What started in a basement has morphed into an $11 billion monster which now has the United Arab Emirates firmly in its gaze.
Nike and adidas may have dominated the sportswear landscape for decades but Under Armour are growing at an incredible rate, making some incredible waves in the process and their backstory is quite something.
Founder and CEO Kevin Plank used to traipse up and down the East coast of America with a car full of stock and hopes. And it wasn’t until a meeting with an Oscar winning director and actor that his dreams started to become a glorious, and lucrative, reality.
Fast forward to today though and his brainchild is now, incredibly, the second most popular brand in the US. Their stable boasts some of the most exciting athletes on the planet.
You only have to listen to Plank, 42, for a matter of moments to discover the kind of drive, belief and attitude which persuaded the likes of Tom Brady, Andy Murray, Jordan Spieth and NBA superstar Stephen Curry to share his vision. The Welsh rugby team and the EPL’s Tottenham Hotspur are also on board.
And it was thanks to the unlikely combination of Oliver Stone and Jamie Foxx that the company stands so tall right now.
With a store in Abu Dhabi’s Yas Mall already opened and one in Dubai soon to follow, Under Armour are making their move in the “untapped” Middle Eastern sporting market. Yet, as the company continues to gain ground on market leader Nike, it seems only right to trace all the way back to 1996 and the start of this all-American success story.
With the realization a career in the NFL was not on the cards, Plank, a decent player in his University of Maryland days, turned his hand to what his football playing friends needed – shirts which stayed dry under all that heavy padding.
While they boast an impressive selection of trainers and general sportswear, it was Under Armour’s compression vests worn underneath traditional athletic shirts which set them apart. Murray, for one, is a huge fan.
“I never really liked the way my cotton t-shirt felt,” Plank told Sport360º at a glitzy Manhattan launch of Curry’s signature basketball shoe, which was superbly and hilariously compered by friend and associate Foxx.
“So I had this idea for a shirt – why doesn’t anyone make a better alternative than going from short sleeve cotton in the summer to long sleeve in the winter?
“I went to a fabrics store where I bought some material that I thought would fit the idea – synthetic in nature so it wouldn’t hold moisture. No-one had done anything like that at that time. There was a couple of things – like synthetic moisture management but no-one had ever complied compression to it.
“The company was born. My grandmother had passed away a few years before. There was this old house in Georgetown, Washington DC and I set up shop there. I was living on the third floor, my sales office was in the dining room. My inventory was in the basement.
“Everyday I wouldn’t know what would happen but I certainly never believed that it wouldn’t happen.”
Plank’s belief is infectious but everyone needs a break. His came, quite uniquely, thanks to the 1999 film ‘Any Given Sunday’ starring Al Pacino, Foxx, directed by cinematic legend Stone and involved him hurriedly stitching the Under Armour insignia into a jock-strap.
“Maybe other companies have Oscar winning actors to help promote their brand but Jamie isn’t someone who we just hired. He has a very strong relationship with our brand. Do others have that?” he asked.
“A friend of mine was the starting quarterback for the 49ers and they were playing in Washington. A friend of his said ‘oh I have just been cut but I have managed to land a role in this Oliver Stone movie about football.’
“I put a package together and sent it over the following day. I didn’t hear anything until I got a call from the costume designer the following week.
“Oliver Stone wanted it to be a very futuristic looking movie and thought our logo, the way our shirts looked was perfect. He basically wanted to make the apparel a character in the movie. Normally, you have to pay for product placement .
“I remember them calling me and saying ‘we need some shirts.’ So I responded with ‘well, you are going to have to pay us.’
“I had to get a lot of stock ready pretty fast. They wanted a jock strap too which is shown in the film. I started stitching our logo very quickly! They ended up paying us $43,000. It wasn’t so much about the money – more that people thought that Under Armour was special.”
The financial figures for 2014 and beyond certainly attest to that. Their share price rose 62.5 per cent last year while company revenue topped $3 billion for the first time in 2014. Since going public in late 2005, revenue and earnings growth have averaged more than 30 per cent. Under Armour stock has increased 1,022 per cent, compared to a 408 per cent gain by Nike.
“They (adidas and Nike) are each going to grow 8 per cent, our latest figures have us at 22 per cent. In the last five quarters we have grown over 30 per cent,” Plank proudly added.
While Golden State Warriors star Curry, a contender for MVP this season, and Super Bowl winning quarter-back Brady are Under Armour’s key men in the US, the signing of Murray earlier this year caught many in Europe by surprise.
A long term adidas devotee, the world no3 was impressed when speaking with Plank and instantly bought into his ethos. Murray, never one to align himself with conformity, was intrigued with the company’s slightly left-field approach and a promise to create his own line of bespoke tennis shoes to be released later this year.
Plank isn’t just interested in North America though. And it’s not just about seeing stock fly off the shelves in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. His plan delves far deeper than that. There is a serious push to get people training correctly and efficiently.
The company spent upwards of $600 million buying digital fitness apps MyFitnessPal and Endomondo.
“We see the world as an untapped market and so we are so happy to start making inroads in the Middle East. Revenue from outside the US totals 9 per cent. Our definition of becoming a global brand is to have half our revenues outside our home country,” said the man who is now worth a cool $3 billion.
“Sun and Sand have been terrific partners while we also have a great relationship in Dubai. I’ve got tremendous respect for the people we have dealt with there.
Aristotle only got this one half right. Jamie Foxx shows us how @ManteoMitchell & @NatashaHastings #EraseAllDoubt. https://t.co/kTXnPdIuuq
— Under Armour Run (@UARunning) February 20, 2015
“Sheikh Mohammed is one of my favourite entrepreneurs in the world and the partnership we have there is very exciting. The new store which we have opened in Dubai, we expect to be an important brand there and in the Middle East sport is different there compared to the United States
“The structure is not there yet, the high school systems, athletes compete in the Olympics but not much else. We will help bring a healthier, more active lifestyle, introduce our thoughts on nutrition. That’s our gift.
“We don’t want to just go there and sell shirts and shoes, we want to become an active part of the community. When it comes to the Middle East , Under Armour are just getting started.”
