Nike Inc. has pledged $13.5 million toward renovations of track and field facilities at the University of Oregon, part of an upgrade that would facilitate the venue's hosting of the 2021 World Track & Field championships.

The world's largest sportswear maker said it has granted the first of two installments of $6.75 million to the University of Oregon Foundation, a nonprofit organization overseeing renovations to the school's Hayward Field.

Construction is scheduled to begin in August, according to the foundation's website and includes a design that allows for temporary seating for as much as 30,000 people, the minimum required for the world championships. Hayward Field currently seats 10,500.

Nike's contributions to the project in Eugene, Ore., weren't previously known. Oregon state officials have been working on proposals to secure state funding for the stadium.

Nike said the second installment of its commitment is contingent upon further fundraising for the project. A spokesman for the University of Oregon said "we try not to talk about individual donors, as a general rule of thumb."

The International Association of Athletics Federations, track and field's global governing body, awarded the 2021 championships to Eugene in April following a failed bid by the city five months earlier to win the 2019 championships.

IAAF's decision came after a surprise executive council vote and without a formal bid process with multiple candidate cities, which is customary. IAAF said the decision to award the meet to Eugene was based on the strength of a unique funding package which included the state of Oregon, the U.S. Olympic Committee and a commitment from NBC to produce and broadcast the event.

"We have always been an avid supporter of track & field and believe that the 2021 World Track & Field Championships taking place in the U.S.A., for the first time ever, is a positive step for the sport's continued growth," the company said. Nike said it isn't an IAAF sponsor and was "not party to the bid or the decision to award 2021 to Eugene."

Jackie Brock-Doyle, a spokeswoman for IAAF President Sebastian Coe, said neither the IAAF nor Mr. Coe were aware that Nike was a leading source of private funding for the stadium project. She said the stadium renovation wasn't considered part of Eugene's bid.

Mr. Coe, a two-time Olympic champion runner for Great Britain, was vice president of the IAAF from 2007 until his appointment as president in September. He simultaneously had served as a consultant to Nike from 2013 until November 2015, when he resigned his role as a Nike ambassador.

An IAAF spokesman said the Eugene proposal made clear "the stadium development was going ahead whether 2019 or 2021 was successful, it was only the [seating] capacity necessary for a world championships which was in question."

Nike has for decades had close ties to the University of Oregon, having been founded by the late university track coach Bill Bowerman and alumnus Phil Knight, the company's current chairman and a longtime donor to the school.

Write to Sara Germano at sara.germano@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 05, 2016 14:55 ET (19:55 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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