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03/29/2024 02:25:36 am

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Under Armour: Stephen Curry and Company Allow Us to 'Think Bigger' In Battling Nike

Stephen Curry

(Photo : Getty Images/Erza Shaw)

Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank said its endorsers led by NBA MVP Stephen Curry allowed them to think bigger in its battle with Nike as it reported a 29 percent growth in revenues from last year.

That pushed its stock prices up by 7.3 percent,according to a report by Yahoo Sports

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Plank credited Curry as the driving force behind their basketball apparel section, especially shoes,  which grew faster than expected.

The CEO said that basketball traffic in their e-commerce platform across the globe is up by more than 300% year-over-year.

Under Armour is capitalizing on Curry's successful season where he was named MVP and won the NBA championship in pushing its Curry One shoe.

The basketball-shoe business is dominated by Nike, with brands affiliated with Michael Jordan and LeBron James drawing massive revenues. 

Plank revealed that the Curry One shoe greatly helped push revenue for their footwear business up by 40% from the same quarter last year to $154 million.

Curry averaged 23.8 points, 7.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game last season and won the 3-point shootout during All-Star weekend.

He also won his first regular season MVP award before putting on a show in the playoffs, the Sporting News noted.

However, Curry, the former seventh overall draft choice, couldn't convince his fellow NBA ballers that he is the league's best as the Houston Rockets' James Harden was voted MVP by the National Basketball Players Association, Yahoo Sports pointed out.

Other than basketball shoes and apparel, Under Armour's other growth categories were golf-related items and  women's products.

These categories correlate with their other endorsers: golfer Jordan Spieth and ballerina  Misty Copeland.

Copeland is the first black woman to be named principal ballerina at the American Ballet Theater, and is credited for increased sales in capris, shorts, sports bra, and running footwear.

Meanwhile, Spieth won two major championships this year--the Masters and the US Open. He also made a strong push at the British Open in Scotland. 

Last year, Under Armour overtook Adidas as the second-largest sportswear company in the US and the company continues to grow globally.  

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