Plank’s Cupid Cup Business Competition at MD is Open
From the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, the application period for the Cupid’s Cup Business Competition is open. Notice, this competition is for those who have launched businesses and reaches to alumni since 2001. I attended the finals last year and it was excellent. I look forward to watching this process over the next 5 months or so. From the Smith School:
Calling all University of Maryland students and recent alumni who own and operate businesses!
You are invited to apply to participate in the Sixth Annual UMD Business Competition: Cupid’s Cup, judged and sponsored by successful Terp entrepreneur Kevin Plank ’96, founder and CEO of Under Armour. All current UMD students and recent alumni (graduated in 2001 or later) with operating companies that have generated at least $5,000 in revenues are eligible to apply. Companies must be no more than 5 years old.
Applications are due by January 5, 2011. Details and easy application instructions can be found here: http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/cupidscup/howto.aspx.
Questions? Email dingman@rhsmith.umd.edu
Kevin Plank to Sell Over 1 million Shares of Stock
Well, that day has come. Under Armour Founder Kevin Plank is making a large sale of shares over the next ten months. Looks like well over $50 million worth of UA stock if it remains strong. From the Balitmore Sun:
The CEO of sports apparel company Under Armour plans to sell up to 1,125,000 personal Class B shares over 10 months beginning in February, according to a regulatory filing made Friday.
Kevin Plank also plans to sell 125,000 shares of the company’s Class B stock for his charitable organization.
Plank owns 12,500,000 shares of the company’s Class B stock, or about 24.5 percent of the total shares of Class A and B shares available as of Oct. 31. He owns 76.5 percent of voting stock.
I don’t want to speculate on what this means. There are lots of analysts and researchers who track and investigate insider sales of shares. Your thoughts?
Kevin Plank Spreads the Gospel to Wharton Students
Joseph Cohen, a sophomore at Wharton with a start up called CourseKit blogs about listening to Kevin Plank on campus in Philadelphia last week. From his post at Bits of Genius:
Plank wants to build “the biggest baddest brand on the planet” — it’s his company’s vision. And he made one thing very clear — it’s a concept that’s echoed by the greatest brands ever — brands aren’t built on products and specifications. They’re built on standing for something, for emotionally connecting customers, for meaning something distict. For Nike, it’s about being the best — they make it a point to have the best athletes in the world wear their product. For Apple, it’s about design-driven, cool, easy-to-use, cutting edge products that make life better. For Under Armour, it seems, its about making yourself better. I’ve written about this 1 Comment and 0 Reactions.
On that note, Plank didn’t mention the 900lb-gorilla, Nike, once. It’s clearly the giant they want to beat. His marketing videos bear much resemblance to Nike’s, but they’re definitely going for an edgier, tech-focused approach. He wants to be Nike 2.0.
BTW, you can listen to the entire speech via Bits of Genius.
Bits of Genius – We Must Protect This House.
Helmet Safety Concerns: Is This an Opportunity for Under Armour?
Amazing story on the policies and industry of football helmets for players from Pee Wee to the NFL. Basically, there is no regulation of football helmets, but there is growing concern regarding their effectiveness, if any, related to preventing concussions.
Regular readers of this blog know that I believe Under Armour is going to grow greatly in the mouthpiece space — part of the custom mouthpiece market growth is related to concussion prevention.
Under Armour, with its early entry into the mouthpiece space and its roots in football, has the capital and the brand to make/support a real revolution in football helmets. In this case, performance will be measured in safety metrics. Will Under Armour enter the ring.
Read some of the fascinating nuggets of information on the football helmet industry. The NY Times piece opens with a description of a mother of a pee-wee football player inspecting the gashes on his helmet after practice. She assumes it is safe because it has a seal of approval from some group called NOCAE. From Schwartz;
That assumption, made by countless parents, coaches, administrators and even doctors involved with the 4.4 million children who play tackle football, is just one of many false beliefs in the largely unmonitored world of football helmets.
Helmets both new and used are not — and have never been — formally tested against the forces believed to cause concussions. The industry, which receives no governmental or other independent oversight, requires helmets for players of all ages to withstand only the extremely high-level force that would otherwise fracture skulls.
The standard has not changed meaningfully since it was written in 1973, despite rising concussion rates in youth football and the growing awareness of how the injury can cause significant short- and long-term problems with memory, depression and other cognitive functions, especially in children.
Moreover, used helmets worn by the vast majority of young players encountered stark lapses in the industry’s few safety procedures. Some of the businesses that recondition helmets ignored testing rules, performed the tests incorrectly or returned helmets that were still in poor condition. More than 100,000 children are wearing helmets too old to provide adequate protection — and perhaps half a million more are wearing potentially unsafe helmets that require critical examination, according to interviews with experts and industry data.
Read the full article, it is very informative. Its highlights the established players (Schutts, Ridell, and Adams U.S.A.) as well as an a safety focuses start up called Xenith that appears to have been founded by entrepreneurs on campus at Columbia University. (I will post a piece on Xenith and its founder at my Campus Entrepreneurship blog — I could easily see Xenith and Under Armour getting involved with one another like the Armour Bite moutpiece)
Given the love parents have of their kids and the love Americans have of Under Armour and football, this sounds like a huge opportunity? Under Armour has brand equity around football with parents, kids, coaches and trainers and could do great things in the helmet space. Can I hear UA coming? Mr Plank?
Helmet Safety Unchanged as Injury Concerns Rise – NYTimes.com.
US Weekly on Tom Brady, Under Armour, and Gisele
US Magazine frames the Under Armour-Tom Brady deal through modeling: as in Gisele Bundchen. I also like the image they have (see below) having fun with the idea of Brady as a model.
News – See Tom Brady’s Latest Modeling Gig – Style & Beauty – UsMagazine.com.
Tom Brady Becomes Shareholder In Under Armour
The Business Insider explains that equity ownership is part of the deal between Under Armour and Tom Brady.
The apparel company snatched up New England’s Tom Brady after his deal with Nike expired this summer.
Giving Brady equity in the company was key, because Under Armour — which is 1/20th of the size of shoe giant Nike — has never been able to offer the kind of cash needed to snag to a top endorser like Brady.
It's a strategy we may see more often from UA and other upstart companies looking to gain a foothold in the market, although few athletes have the longevity and clean image to make such a deal worth the investment.
via Tom Brady Becomes Shareholder In Under Armour.
Tom Brady Joins Under Armour
Things just keep humming along for Under Armour and Kevin Plank. Tom Brady has officially inked a deal with the Baltimore based athletic good maker. From the story at Boston.com:
“I am very excited to team up with Kevin Plank and the Under Armour family,” Brady said in a press release by Under Armour. “It was important for me to align with a brand that shares my values and helps me perform at my best. Under Armour makes cutting-edge products for the next generation and for athletes who compete at the highest level.”
Tom Brady signs deal with Under Armour.
Surprising Breeders’ Cup win by Kevin Plank’s Horse
Huge suprise win for a horse owned by Kevin Plank, founder and CEO of Under Armour. We have posted on Plank’s role in trying to revive Maryland horseracing industry. From the article by Bill Dwyer of the Baltimore Sun:
At a time when Maryland racing may have most needed a boost, one of its own, Kevin Plank of Sagamore Farms, gave it just that at the Breeders’ Cup here Friday.
Plank, the multi-millionaire founder and owner of Under Armour, also owned a long shot in the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf. That is the four-year-old filly, Shared Account, who did the near impossible before an opening day Breeders’ Cup crowd of 41,614 at historic Churchill Downs.
She won the race, at 46-1 odds, paying $94 to win, second-largest in the event’s 27-year history, and stunning a field that had all but overlooked her.
Later in the article, Plank states,
“This all began in the infield of the Preakness, many years ago. Then it evolved to my love for the state of Maryland. And then, of course, it’s just a passion for horses and racing.”
Would anyone bet against Plank right now? His Under Armour is performing incredibly well, recently passing the $1 billion annual revenue mark. The stock is strong and the company appears to be in and entering a plethora of growing, profitable, segments.
Will he help resurrect horse racing in Maryland? It is a tough market which appears bigger globally than domestically at this point (by I know nothing about it). Is there money to be made? (probably given the wealth of the people who participate). We’ll watch and see if Kevin Plank can become the Joe Gibbs of horse racing. In the meantime, congrats on winning a 46-1 long-shot to Mr. Plank and the state of Maryland.
Kevin Plank’s First Jobs
From Fortune’s 40 Under 40 feature on Kevin Plank, Under Armour founder and CEO.
At 10 years old, I was mowing lawns and shoveling snow in Maryland. I cut six lawns, charging $15 – $30 each to make about $150 a week in the summer. Although my service levels would really drop off when my football season started!
By 14, I was selling knit bracelets at Grateful Dead shows and at 19 I started my own t-shirt business for concerts that came through town. I kept that going at the University of Maryland, where I also had a rose business that was a big hit on Valentine’s Day. After that, I started Under Armour and the rest is history.
40 under 40: My first job – Kevin Plank 5 – FORTUNE.
Kevin Plank on Football (aka Soccer)
From ESPN’s soccernet. Kevin Plank talks about Under Armour and its commitment to football (aka soccer). From the interview:
“Football is a huge part of our future. We’ve had success in America around the sport of soccer, from outfitting the Collegiate national championships in America to Bobby Zamora to Hannover 96. I predict that you will hear a much louder voice from Under Armour in the sport of football. We are intent on being important, and we can say that because I believe we have a better product proposition. I think we can make the athletes better, maybe just a little bit better but that’s what sport is all about – these are games that are won and lost by centimetres.
“I think the Premier League is the ultimate [target]. It’s the league and it’s something to be a part of. We relish the exposure we get with the athletes we have like Bobby. We’ve been here for five years now but we don’t feel like we’ve started – we’ve just laid a foundation to build on.
“You will see us begin to showcase some of our boots that Bobby wears, not only at the elite level but down at youth level because that’s where I think we have some our best momentum and opportunity. The best thing about us and the reputation I’m most proud of is that people say ‘they are good people’. What Paul and Bobby have been able to bring is that same type of mentality about being part of a team and hopefully the impression the brand has left will be here for a very long time.”
via Under Armour targets greater presence in football – Reviews – ESPN Soccernet.