Under Armour

Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports clothing and accessories company. The company is a supplier of sportswear and casual apparel. Under Armour began offering footwear in 2006. Under Armour's global headquarters is located in Baltimore, Maryland with additional North American corporate office locations in Austin and Houston Tex.; Denver, Colo.; New York, NY; Portland, Ore.; Nashville, TN; and Toronto, Canada. Under Armour's International Headquarters is located in Panama City, Panama, with Latin America offices in São Paulo, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; and Mexico City, Mexico. Its European headquarters is in Amsterdam's Olympic Stadium with an additional office in Munich, Germany. The Under Armour Shanghai office is the regional headquarters for Greater China. Additional Asia Pacific offices are in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, China; Jakarta, Indonesia; Tokyo, Japan; and Sydney, Australia.

Under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a then 23-year-old former special teams captain of the University of Maryland football team. Plank initially began the business from his grandmother's basement in Washington, D.C. He spent his time traveling up and down the East Coast with nothing but apparel in the trunk of his car. His first team sale came at the end of 1996 with a $17,000 sale. From his grandmother's basement, Plank moved to Baltimore. After a few moves in the city he landed at his current headquarters in Tide Point.

As a fullback at the University of Maryland, Plank got tired of having to change out of the sweat-soaked T-shirts worn under his jersey; however, he noticed that his compression shorts worn during practice stayed dry. This inspired him to make a T-shirt using moisture-wicking synthetic fabric. After graduating from the University of Maryland, Plank developed his first prototype of the shirt, which he gave to his Maryland teammates and friends who had gone on to play in the NFL. Plank soon perfected the design creating a new T-shirt built from microfibers that wicked moisture and kept athletes cool, dry, and light. Major competing brands including Nike, Adidas and Reebok would soon follow in Plank's footsteps with their own moisture-wicking apparel. Plank opted to use the British spelling "armour" in the company name because the toll-free vanity number was still available for that version.

It has also opened several specialty stores and factory outlet locations in Canada, China, and 39 states including the opening of its first Brand House in Baltimore in 2013 and second Brand House in Tyson's Corner, Virginia.

Under Armour has also opened the Brand's first store outside of North America, which is located in Edinburgh, Scotland and is run and owned by First XV, the rugby store situated next door. In 2009, baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. formed an alliance under which the company would have significant presence at several venues and events under the auspices of Ripken Baseball, including providing uniforms for the minor league Aberdeen IronBirds and youth teams participating in the Cal Ripken World Series.

The company is reported to be the major commercial sponsor for the reality TV show Duck Dynasty and has garnered attention for taking a stand supporting show "patriarch" Phil Robertson.

Under Armour provided the suits worn by speedskaters in the 2014 Winter Olympics. The US speedskaters were losing while wearing the new Mach 39 speedsuits, but when they reverted to the previous model suits, the skaters continued to lose. Although there did not appear to be a design flaw in the suit that caused the poor results, the news of the suits caused Under Armour stock to drop 2.38%.

The company, offering a reported US$250,000,000 over 10 years, also bid hard over Nike to sign NBA MVP Kevin Durant to an endorsement deal. However, Nike ultimately re-signed Durant after agreeing to structure a contract, offering US$300,000,000.

On January 21, 2014, it was announced that the University of Notre Dame and Under Armour had come to terms on providing uniforms and athletic equipment for the university. This 10-year deal was the largest of its kind in the history of college athletics and became effective July 1, 2014. As of 2014, Under Armour has operated revenue and operating profit more than 30%, accelerating from their 2013 pace. Its share price has soared 62.5% this year.

After its November 2013 acquisition of digital app maker MapMyFitness for US$150,000,000, in February 2015 Under Armour announced it had purchased the calorie and nutrition counting app maker MyFitnessPal for $475m, as well as the fitness app maker Endomondo for US$85,000,000.

On March 3, 2016, the company became the Official Match Ball Partner of the North American Soccer League, starting with their 2016 season.

May 26, 2016 Under Armour and UCLA announced their plans for a 15-year, $280 million dollar contract, making this the largest show and apparel sponsorship in NCAA history.

UA Give Back is Under Armour's effort to become involved in different facets of the world community. They have different branches in their organization that specialize in each cause that Under Armour supports. They consist of the UA Power in Pink, UA Freedom and UA Win Global.
UA Power in Pink is an Under Armour program that promotes women using exercise and fitness to fight breast cancer. UA Freedom is an Under Armour program that supports the efforts of the Wounded Warrior Project whose mission is to honor, raise awareness, and aid wounded veterans and military service members. UA Win Global is a children's athletics program which focuses on "underserved communities" by enhancing play areas, investing in sports programs and providing support for sports coaches.

As of 2012, Under Armour was the sponsor of the Baseball Factory's "Premium Video Program", which holds more than 100 events for youth athletes across the United States annually.