Under Armour

Under Armour

Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: UA
Founded	1996
Headquarters	Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Kevin Plank (Founder/CEO)
Products	Clothing, footwear, sporting equipment, accessories
Revenue	US$1.83 billion (FY 2012)[1]
Operating income	US$85.3 million (FY 2009)[1]
Net income	US$128.39 million (FY 2012)[1]
Total assets	US$546 million (FY 2009)[2]
Total equity	US$400 million (FY 2009)[2]
Employees	5,900[3]
Website	www.UnderArmour.com

Under Armour is an American sports clothing and accessories company. The company is a supplier of sportswear and casual apparel.^[4] Under Armour began offering footwear in 2006.^[5] Under Armour's global headquarters is located in Baltimore, Maryland. Its European headquarters is located in Amsterdam's Olympic Stadium; additional offices are located in Denver, Colorado, Hong Kong, China, Jakarta, Indonesia, Toronto, Canada, and Guangzhou, China.^[6]

History

Early history

Under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a then 23-year old former special teams captain of the University of Maryland football team. Plank initially began the business from his grandmother's basement in Washington, D.C. He spent his time traveling up and down the East Coast with nothing but apparel in the trunk of his car. His first team sale came at the end of 1996 with a $17,000 sale. From his grandmother's basement, Plank moved to Baltimore, Maryland. After a few moves in the city he landed at his now headquarters in Tide Point.^[7]

As a fullback at the University of Maryland, Plank got tired of having to change out of the sweat-soaked T-shirts worn under his jersey; however, he noticed that his compression shorts worn during practice stayed dry. This inspired him to make a T-shirt using moisture-wicking synthetic fabric.^[8] After graduating from the University of Maryland, Plank developed his first prototype of the shirt, which he gave to his Maryland teammates and friends who had gone on to play in the NFL. Plank soon perfected the design creating a revolutionary new T-shirt built from microfibers that wicked moisture and kept athletes cool, dry, and light.^[7] Major competing brands including Nike, Adidas and Reebok would soon follow in Plank's footsteps with their own version of Under Armour's moisture-wicking apparel.^[9]

People began to take notice of the brand when a front page photo of USA Today featured Oakland Raiders quarterback Jeff George wearing an Under Armour mock turtleneck. Following that front page, Under Armour's first major sale came when an equipment manager from Georgia Tech asked Plank for 10 shirts. This deal opened the door to a contract with Arizona State University, North Carolina State and other Division I football teams. With positive reviews from players, word began to spread and orders began to increase.^[8] That same year, Under Armour launched with several new apparel lines including ColdGear, TurfGear, AllseasonGear, and StreetGear.^[8] By the end of 1996, Under Armour had sold 500 Under Armour HeatGear shirts, generating $17,000.^[8] In 1997, Plank had $100,000 in orders to fill and found a factory in Ohio to make the shirts.

Rapid growth

Under Armour received its first big break in 1999 when Warner Brothers contacted Under Armour to outfit its two upcoming films, Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday and The Replacements.^[7] In the film Any Given Sunday, Willie Beamen, played by Jamie Foxx, wears an Under Armour jockstrap. Leveraging the release of Any Given Sunday, Plank purchased an ad in ESPN The Magazine. The ad generated close to $750,000 in sales, and nine years after starting the company, Plank finally put himself on the payroll. ^{[citation needed]}

The following year, Under Armour became the outfitter of the new XFL football league, gaining even more attention during the league's debut on national television.^[8] In 2003, the company launched its first television commercial, which centered on their motto, "Protect this house."^[7] In late 2007, Under Armour opened its first full-line full-price retail location at the Westfield Annapolis mall in Annapolis, Maryland.^[10]

Present day

Under Armour has since opened several specialty stores and factory outlet locations in Canada, China,and 39 states including the opening of its first Brand House in Baltimore in 2013 and second Brand House in Tyson's Corner, VA.^[11] Under Armour has also opened the Brand's first store outside of North America, which is located in Edinburgh, Scotland and is run and owned by First XV, the rugby store situated next door. In 2009, baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. formed an alliance under which the company would have significant presence at several venues and events under the auspices of Ripken Baseball, including providing uniforms for the minor league Aberdeen IronBirds and youth teams participating in the Cal Ripken World Series.^[12]

Under Armour currently sponsors the NFL Combine with a collection of apparel used by the athletes in the combine.^[13]

The company is reported to be the major commercial sponsor for the reality TV show Duck Dynasty, and has garnered attention for taking a stand supporting show "patriarch" Phil Robertson, after he was suspended from the show for remarks about gays he made in an interview with GQ.^[14]

Products

Early products

The expansion of Under Armour's product lines TurfGear, AllseasonGear, and StreetGear put Under Armour at the forefront of the emerging performance apparel industry.^[15] In 2003, Under Armour launched their Women's Performance Gear product line.^[15]

Recent releases

Under Armour announced an addition to their ColdGear product line, called Infrared, that will be released in 2013.^[16] This line is designed to disseminate heat using ceramic powder and re-circulate heat around the wearer’s body. This was designed so that the wearer’s heat signature will not be picked up. Under Armour also had released a product with scent control technology in 2012 titled, "Under Armour Scent Control". This line is designed so that the wearer’s scent cannot be detected.^[17]

Under Armour is inventing a new type of shirt called “Coldblack,” which is designed to reflect heat and keep athletes cool in the sun.^[18] Under Armour has come out with new styles for football uniforms. In October 2012, Under Armour created “The Wounded Warrior” project for football uniforms.^[19] The University of Hawaii and Boston College wore the star studded cleats and the American striped jerseys. They were revealed when Boston College played Maryland on October 27, 2012, also when Hawaii played UNLV on November 24, 2012.^[19]

The company produces the Speedform shoe in a Chinese bra factory. It has no insole and little stitching. Shoes are Under Armour's fastest growing product line, growing 31% from 2011 to $239 million in sales in 2012.^[3]

Recalls

On April 29, 2009, the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of all Under Armour brand athletic cups. The cups, which were manufactured in China, may break when hit, posing a risk of serious injury. They were sold from January 2006 through March 2009.^[20]

On November 3, 2011, the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of all Under Armour Defender chin straps. The straps, which were manufactured in China, pose a laceration hazard when a player contacts the metal snap. They were sold from January 2008 through September 2011.^[21]

Community involvement

UA Give Back

UA Give Back is Under Armour's effort to become involved in different facets of the world community. They have different branches in their organization that specialize in each cause that Under Armour supports. They consist of the UA Power in Pink, UA Freedom, UA Green, and UA Youth Movement.^[22]

UA Power in Pink is an Under Armour program that promotes the women using exercise and fitness to fight breast cancer. This program began in 2002 and its national advertising campaign features real breast cancer survivors, partnerships with other non-profit organizations. It also hosts high school and collegiate Power in Pink games across the country.^[23]

UA Freedom is an Under Armour program that supports the efforts of the Wounded Warrior Project whose mission is to honor, raise awareness, and aid wounded veterans and military service members. This program began in on Independence Day 2010.^[23]

UA Green is an Under Armour program that exists to further the efforts of the Under Armour organization to improve different facets of their products environmental footprint. UA Green builds green technology into their performance gear. To help spread the message of environmentalism, UA Green created their Catalyst line which includes products that use up to four recycled water bottles in each piece of apparel.^[23]

UA Youth Movement is an Under Armour program that promotes the cause of youth fitness and sports. UA Youth Movement has been responsible for providing youth with facilities to become active. They have renovated basketball courts and refurbished playing fields for kids to play and exercise in.^[23] The UA Youth Movement has done work in Baltimore and Compton, and have been committed to the creation of an all-purpose playing field at Baltimore’s Patterson Park, and a turf field at Notre Dame Preparatory School dedicated in the memory of Yeardley Love.^[24]

Partnerships

Under Armour supports and has partnered with the following organizations:

• The Boomer Esiason Foundation^[22]
• Habitat for Humanity^[22]
• The Living Classrooms Foundation^[23]
• The Ronald McDonald House^[22]
• The V Foundation^[22]
• The Wounded Warrior Project^[22]

Sponsorships

Under Armour promotes its products by sponsorship agreements with the following celebrity athletes, professional teams and college athletic teams:

• 

  Canelo Álvarez

• 

  Tom Brady

• 

  Bryce Harper

• 

  Ray Lewis

• 

  Lindsey Vonn

Athletics

• Welsh Athletics^[25]

American football

Miles Austin[26] Tom Brady[27] Anquan Boldin[28]

Arian Foster[29] Vernon Davis[26] Devin Hester[26]

Ray Lewis[30] Julio Jones[31] Cam Newton[32] Patrick Willis[26]

Association football

Club teams

• Aris F.C.^[33]
• Tottenham Hotspur^[33]
• Queen's Park F.C.^[34]
• EC Pinheiros^[33]
• Colo-Colo^[35]
• CD Toluca^[36]
• Jagiellonia Białystok^[37]

Players

• Lauren Cheney^[38]
• Michael Dawson^[33]
• Heather Mitts^[26]
• Bobby Zamora^[33]

Baseball

Jeff Francoeur[39] Bryce Harper[40] Ryan Howard[41]

Buster Posey[42] Jose Reyes[26] Matt Wieters[26]

Ryan Zimmerman[26]

Basketball

Raymond Felton[43] Brandon Jennings[44]

Stephen Curry[45] DeAndre Jordan[46] Greivis Vasquez[47]

Kemba Walker[48]

Boxing

• Canelo Alvarez^[49]

Golf

• Hunter Mahan^[26]
• Jordan Spieth^[50]

Gymnastics

Teams

• USA Gymnastics^[51]

Athletes

• Alicia Sacramone^[51]

Hockey

Players

• Carey Price^[52]

Teams

• Toronto Maple Leafs^[53]

Mixed martial arts

• Georges St-Pierre^[54]

Rugby

Unions

• Welsh Rugby Union^[33]

Players

• Jamie Roberts^[33]
• Dan Lydiate^[55]
• Toby Faletau^[56]

Skating

• Shani Davis^[57]

Skiing

• Bobby Brown^[57]
• Jeremy Bloom^[58]
• Lindsey Vonn^[7]

Snowboarding

• Lindsey Jacobellis^[26]

Surfing

• Maddie Peterson^[59]

Swimming

• Michael Phelps^[7]

Tennis

• Robby Ginepri^[26]
• Sloane Stephens^[60]

Miscellaneous

• Willie Robertson^[57]

Colleges and universities

All schools listed are located in the United States.

Auburn Tigers[61] Boston College Eagles[62] Colorado State Rams[63] Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens[64] Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine[65] Loyola Greyhounds[66] Maryland Terrapins[67]

Montana State Bobcats[68] Northwestern Wildcats[69] Notre Dame Fighting Irish[70] St. John's Red Storm[71] South Carolina Gamecocks[72] South Dakota State Jackrabbits[73] South Florida Bulls[74]

Southern Illinois Salukis[75] Temple Owls[76] Texas Tech Red Raiders[77] Toledo Rockets[78] Towson Tigers[79] UMBC Retrievers[80] Utah Utes[81]

Alliance with University of Maryland

Under Armour took over as the main uniform and equipment provider of the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. They provide every athletic team at the university with uniforms and other products as well, similar to Nike's relationship with the University of Oregon where Phil Knight graduated. Under Armour unveiled a new version of the "Maryland Pride" uniform that the football team would wear against West Virginia University in September 2013.

In popular culture

• Any Given Sunday - Signed on to provide their apparel to Oliver Stone's Film. The key scenes that featured Under Armour gave the products relevancy in the sporting nation. This product placement led Kevin Plank to place an ad in ESPN the Magazine to capitalize on the national exposure.^[7]
• The Challenge (Seasons 15-23)^[82]
• The Dark Knight Rises^[7]
• Friday Night Lights Highlighted in Season 4 episode 3^[7]
• The Replacements^[7]

References

External links

• Official website
• Under Armour at the Wayback Machine (archived December 12, 1998)
• Under Armour at the Wayback Machine (archived May 22, 2001)
• Under Armour at the Wayback Machine (archived February 2, 2002)