After Tom Brady, Under Armour is losing their partnership with another sports superstar. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry is moving ahead with another landmark endorsement deal.
The Golden State star has agreed to a shoe deal with a Chinese company called Li-Ning for 10 years. This decision helps boost Curry’s brand name globally and potentially sign athletes under this brand.
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However, Outkick’s Jon Root took this opportunity to criticize Under Armour while comparing the situation to that of Tom Brady‘s.
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“It can’t be stated nearly enough how much Under Armour fumbled the bag,” Root said. “This brand used to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, for youth sports, specifically football (click clack). They did a terrible job of building a brand around the GOAT of football, Tom Brady.
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“And the way they dropped the ball with Steph Curry, is almost unforgivable. The could’ve made him the biggest sports shoe/ apparel brand ever, only behind the Jordan brand.”
Stephen Curry and Under Armour’s partnership started back in 2013. However, they announced the termination of this partnership in November, giving the NBA star the freedom to pursue new shoe deals.
On the other hand, Tom Brady also signed a landmark partnership and equity deal with the brand back in 2010. However, things took a drastic turn after Under Armour shifted focus from sportswear to sports tech. This reportedly cost the brand $16 billion in losses.
Brady then shifted his focus to NoBull and the TB12 brand, marking a change in momentum. Former CEO Kevin Plan left in 2019 after the failed experiment, while Partik Fisk took over as his replacement.
Tom Brady shares his thoughts on practice squad members failing to be successful in the NFL
On Saturday, Tom Brady appeared on UFC champion Daniel Cormier’s show called “Champion Mindset.”
During the interview, the retired quarterback explained in detail why practice squad players fail to make it big in the NFL.
“Those practice squad players are important, because if anybody on the active roster gets hurt, they can get elevated to the squad,” Brady said. “There was times when these 15 guys would do really well in practice. … Then all of a sudden, we’re like, ‘Hey man, you’re doing really well. You gotta come over here and deal with the pressure of succeeding now that you have expectations.
“And these guys are like, they weren’t prepared for it. So, whatever we saw in practice against where there was not a lot of pressure, now then they’re put in a situation where there’s expectation for performance, they’ve never had to personally deal with that and they fail.”
After retirement, Brady shifted his focus to the world of broadcasting, signing a multi-million dollar deal with FOX Sports. In addition, he also took over as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Edited by Priyam Hazarika
