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Kevin Plank’s unremarkable career as a college football player hardly ranks him with the greats of the gridiron. But Under Armour, a bright idea hatched during his days as a walk-on fullback at the University of Maryland, has taken Plank, 31, to the promised land in the sports apparel industry.

For anyone involved in athletics, you know that perspiration can be the pits (no pun intended). Kevin Plank set out to capitalize on the perspiration that goes hand-in-hand with sports by creating clothing that wouldn’t become saturated with the stinky stuff. After playing fullback for the Terrapins, Plank knew what just about any other football player knows… pads, clothing, and shoes flat out STINK after games.

From this simple concept a multi-million dollar a year business was born. Under Armour was the brainchild of Kevin and Scott plank and those humble beginnings have now led to a full-fledged sporting craze.

For those that are unfamiliar with the product, you can find it at any sporting goods store. Under Armour is thinly layered - tight-fitting clothing that doesn’t hold moisture. For athletes, this idea was better than sliced bread. The clothing (since it doesn’t retain moisture) not only doesn’t weigh you down with sweat, but it actually helps to cool you! The science behind it is similar to that of perspiration itself. The clothing doesn’t hold moisture so it forces it to the top layer. It sits on top of the top layer and when you catch a breeze, it can actually cool your body by up to 35%. Amazing!

Under Armour was started with a twenty thousand dollar budget, and a lot of legwork. The company never spent a dime on print or media advertising (until much later), but instead, relied on word of mouth. They passed out samples of their clothing to football players from Georgia Tech. The players fell in love with it almost instantly, and Under Armour received it’s first order… for $15,000.00. This was just the beginning though. Still relying on word of mouth advertising, what happens next is what really catapulted this fledgling business into the limelight.

The equipment manager for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons just so happened to be close friends with the Georgia Tech head coach that just made the first Under Armour order of any sports team. After a weekly lunch visit, Kevin Plank received a call asking if he could make the shirts long-sleeved as well. Kevin, without an advertising budget, nor a well-recognized brand… made his first sale to a professional sports team.

This was really all it took for Under Armour to shine. Before he knew it, Plank was receiving orders of hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise from professional sports teams and apparel shops all over the world.

It didn’t take long for the Under Armour idea to be emulated though. Bigger companies such as Nike, Adidas, and Reebok started developing entire product lines that they called “dry fit” clothing. It seems that although Under Armour may be the under dog in this fight… that it never really turned into much of a fight. By the time the “big 3″ released their products, Under Armour already had established a firm grasp on the industry by signing contracts to provide athletic apparel to all major pro sports, and most college sporting programs as well.

How’s that for an under dog story?

- Bryan Clark

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