SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Shoemakers has secured a three-year, $98 million federal contract to manufacture athletic shoes for U.S. military recruits and personnel undergoing initial training.
The U.S. Department of War awarded the contract to SAS on Sept. 17. The agreement requires the San Antonio-based company to produce men’s and women’s athletic footwear for recruits through Sept. 16, 2029.
Federal regulations stemming from the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act require the Defense Logistics Agency to provide American-made athletic shoes to incoming military personnel at no cost. The policy replaced a cash allowance that previously allowed recruits to purchase their own training shoes.
Boston-based New Balance also received a three-year contract worth $58.8 million to supply athletic footwear for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
The military’s athletic footwear requirements include three categories: cushion or neutral, stability, and motion control.
SAS produces the Mission 1 athletic shoe, which meets those three categories, according to federal procurement documents.
SAS CEO Nancy Richardson said in 2023 that the company’s designers, engineers and footwear specialists worked with military personnel to develop shoes around the needs of service members.
Under an earlier Defense Logistics Agency contract, the government paid about $114 per pair of SAS shoes in 2026, according to federal contract data. The company sells the Mission 1 to consumers for $275 before taxes and shipping.
The new contract will result in more than 800,000 SAS pairs manufactured over three years at the company’s factories in San Antonio and Del Rio.
SAS has operated in San Antonio for decades and has developed a following outside its traditional customer base as so-called “dad shoes” and vintage athletic footwear have gained popularity.
The company also attracted national attention in 2022 when rapper Kanye West expressed interest in acquiring SAS.
The military contract continues SAS’s role as a domestic manufacturer supplying footwear to U.S. service members while supporting production at its Texas facilities.
