The Rise, the Fall, and the “What Now?” of Under Armour

Under Armour’s story has always fascinated me. If you work in sports marketing long enough, you start to see patterns — brands that catch fire, brands that lose the plot, and brands that somehow do both in the same decade. UA is one of the clearest examples of that paradox.

Before we talk about their downfall, it’s important to acknowledge this: Under Armour did a lot of things right. In fact, they did a few things brilliantly.

[Check out my newest YouTube on the Steph & UA breakup including my predictions of where he goes next]

They owned the youth athlete.
They doubled down on the middle of the country while everyone else chased coasts and cool culture.
They carved out a real lane in performance apparel at a time when Nike and adidas were focused on footwear dominance.

And sports marketing? They were swinging big. Steph Curry. Cam Newton. Jordan Spieth. A murderer’s row of talent that any brand today would drool over.

But then… 2016 happened.

Kevin Plank publicly endorsed President Trump, calling him “an asset” to the country. And regardless of where anyone falls politically, there’s one truth in brand building: you cannot have your most visible endorsers publicly contradicting your CEO on national television.

When you’ve got Steph Curry and The Rock issuing statements distancing themselves from your comments, the damage is immediate. That kind of fracture doesn’t stay quiet. And it never stays small.

From there, the cracks started spreading.

The Footwear Problem They Never Solved

Footwear is the engine of Nike.
Footwear is the engine of adidas.

Under Armour could never figure out footwear. They even put their footwear HQ in Portland right in Nike’s backyard (everyone does this now), hoping proximity would create magic. It didn’t.

They pulled talent, they made investments, they took big swings… but the shoes never landed with culture.

Sportswear wasn’t any better.
They launched UA Sportswear, tried to go fashion-forward, even brought in A$AP Rocky. Still couldn’t break through. Eventually they appointed John Varvatos to lead the division, which… listen, Varvatos is great, but no kid in 2025 is looking at John Varvatos as their style north star. It felt disconnected from the culture they were desperately trying to crack.

The Big Swings

This is where the story gets expensive.

Under Armour spent half a billion dollars acquiring MapMyRun, MapMyFitness, and others, tech that they never fully integrated and eventually just let fade into the background of the business.

Then came the sports marketing overreach:

• A record-setting $250M deal with UCLA… that they eventually pulled out of to the tune of $65m.

• A massive MLB deal… also walked away from & cost them $50m.

When you start breaking contracts, you break trust.

What Happens When You Break Trust Everywhere?

If you fracture relationships with your biggest endorsers…
then fracture them again with major colleges…
then fracture them again with leagues…

You don’t have much trust left.

The category is healthier when there are multiple heavy hitters. Competition forces brands to innovate and storytell and take risks. But right now? There are smaller, sharper players : On, HOKA, Gymshark, Bandit — carving up market share while Under Armour tries to find its footing again.

I genuinely hope they get it back.
The industry is better when they Protect Their Own House.

Resources

Check out my YouTube on the Steph X UA Dynamics.

I spent an hour chatting with Ethan Strauss on House of Strauss on The Steph X UA breakup. Ethan is the one who broke the original story of the failed Nike X Steph Curry Meeting.

Run A Boring Business? The BrandFathers Got You. Oren & I broke down ideas for those who are not in the sexy marketing categories!

Blessings

I’ve been struggling to keep up this year.
I traveled from Puerto Rico to NYC to Nashville in 9 days, and then to Colorado for a gathering of Christian Entrepreneurs. I was beat, but felt like I needed to go.
This gathering is filled with 50 or so entrepreneurs from all walks of life and spheres of influence. Comedians to founders to non profit CEOs. Not sure how I got invited, but I was there.
I sought help from some of the more successful guys on how to scale. The truth is, I’m pulled at many ends and have quality problems, but ones that I cannot solve on my own anymore.
As they were asking me great questions about my business, where I spend most of my time, what I enjoy, what I don’t, one asked me a question that moved me to tears.
He said, “When you left Nike, what was the business plan?”
I broke down. I felt like I was ten years old.
“Survive.”
I realized I didn’t really have a plan. My plan was to make money so my family could live where we needed and I would do anything (& everything) to make it happen.
I left Nike for a few reasons, but the main one was that my family needed to live in Dallas.
I realized quickly I wasn’t going to be able to take another corporate role and thus needed to be an entrepreneur.
I had vague ideas of my giftings & what the market needed or would pay for. I knew I had a cool story and people were inspired by that, Keynotes seemed ideal.
I loved helping athletes.
I was pretty good at Marketing, so Consulting could be an option.
I built an Instagram following years before, maybe I could do something with that? Content started to fuel the first two pillars of my business.
But, I’ve been juggling all 3 for a while now. And when they all hit, like they did in one week, it gets challenging.

I don’t know why, but it was profound to admit that I didn’t really have a solid plan. No wonder I’ve been so burned out. I’m juggling a lot. Truthfully, I’ve lacked the faith I should have after seeing the countless ways God has looked after me & my family.

There are several positive developments for 2026. I’m growing. My business is growing. And I’m growing as a person. But, only after I slow down a bit and reflect.
I’m always trying to do Less, but Better.
Maybe one day, I’ll achieve it.
I hope you can too. 🖤