Under Armour Enters the Basketball Shoe Market
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Under Armour Enters the Basketball Shoe Market
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This case was written by Professors George E. Belch and Michael A. Belch. It is intended to be used as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation.
The case was compiled from published sources.
Company Background
Under Armour (UA) was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a former Maryland football player, who began by selling compression clothing that could “wick” sweat away from the body to college sports teams out of the trunk of his car. Plank was a football player at the University of Maryland, and hated wearing cotton shirts to practice in the hot, humid Maryland climate. Knowing that he would never be an NFL player, Plank devoted his efforts to starting a company that could make a product that would be an improvement over cotton, in that it would not absorb sweat and be much more functional and comfortable to wear. Once made, he started selling the shirts to the lacrosse and football teams at the University of Maryland out of the trunk of his car.
In 1998, the football oriented movie “Any Given Sunday” was being filmed in Baltimore where Under Armour is based. The producers of the movie were looking for a product that would represent the athletic nature of the movie and be comfortable to wear during filming. Under Armour agreed to provide products, and UA shirts were used throughout the filming and appeared in the movie itself, resulting in national exposure for the brand. At about the same time, ESPN was initiating a sports magazine and looking for advertisers. Plank called in his dozen or so employees at the time, and said if they would agree to skip one pay check, UA could purchase a full page ad in the new
Under Armour Enters the Basketball Shoe Market
______________________________________________________________________________
This case was written by Professors George E. Belch and Michael A. Belch. It is intended to be used as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation.
The case was compiled from published sources.
Company Background
Under Armour (UA) was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a former Maryland football player, who began by selling compression clothing that could “wick” sweat away from the body to college sports teams out of the trunk of his car. Plank was a football player at the University of Maryland, and hated wearing cotton shirts to practice in the hot, humid Maryland climate. Knowing that he would never be an NFL player, Plank devoted his efforts to starting a company that could make a product that would be an improvement over cotton, in that it would not absorb sweat and be much more functional and comfortable to wear. Once made, he started selling the shirts to the lacrosse and football teams at the University of Maryland out of the trunk of his car.
In 1998, the football oriented movie “Any Given Sunday” was being filmed in Baltimore where Under Armour is based. The producers of the movie were looking for a product that would represent the athletic nature of the movie and be comfortable to wear during filming. Under Armour agreed to provide products, and UA shirts were used throughout the filming and appeared in the movie itself, resulting in national exposure for the brand. At about the same time, ESPN was initiating a sports magazine and looking for advertisers. Plank called in his dozen or so employees at the time, and said if they would agree to skip one pay check, UA could purchase a full page ad in the new