Under Armour Trying to Terminate 280 Million Dollar Deal With UCLA
I own a few Under Armour products and I must say that I think they produce high quality apparel. Anyway, watching this fight unfold could be a nice distraction for a month or so.
IMHO - UA makes better quality stuff than their competition.
Their stuff lasts a lot longer and fits better. I think this is most likely trying to step away from a bad deal with a school that sucks at football and basketball right now.
I think they originally did, but in the last few years their quality has gone way down.
This would deal a massive blow to UCLA athletics. They have to be in one hell of a panic right now.
UA has some real financial issues and it looks like they’re going to try to get out of a number of these. They overbid on a lot of sponsorships when they were in expansion mode so could see many of the 20ish football programs they’re involved with facing this kind of action
If UA was a healthier company they probably ride out the “bad” deals they made to save brand reputation but they’re not so here we are.
UA originally did make high quality apparel, which is what was the initial draw vs Nike and Adidas.
But eventually quality went down, while the prices didn’t, and now it’s just cheaply made shit and unattractive cheaply made shit to boot.
As dumb and tacky as some of the jumpman-brand Michigan apparel has been (I do really love the uniforms), I’m still glad Michigan didn’t sign with UA back in the summer of 2015 when the Adidas contract expired.
Even UA doesn't trust Chip Kelly!
FWIW, UA's hunting gear is trash and so is UCLA's athletics at the moment.. maybe they should just double down with each other
UA is almost broke. They’re going to try to get out of all if their deals. Counting down to Wisconsin next in 3, 2, 1
Carhartt should make jerseys.
Duluth Trading. Commercials would be amazing.
Bring back Nutmeg Mills.
Ed Hardy clothing for OSU?
Read an article recently about how teens/guys in their early 20s have basically abandoned Under Armour. This is huge for UA because these are the people who turn into lifelong customers.
Actually, here is an excerpt from what appears to be the same source:
According to Piper Sandler’s 39th semiannual “Taking Stock With Teens” survey, which was released today, the Baltimore-based company is deemed a “brand no longer worn” by 23% of upper-income male teens. That is up from last spring, when the Baltimore-based company held 15% of that distinction.
The company has held the No. 1 spot in the “brands no longer worn” category specific to teenage upper-income males for the last four seasons.
Their materials for shorts and other items has severely dropped in quality as others have pointed out. The material is extremely cheap and poorly stitched, but they are trying to price themselves at (or above) Nike in almost all of their stuff. Just go to a Dick's and grab a few pairs of their shorts/shirts and then do the same for Nike...the difference is very noticeable. Considering UA's clothing was once great quality, it is a huge shame.
In addition, UA has not bothered to get into athleisure clothing like Nike, Adidas, and others. This is a huge growing market and also how you really start to get a following among women.
Finally, their shoes are pretty much awful when compared to Nike. UA basically would need to raid Nike of all of their shoe designers and even then it would take years for UA to catch up. Since shoes are such a big deal for the big 3 (UA/Adidas/Nike) and what really differentiates them, having piss-poor quality shoes has tremendously hurt UA.
For retail, something like 90% of their stores are outlets that only sell old styles. Nike and other brands have outlets, but they are also complemented by stores that sell new items. Dick's, the largest retailer to carry UA, basically hates them at this point, and want to remove UA from their stores. I believe it was this past year that Dick's showed they barely break even on UA sections in their stores and could use the space for better brands.
As for their college deals, they really overpaid for most of these. And UCLA's deal is just plain insane. It miiiiiiiight make sense for USC, but def not UCLA.
Overall, UA is in some serious financial turmoil. I am not sure they will even be around in a couple years. I am very happy I ended up not taking their job offer back in October - even though their Baltimore campus is badass.
...on another note, how is it that UA screw up their Maryland uniforms so bad. Nike goes all out for Oregon and makes their stuff look great 9/10 times. UA hasn't gotten a good looking Maryland jersey in forever. In addition, their jersey templates for most teams are old AF.
They sold 14 UCLA hats this year. Definitely below projections.
I thought this was about the issue with UCLA athletes refusing to wear UA shoes. I didn't know UA was struggling financially, seems weird because I still think they have the best sweatpants/gym shirts/hoodies.
UA has gone to trash.
7 years ago all I saw was UA on kids as I dropped my kids off at elementary school. I also bought it. So I thought I should buy myself a few stock shares. Started great!
Then they start buying (and likely over paying) all these redundant sports apps- fitness is now Digital! - with no strategy. They still have 4 apps that do the same thing. This is a microcosm of their problem. They got too obsessed with growth everywhere and did nothing well.
Yesterday, I was at Dick’s and my 13 yo who only wears athletic clothes wanted nothing to do with it. I also haven’t found anything worth buying for years. The stock price now resembles that reality much to my chagrin and pain to my brokerage account.
Yup. Even as little as 4-5 years ago they were huge and upcoming still. Their Curry stuff was all the talk (both good and bad) and they were def getting recognition.
Their jersey build and templates were solid as well. I remember thinking Michigan would look good in UA branded stuff (this was before Jordan signed on) and would be a huge upgrade over the garbage adidas was pumping out.
Now they are getting close to toxic status. Meanwhile, Champion - yes the Walmart brand - has become all the rage.
Im guessing all the free shoes the "peaceful protesters" looted,took a massive toll on the shoe companies.
Thank you for at least giving us the courtesy of publicly identifying yourself as an ignorant moron!
they estimated roughly 100 000 tennis shoes have been "looted" so far ,at an avg of $50 a pair is 5 million dollars ,this doesnt include all the other brand name merch stolen,. I made my original comment as a tongue and cheek joke,but you believe the protests are peaceful makes you a moron .The "peaceful" Hall Road protest about a month ago still had 13 arrests
Tongue in cheek joke my ass. You decided to act like a douchebag and then backtracked when someone called you out on it. If you refuse to differentiate between protesters and looters, that’s you’re own ignorant problem. Protests were largely peaceful until police instigated violence. Quit bullshitting.