Under Armour was founded in 1996 by former University of Maryland special teams captain Kevin Plank. Plank and co-founder Jordan Lindgren, a former University of Maryland Football player, began their business from Plank's grandmother's basement in Washington, DC.
By 1996, Under Armour had generated $17,000 in revenue purely by word of mouth. In 1997, Plank had $100,000 in orders to fill and found a factory in Ohio to make the shirts. People began to take notice of the brand when a front page photo of USA Today featured Oakland Raiders quarterback Jeff George wearing an Under Armour mock turtleneck. Following that front page, Under Armour's first major sale came when an equipment manager from Georgia Tech asked Plank for 350 shirts. The deal with Georgia Tech opened the door to a contract with N.C. State. With positive reviews from players, word began to spread and orders began to increase.
Under Armour first made a profit in 1998 and received its first big break in the 1999 Oliver Stone movie Any Given Sunday, in which Willie Beamen, played by Jamie Foxx, wore an Under Armour jockstrap. Plank sent samples of his products to the costume designer.
Leveraging the release of Any Given Sunday, Plank purchased an ad in ESPN the Magazine. The ad generated close to $750,000 in sales, and three years after starting the company, Plank finally put himself on the payroll.
NFL, Under Armour and GE Seek Ideas to Accelerate Concussion Research, Prevention, Diagnosis & Treatment (via PR Newswire)
