Name: How Under Armour Fell Flat During The Athleisure Boom
Uploaded: 2021-05-09T13:54:56.000Z
Duration: 17 min 57 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Whether it's on the football field, the basketball court or the ski slope,

since the early 2000s, elite athletes like Steph Curry, Tom Brady and

Lindsey Vonn have sported the same brand in preparation for game day:

Under Armour. The company says its state-of-the-art products have been

engineered to help athletes solve problems, and up their game.

So like that idea of innovation, everything we do, that's the DNA of the

brand. That's what the consumer knows when they buy Under Armour, that

it's something that's actually making them better.

So that is...that's what and who we are and that's what drives through.

With a roster of sports celebrities in less than two decades, Under Armour

grew to become one of the biggest sports apparel brands in the world,

But the company that urged athletes to fight on together has fallen on

tough times. As of 2020, sales growth at under armor has slowed on its

home turf of North America, and its stock has fallen from its all-time

highs. The coronavirus pandemic has only added to the company's woes.

In October 2020, the company announced third quarter revenue was flat.

And overall 2020 revenue is expected to decline compared to 2019 results.

One bright spot—footwear revenue in the third quarter of 2020 increased 19

But with COVUD-19 wary consumers spending more time at home, ditching work

clothes and suits for yoga pants and sweats, analysts say the latest

athleisure boom and a newfound interest in health and wellness could

propel Under Armour and its rivals for years to come.

What we're going to see in the post COVUD world is people wearing their

athleisure and their comfortable dress, whatever they deem that to be,

everywhere. The beauty of the space with athleisure is there's not a lot

of competitors. It's a growing category and it shows no signs of stopping.

So the question is, can Under Armour rebuild its momentum and catch the

Or will rivals Lululemon, Nike and Adidas take over?

Under Armor got its start in Washington, D.C.

Former University of Maryland football player, Kevin Plank, wanted a

solution to the sweat that built up in his cotton T-shirts during

practice. In his grandmother's basement, using a stretchy synthetic

material, Plank's fledgling company engineered a shirt to wick away sweat

from the body, keeping athletes cool, dry and light.

I would say this: Under Armour was a very important brand

for paving the way for a huge change in how we dress, for playing sports

If you go back before the IPO, and you go back to the 90s and the 80s,

effectively what people were doing to work out in, they were working out

And if it absorbs sweat, it becomes heavy.

And if it becomes heavy, it impacts negatively your performance, either in

The company got its big break in 1999 when it was signed on to supply

athletic apparel in Oliver Stone's gridiron film, 'Any Given Sunday.' The

company only made about $40,000, but athletes everywhere took notice.

Within five years, Under Armour had revenue of $5 million.

Under Armour went public in 2005 at $13 a share.

And by September 2015, shares had risen to a peak closing price of $53.

And it was rolling out new products beyond T-shirts as well, including a

line of HeatGear apparel designed to be worn in hot temperatures and

ColdGear products engineered to maintain a body's core temperature.

I'd say in a year, about 2006 or so, Under Armour went public.

That gave, you know, renewed force to the athletic apparel craze, if you

And you know, ever since we've seen the demand for suits go down

In 2006, Under Armour went head-to-head with sneaker giant Nike, jumping in

But instead of moving directly into the competitive gym shoe market, the

company launched a line of football cleats, capturing 23 percent share of

the market in the first year and becoming the official footwear supplier

of the NFL. When they came out with cleats back in 2006, they came out

with that great ad with the 'Click Clack,' and if you were a football

player, you said, "Oh, that's, that's cool.

That's what it sounds like when I go on the field.

They really understand what it's like to play.

In 2009, the brand launch a line of running shoes as well as soccer cleats.

By 2010, overall revenue soared to a billion dollars.

And in addition to selling products, the company also made a big push into

In 2013, Under Armour acquired MapMyFitness for $150 million.

And two years later, purchased fitness tracking apps, MyFitnessPal and

At the time, the company was signing contracts with some of the biggest

names in sports, including New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, and

In 2016, Under Armour and UCLA announced the biggest college sponsorship

deal ever: a fifteen-year, $280 million contract for footwear and apparel.

Though it's worth noting that amid falling sales, Under Armour announced

in the summer of 2020 that it wanted to end the deal just a few years into

By 2015, the company had a peak market cap of $22 billion.

even as its share price peaked, in the mid 2010s, the company was starting

to lose its luster and net profit was taking a hit.

Critics said the brand was losing its unique appeal. One of the big

problems with the Under Armour garments is that they're visually very

specific and you instantly associate them with exercise, and that doesn't

really engender itself to a versatility that American consumers want.

So that's probably...the design issue is the number one problem.

The downturn in retail also weighed on the brand.

In March 2016, big box retailer Sports Authority filed for Chapter 11

bankruptcy. Under Armour, reported net income in the second quarter of

Subtitles ListPlay Video

How Under Armour Fell Flat During The Athleisure Boom

pandemic

grab

revenue

category