Adidas announces adizero 7 Class, inks NIL deals with top high school recruits

Adidas is making a big splash in the NIL space.

The sneaker and sportswear giant unveiled its adizero 7 Class on Thursday afternoon. The campaign comes ahead of this week’s Overtime OT7 Finals in Tampa. The collaboration between adidas and Overtime is an extension of the multi-year partnership between the two dating back to October 2023, when adidas was named the exclusive apparel and footwear sponsor of Overtime leagues including OT7, Overtime Elite and Overtime Select.

Ahead of OT7, adidas formed its inaugural adizero 7 Class, inking endorsement deals with seven top high school football recruits. Among the list of NIL brand ambassadors: Five-star linebacker Tyler Atkinson, four-star wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, four-star UCLA quarterback commit Madden Iamaleava, four-star wide receiver Vernell Brown III, four-star athlete Madden Williams, Five-Star Plus+ Ohio State wide receiver commit Chris Henry Jr. and four-star wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr.

All seven athletes will be at the OT7 Championships this week. The championships can be found on NFL Network, YouTube and Overtime social channels. The event will feature double-digit select 7-on-7 teams with play running from Friday to Sunday. Many of the nation’s top-skill prospects from the 2025 and 2026 recruiting cycles are set to attend, making for what should be one of the more talent-rich events of the summer.

Adidas has become a major spender in NIL over the last 33 months. Washington quarterback Michael Penix and wide receiver Rome Odunze became the first college football athletes to sign NIL deals with the brand this past fall. The adidas NIL network boasts thousands of active athletes representing over 25 sports, including hundreds of athletes from Washington across 14 sports on campus.

NFL players Patrick Mahomes, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Legette are also adidas ambassadors.