Under Armor wants to do what Nike did with Jordan

The Golden State Warriors haven't been on the radar for a few months, but Stephen Curry is always the center of attention. It is even more so in the last few hours: together with Under Armour he will launch "Curry Brand", a brand that will fit into the UA ecosystem and that will involve the first person the NBA star. The site will be active in the next few days, while we will have to wait until December 11 for the release of the first sneaker signed by SC30. But there will not be just basketball: golf, running and lines dedicated to the world of women's sports will complete the Curry Brand offer. The target audience is the teen group, the one that most civilly and politically involves the Warriors phenomenon. As Curry himself says, "the brand will collaborate with organizations and provide resources of all kinds, in an attempt to increase participation in youth sports which here in Oakland is less than 17% in some disadvantaged communities".

The idea for the project was born five years ago, but has materialized in the last two, both by the will of UA - linked to Steph since 2015 - and by the will of the player. Commitment to communities will translate into safe spaces in which to play, qualified coaches and initiatives to encourage sports participation. In the many interviews released in the last few hours, the two-time MVP underlines the mission of the new brand: "We want to invest in sport, especially by facilitating the participation of children: places, programs, people and products, we call them the 4 Ps, are the cornerstones around to which we want to build".

Impossible not to link this strategy of Under Armor to the one that led Nike to launch a brand dedicated only to Michael Jordan, the same one who is now capable of making $ 3.5 billion a year. But it is not the only such example. As Curry himself reminds Sport Illustrated, Li-Ning had also traveled this path by creating a brand using the image of Dwyane Wade in 2012. These are two examples that have had completely opposite results, with Jordan as a Brand that is rampant in terms of volumes sales and turnover, while the Wade brand has not had such a long and lucky life. It will therefore be this new market experiment that will tell us whether it is a right move for a brand to dedicate a brand and not a simple line to its top man. 

Curry's rise of 2 MVP titles and 3 NBA rings was important to UA's growth and is still the lifeline in the sneaker wars against Nike and other competitors today. But Steph doesn't want to emulate Jordan in terms of business, he wants to try to go further: "Michael is obviously the standard by which everyone is measured, but the truth is that we want to develop Curry Brand in a different way, so that it more reflects my personality and not someone else's. The slogan 'We want to change the game for good' is captivating, but it is literally a commitment to the community".