OT: UnderArmour gaining traction

[BRS24]

I thought it was interesting a few years back, when Tom Brady switched to UA. In the past few days, it's been reported that Notre Dame and the US Naval Academy are moving from adidas and Nike, respectively. I thought that the USNA uniforms over the last few years have been really crisp, especially for the Army/Navy game.

Question - how much input do the schools have with UA as far as uniform design? When Maryland went to UA, there was a lot of discussion about the new design being crazy with all the different colors. Is this just two blips on radar, or will more schools move from the more established sportswear companies?

 

[ZooCougar]

It translates to big money, that they don't have to share with anyone. If UA made us the right offer, we would switch too.

 

[coachcap]

The Naval Academy is located in Annapolis, which is basically a suburb of Baltimore, Under Armour's home base. It behooves UA to lock up all of the schools in its immediate area. BUT, there will be Hell to pay if UA tries to tinker with Navy's football helmets, which are the best in the nation.
My thoughts on the inroads of UA. Maryland, USNA, & Notre Dame are lacrosse powers. I had never heard of UA until my boys were in youth lacrosse 15 years ago.
UA thermal shirts had achieved cult like status in the lacrosse ranks from the pro leagues on down to the youth associations. It got to the point that UA under garments were considered de facto part of the game & practice uniforms. UA is using its expertise as a lacrosse vender to get contracts with lax schools first & then branch out to the general population. It could be a sound business model (OR, more likely, I'm completely off-base).

 

[Adios]

Excellent business model. Still can't believe Starter became Walmart brand.

 

[coachcap]

Excellent business model. Still can't believe Starter became Walmart brand.

Starter, which was located in New Haven, went belly up. It was shocking as, at one point it had contracts with the NFL, MLB, CFL, & NBA. I still wear my Yankees coach's jacket almost daily in the fall, winter, & early spring while walking my dogs. Except for the discoloration of the white striping, it's held up well, a quality product.
WallMart must have purchased the Starter trademark out of bankruptcy proceedings.

 

[HartfordHank]

The Naval Academy is located in Annapolis, which is basically a suburb of Baltimore, Under Armour's home base. It behooves UA to lock up all of the schools in its immediate area. BUT, there will be Hell to pay if UA tries to tinker with Navy's football helmets, which are the best in the nation.
My thoughts on the inroads of UA. Maryland, USNA, & Notre Dame are lacrosse powers. I had never heard of UA until my boys were in youth lacrosse 15 years ago.
UA thermal shirts had achieved cult like status in the lacrosse ranks from the pro leagues on down to the youth associations. It got to the point that UA under garments were considered de facto part of the game & practice uniforms. UA is using its expertise as a lacrosse vender to get contracts with lax schools first & then branch out to the general population. It could be a sound business model (OR, more likely, I'm completely off-base).

BC is an UA School, has been for a few years, and do not have men's lacrosse. Sorry to say but I think it is all about the Benjamin's.

 

[Fishy]

UnderArmor has South Florida and Temple in the AAC.

They don't have as many schools as Nike or Adidas, but they do have a pretty big nut in Auburn.

 

[SAMCRO]

It's a pretty impressive story, UA. Plank has done an amazing job with his baby. In about 15 years he took it from a start up who was working out of a basement (must be why he likes Randy, since he used to work out of trailers to a nearly $2 Billion internationally known brand.

In addition to having the total AD's of ND and Navy, they also have the likes of Maryland (obviously), Auburn, BC, CSU, Hawaii, NW, SJU, USCe, USF, a temple Tx Tech, Toledo, and Utah (and more).

In hoops, Kemba Walker along with bunch of other NBA guys. Tom Brady and Cam Newton (amongst others) in the NFL. They picked up Tottenham in the BPL along with about 10 other International club teams in soccer. They. Have the Maple Leafs in the NHL, and are continuing to expand their reach.

 

[FDNY99]

It will be interesting to see what our next apparel/shoe contract brings us. When IMG negotiated it with Nike in 2008 the 10 yr/$46 Million contract was one of the largest in the country.

 

[Northbound]

If UA is like Nike, which I assume it is in this regard, it has to present uniform designs to the head coach and the AD and they have to be approved. A friend of mine redesigned the Duke uniforms a few years back. I'd call it tweaking the uniform and he had to present to K.

 

[BoatShow]

Adidas can't be too happy about losing ND. They were one of their poster programs.

 

[whaler11]

If you are of a certain age you may remember the Starter factory store in New Haven. Access to the most random gear before the internet made that easy. What a dump but had some fun stuff.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

If you are of a certain age you may remember the Starter factory store in New Haven. Access to the most random gear before the internet made that easy. What a dump but had some fun stuff.

I spent many a weekend afternoon in that place with my uncle. Great memories. Right off exit 5 on I-91.

 

[uconndennis]

If you are of a certain age you may remember the Starter factory store in New Haven. Access to the most random gear before the internet made that easy. What a dump but had some fun stuff.

It was awesome...my brother worked there for a couple years in the 90's....Tons of great gear

 

[huskymedic]

CoachBrianKelly11:50am via Twitter for iPhone
Let the partnership begin...@UnderArmour#WeAreND pic.twitter.com/bDgslJdQIS

$9m yr/10 yrs.
http://espn.go.com/college-football...e-most-valuable-apparel-contract-ncaa-history

 

[freescooter]

Most of these deals are multi-year, usually 10 year deals at least for major schools, but they also do shorter deals for even small schools, I have heard. I know the money drives these agreements, but I personally would be happy to dump Nike. they have shown zero respect for the history of any school they represent and its pretty clear that Warde and company will dance to whatever crapo tune they play. This era will be viewed as the 1970s baseball era is for silly uniforms. I suspect within a year or two we'll see a move back to more classic designs which of course the real major players never gave up. FWIW, Oregon is a Johnny-come-lately to this level. It remains to be seen whether in 15 years they will still be there or is they'll return to the mediocrity that was Oregon from 1930 through about 2000.

 

[HuskDawg]

Part of UA's marketing model is to start building their brand at the high school level. At the larger high schools here in Atlanta they are signing on as the exclusive brand. Up and down the road and around the school on every lamp post are "Protect this House" permanent banners in the schools colors. Pretty nice.