Under Armor

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Under Armor, Inc.

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN US9043111072
founding 1996
Seat Baltimore , Maryland , United States
United StatesUnited States 
management Patrik Frisk, CEO
Number of employees 15,200
sales 4,825,000,000 US dollars
Branch clothing
Website www.underarmour.com
As of December 31, 2016

Under Armor is an American sporting goods manufacturer headquartered in Baltimore . Originally developed as a pure brand for martial arts clothing and thermal sports underwear under jerseys, in sports such as baseball and basketball , and for shoulder pads ( American football , ice hockey , lacrosse etc.), Under Armor now also offers leisure t-shirts and pants , Shoes and caps .

Overview

Under Armor led the market with the development of body-hugging and temperature-regulating clothing, which Nike quickly imitated with Dri-FIT Pro and Reebok with the NFL equipment series. In June 2006, Under Armor started an advertising campaign for cleated shoes in the USA with the slogan “Click-Clack”. Many soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan use Under Armor underwear to regulate their body temperature in hot climates. In parts of the US Army and other NATO armed forces, such laundry has now been banned, as the polyester can cause skin burns in flames or intense heat. In 2008, Under Armor broadcast its first Super Bowl commercial, in which the company presented the sports shoe it had developed in May 2008.

history

The company was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank in the basement of his grandmother's home in Washington, DC . Plank, then 23, was a college football player and found his team's clothing inadequate. With start-up capital of $ 17,000, which he earned as a flower supplier during his studies, he developed a functional shirt and founded Under Armor . Every Christmas Plank wrote a card to Nike CEO Phil Knight with the text: "Dear Mr. Knight, you don't know us yet, but you will hear from us one day." In 2005, Under Armor went public and was successful . In 2012, founder Kevin Plank declared “We are the sportswear brand of this generation and the next.” During this time, the company achieved annual growth rates of 20%.

The Germany headquarters in Munich-Thalkirchen

At the beginning of 2016, a German branch was opened in Munich.

In April 2017, the company reported a loss quarter for the first time, and since then it has only achieved growth of less than 5% per year. Shareholders have been complaining against Under Armor since 2018 about whether losses were foreseeable as early as 2015 and were concealed by accounting tricks. Since the beginning of 2017, a number of executives have left the company, jobs have been cut and competitors bought in. The share price fell by 44% from the end of 2016 to mid-2019, until the founder Kevin Plank stepped down as CEO in October 2019 after 23 years , with Patrik Frisk taking over the role . Plank remains chairman of the supervisory board. In addition, Plank retains 65–70% of the voting rights (as of October 2019).

retail trade

In late summer 2007, Under Armor opened its first retail location on the Westfield Annapolis Mall in Annapolis , Maryland . In May 2008 Under Armor opened a nearly 600 m² shop in Westfield near Fox Valley in Aurora (Illinois) . The stores are designed to look like the interior of a sports stadium with a real facade, tunnel entrance and a ramp that goes into the store.

Sponsorship

Professional sport

In Germany, Under Armor was the official supplier to Hannover 96 from the 2008/09 season to 2011 . The company has been equipping FC St. Pauli since the 2016/17 season .

Under Armor also supplies the football teams at Southern Illinois University , University of Maryland , Auburn University , University of South Carolina , University of South Florida , Texas Tech University , University of Hawaii , University of North Texas, and University of Utah .

As of Fall 2008, Under Armor has been the sole sponsor for all sports at the University of Maryland, College Park . The company has also been the official baselayer supplier to the German first division club Borussia Dortmund since the 2009/10 season . In the 2010/11 season of the Mexican professional football league Apertura , Under Armor also took over equipment from Deportivo Club Toluca and Estudiantes Tecos , and since the 2012/13 season it has been the supplier of the Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur ; since 2016 also from Southampton FC .

Golf professional Jordan Spieth has been under contract since the beginning of 2013 . Sales in the golf segment have tripled since then. American basketball player Stephen Curry is also under contract with Under Armor.

criticism

Under Armor's sponsorship of the second division club FC St. Pauli met with criticism, as supplies to the military and discounts for veterans , for example, would not fit the pacifist-alternative portrayal of the club.

Trophy hunting

Under Armor's outdoor department maintains the “UA Hunt” program for trophy hunters (English for U [nder] A [rmour] hunt). As part of their marketing strategy, UA Hunt created the television series Ridge Reaper and sponsors successful trophy hunters known as athletes. With slogans such as always lethal and never caught , which are intended to indicate the characteristics and skills of successful hunters, the company tries to increase the hunting interest of the US population. UA Hunt had sales of over $ 1 billion in 2015. In January 2016, Under Armor launched a marketing campaign with female trophy hunters.

The American Sarah Bowmar was sponsored as a trophy hunter. In August 2016, a video filmed by Bowmar gained worldwide attention. It shows how her husband hits a bear with a spear and then lets it escape. The bear was found dead the following day. The video showed Bowmar excited and in a winning stance after fatally injuring the bear and over the animal's carcass the next day. Under Armor was criticized for this and terminated the contract with Bowmar a few days after the video became known. Until then, Under Armor's sponsorship of trophy hunters was little known.

Problems

At the end of March 2018, Under Armor confirmed that 150 million user accounts with usernames and email addresses and passwords had been hacked at the end of February . Affected were customers who had used the calorie counter app MyFitnessPal .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Under Armor 2016 Form 10-K Report. In: files.shareholder.com , accessed March 19, 2017
  2. ^ Robert J. Terry: Analysts: Brand crossover risky for Under Armor. In: bizjournals.com. September 26, 2005, accessed September 13, 2017 .
  3. Holt, Stephen: Marines Ban Polyester Clothing In Iraq. In: Marine Corps News. April 10, 2016, accessed November 30, 2007 .
  4. Philipp Vetter: Under Armor: This is the real opponent of Adidas and Nike. In: welt.de . July 31, 2015, accessed September 13, 2017 .
  5. a b c Forbes: The Under Armor Troubles That Preceded Kevin Plank Stepping Down , October 24, 2019
  6. Under Armor Germany: UA founder Kevin Plank shows his new office in Munich. In : clusive-muenchen.de. February 28, 2016, accessed September 13, 2017 .
  7. Handelsblatt: Kevin Plank CEO of Under Armor resigns after 23 years , October 22, 2019
  8. Under Armor becomes the new supplier to FC St. Pauli. ( Memento from November 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Website FC St. Pauli, July 23, 2015.
  9. Under Armor says 'Aloha' to University of Hawaii. In: bizjournals.com. February 25, 2008, accessed March 2, 2008 .
  10. Under Armor and Borussia Dortmund start their future together with a base layer equipment contract. In: bvb.de. March 13, 2009, accessed September 13, 2017 .
  11. Nike, Puma & Under Armor - Facts & Figures. In: allstar-sport.eu . Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  12. St. Pauli is becoming more and more unsympathetic. In: sportbild.bild.de. Retrieved February 13, 2016 .
  13. Ed Mazza: Josh Bowmar Films Himself Spearing A Bear, Then Giggling Over The Kill . In: The Huffington Post , August 16, 2016, accessed October 15, 2016.
  14. Lara O'Reilly: Under Armor drops deal with hunter who filmed husband using a 7-foot spear to brutally kill a bear . In: Business Insider , August 19, 2016, accessed October 15, 2016.
  15. Under Armor's fitness app hacked. Süddeutsche Zeitung , March 30, 2018, accessed on August 3, 2020 . .