, they decided to stay with Adidas and keep the benefits of being an Adidas Premier school for one more year. Then in  2021, Saguaro won another state football championship, helping to build its case to Nike.

“After winning that, Nike and BSN came in with a huge opportunity to become one of the next Nike Elite schools. So, starting in 2021, we made that transition to remove the Adidas branding and go with Nike for football,” Harris said. “They’ve [Nike] just been really good to our football program, and really good to our school as well.”

On paper, the only Nike Elite program at Saguaro is football, though Nike chooses to give other programs at the school discounts on uniforms, too. The teams just aren’t recognized by Nike as part of the company’s Nike Elite programs. Winning could change that, however.

“A lot of our other sports programs have jumped on board with working with Nike, through BSN, one brand for one school,” Harris said. “It’s also the best [brand] but also they give us pretty good deals, I feel we’re getting a really good partnership with Nike and BSN that I don’t think anyone can match.”

Representatives for Nike and BSN Sports did not return repeated requests for comment.

Senior golfer Oscar Uribe appreciates having access to the Nike brand, and that the golf team was included, so Saguaro athletes can wear one main brand. 

“It’s interesting because some programs use their own brand,” Oscar said. “Saguaro is different for that reason, and being a part of Team Nike brings Saguaro athletics to a different legacy in my opinion.”

A partnership like that between Nike and Saguaro is not an opportunity offered to all high schools. The program is taken very seriously by Nike, and the company only partners with the most prestigious programs, which on top of the discounts for a high-end brand, makes it an honor to be selected.

“It’s my understanding that there’s somewhere between 40 and 45 Nike elite schools in the entire country, and Hamiliton [High School in Chandler] is the only other one in Arizona,” Harris said.