Running head: THE IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

The Impact of Global Markets and Sports Marketing on the

International Expansion of Under Armour
By
Mollye Beth Peters

Thesis Project
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
Requirements for the degree of
Master of Science in Sports Administration
June 2015
Curt Gruber, First Reader
Dana Drew Shaw, Second Reader

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Abstract
Under Armour was founded on the idea of innovation for athlete performance. This simple idea
altered the sportswear industry, creating new products and putting Under Armour on the map
against top competitors Nike and adidas. While Under Armour has surpassed adidas to become
the second biggest sportswear brand in the US, there is still a lot of growth that needs to occur
for Under Armour to surpass Nike and adidas on a global basis. Nike and adidas both have
strong holds on major international sports, such as soccer and basketball, partially due to their
ability to pay for top sports sponsorship opportunities. Compared to Nike and adidas, Under
Armour has limited resources and has to think outside of the box to compete on a global scale.
With its sales outside of North America accounting for less than ten percent of its total sales,
Under Armour has not made as big of an international impact as originally hoped. This study
examines the external environment in which Under Armour operates and the companys internal
environment to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats the company
faces in expanding internationally. Then, a country selection analysis will be conducted to
determine which international markets are best suited for Under Armours expansion. Finally, a
sports strategy evaluation will determine which sports to target in the companys key
international markets to create brand awareness and increase international sales.

Keywords: Under Armour, athletic apparel, sportswear, sports apparel, international

expansion, international marketing strategy, sports marketing

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Table of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 6
Statement of Problem/Research Question .......................................................................... 8
Justification ......................................................................................................................... 9
Review of Literature ......................................................................................................... 13
The Global Sports Industry ........................................................................................... 13
Sports Diffusion ............................................................................................................ 16
International Sports Marketing...................................................................................... 17
Expansion Strategies ..................................................................................................... 19
Analysis, Interpretation and findings ................................................................................ 22
Competitive Landscape Analysis .................................................................................. 22
Market and Industry Analysis.................................................................................... 23
Competitor Analysis. ................................................................................................. 30
Under Armour Company Analysis ................................................................................ 44
SWOT Analysis............................................................................................................. 54
Internationalization Strategy ......................................................................................... 62
Sports Marketing Strategy............................................................................................. 69
Conclusion and Implications............................................................................................. 75
References ......................................................................................................................... 79

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix A ....................................................................................................................... 98
Appendix B ....................................................................................................................... 99
Appendix C ..................................................................................................................... 100
Appendix D ..................................................................................................................... 101
Appendix E ..................................................................................................................... 102
Appendix F...................................................................................................................... 107
Appendix G ..................................................................................................................... 118
Appendix H ..................................................................................................................... 120
Appendix I ...................................................................................................................... 121
Appendix J ...................................................................................................................... 122
Appendix K ..................................................................................................................... 123
Appendix L ..................................................................................................................... 124
Appendix M .................................................................................................................... 125
Appendix N ..................................................................................................................... 126
Appendix O ..................................................................................................................... 127
Appendix P...................................................................................................................... 128
Appendix Q ..................................................................................................................... 129
Appendix R ..................................................................................................................... 130
Appendix S...................................................................................................................... 131
Appendix T ..................................................................................................................... 132

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix U ..................................................................................................................... 133
Appendix V ..................................................................................................................... 134
Appendix X ..................................................................................................................... 140

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

The Impact of Global Markets and Sports Marketing
on the International Expansion of Under Armour
Introduction
Under Armour, the company that redefined the t-shirt in 1996, is one of the fastest
growing companies in the world. Its goal is to one day surpass competitors Nike and adidas in
becoming the top sports performance and athletic apparel company in the world. Despite rapid
growth, the company struggles to increase its international business to over ten percent of its
total sales, which in turn keeps Under Armour from achieving its goal. As an athletic
apparel/sports apparel/sportswear manufacturer, the company operates in a highly competitive
and fragmented market, which is classified into different industries, all of which affect its
international growth potential and market sustainability. 1
Top competitors Nike and adidas are the established powerhouses in the global market
with large financial footprints and avid brand loyal consumers. Other brands, such as Puma,
Reebok, Columbia Sportswear, and Champion, are established in the market as well, but have
less financial and market dominance than Nike and adidas. New competitors, such as lululemon
athletica, Athleta, and Fabletics, are also entering the global athletic apparel market share, vying
for increased revenue and gaining new customers. In addition to athletic apparel, these brands
also extend into the global footwear, accessories, and the newly emerging wearables technology
market, creating additional competition for Under Armour.
In such a fragmented industry that also has dominant competitors, Under Armour must
expand globally to not only survive, but ultimately to overcome Nike and adidas. Thus, Under
Armour has to balance multiple industries, competitors, and other external factors with its

The terms athletic apparel, sports apparel, and sportswear will be used interchangeably throughout this paper.

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

internal strengths and weaknesses in order to determine how to differentiate itself in the markets
and establish the best channels for growing its business and its global market share. Creative and
cost-effective strategies are necessary for Under Armour to achieve this. Due to the ability of
athletic apparel to connect consumers to cultural institutions, such as sports, health and fitness,
fashion, and celebrity, marketing tactics, such as licensing deals, sponsorship, grassroots
marketing, cause-related marketing, endorsement deals, etc., can be used to effectively grow
presence within the target markets.
The focus of this study is to examine how Under Armour can use sports marketing
initiatives to expand internationally and to become the global brand for sports performance and
athletic apparel. In order to accomplish this, both external and internal factors must be analyzed.
First, a competitive landscape analysis examining the industries in which Under Armour
operates, including an assessment of global trends and its main competitors, will be conducted to
gain an understanding of the external environment. Second, a company analysis of Under
Armours past, current, and future operations will be reviewed to gain insights on the internal
environment, including its internationalization and marketing strategies. Finally, several strategic
analyses will be used to determine the best markets and sports for Under Armour to focus its
international expansion endeavors. The competitive and company analyses will provide the
structure to conduct a SWOT analysis, which identifies key internal factors to align with external
factors. Internationalization and sports marketing strategies, such as country attractiveness
evaluation, sports attractiveness evaluation, global sport strategic considerations, and
sponsorship selection and rating matrix will be used to determine how Under Armour can make
the greatest global impact to combat the financial and pre-established consumer loyalties of
competitors Nike and adidas.

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Statement of Problem/Research Question
Despite being named 55th of the 100 fastest-growing companies in the world in 2014,
Under Armour struggles to gain market share globally from its top competitors Nike and adidas
(100 Fastest-Growing Companies - Under Armour, 2014). Under Armour has been in business
for 19 years and has a strong hold on the United States sportswear market. Recently, Under
Armours sales surpassed adidas to become the number two athletic apparel brand in the United
States. Under Armours U.S. sales of footwear and apparel totaled $2.6 billion in the 11 months
through Jan. 3, compared with $1.6 billion for adidas Both companies trailed Nike Inc.s $11.8
billion in U.S. sales for the period (Germano, 2015). However, on a global basis, Under Armour
remains far behind both Nike and adidas. If it [Under Armour] ever wants to challenge Nike, it
will have to pick up the pace globally (Ashworth, 2012). There is still a lot of global growth that
needs to occur for Under Armour to successfully compete against and surpass its top two
competitors.
Nike and adidas became successful global brands because of their sports marketing
initiatives. Nike and adidas both have strong relationships with major international sports
properties, partially due to their ability to pay for top sports sponsorship opportunities such as
Nikes sponsorship with Michael Jordan and adidas sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup. Under
Armour, with its comparatively smaller resources, must continue to innovate and think
strategically in order to seriously challenge Nike and adidas for market share outside of North
America. The company is making strides to gain international presence in the market place, but
still struggles to make a big enough impact to be truly called a global brand. Under Armour
needs to make a bigger push internationally in order to maintain its current growth rates and
surpass its top competitors.

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

There are two main objectives of this study. The first is to provide analysis and
understanding of the challenges facing the company in its efforts to grow market share outside of
the United States. Secondly, the study seeks to determine the most effective internationalization
and sports marketing strategies for a successful global expansion of Under Armour.
Justification
Examining Under Armours international expansion endeavors, as it relates to sports
marketing strategy, is important because of the impact globalization has on economies,
businesses, societies, and cultures. Globalization is not a new topic. Numerous studies and
research have been conducted to determine how globalization affects and changes the world.
The connectedness underlying globalization involves growing diffusion, increasing
interdependence, an expanding number of transnational organizations, and an emerging world
culture and consciousness (Sage, 2010, p. 3). In other words, globalization creates a connection
between organizations and societies, bringing economies and cultures closer together and making
them more dependent on one another, thus creating a global economy and global culture.
Conversely, local cultures continue to thrive and businesses need to be aware of how cultural
aspects affect how a company conducts business when expanding internationally.
The sports industry is no exception. Sport is a fundamental cultural activity in every
country in the world Global sport transcends national boundaries and it is both a product of
and a contributor to the process of globalization (Sage, 2010, p. XIV). Many organizations
acknowledge how important sports is to understanding their consumers from a cultural
perspective when going global. According to Undercoffler, the automotive industry is extremely
focused on using sports to connect with multicultural consumers due its broad reach and ability
to culturally connect with consumers (2015). For example, Hyundai focused on campaigns

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

geared around college football and World Cup soccer By aligning themselves with such a
fanatical audience, Hyundai stays relevant to that group of people. By staying relevant with its
marketing, the audience can then spread Hyundais message for the automaker (Undercoffler,
2015, pp. 1-2). Other examples of non-sports related companies who use sports marketing
initiatives to connect with their target audiences on a global level are Proctor & Gamble, Coca
Cola, McDonalds, and Visa. Each of these companies is a TOP sponsor for the International
Olympic Committee (SPONSORSHIP, 2014). These sponsors use glocalization to create global
marketing campaigns with localized focus surrounding the Olympic Games and Olympic sports.
Nike, Under Armours biggest competitor, became the number one global athletic apparel
and footwear company because of its strategic use of athlete endorsements. The most notable
Nike athlete to drive the company in becoming a truly global brand is Michael Jordan. While
Jordan is arguably one of the most globally recognized athletes, Nike also uses local athletes to
establish itself in specific cultures throughout the world. Nike sells a global brand through
marketing that appeals to local tastes (Bradish, Stevens, & Lathrop, 2003). This combination of
understanding the local culture with the interconnectedness of globalization propels
organizations to successfully expand internationally.
Multinational (MNC) and transnational (TNC) corporations help to drive globalization
efforts. Some of these companies are financially bigger than some nation-states throughout the
world. TNCs manage and control, by political-economic domination and intellectual leadership,
and employ most of the worlds labor force. With economic power nearly matching that of
nation-states, TNCs control much of the worlds investment capital, technology, and contact with
international markets (Sage, 2010, p. 9). These corporations engage in international business
through international trade in goods and services; foreign direct investment (FDI), portfolio

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

investment; profits, interest, and dividends from various types of foreign investment;
interorganizational collaborative partnerships; and movements of people across borders for
leisure or business activities or in search of jobs (Sage, 2010, p. 3). Without the business
generated from these organizations, smaller and growing economies might not be able to sustain
themselves financially. For example, Nike reported 2014 revenues at 27.8 billion USD and
currently maintains 536 non-U.S. retail stores (2014 Form10-K, 2014). According to The World
Bank, in 2013 over 80 countries reported GDP under 27.8 billion USD (GDP (current US$),
2015). While the athletic apparel and footwear industries are small subsets of the consumer
goods manufacturing industry, manufacturing in this sector is growing rapidly and generates
billions of dollars of revenue each year, as seen by the Nike example.
Additionally, sport has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry with increasing pressure
for sports organizations to be competitive and to engage fans. Sports apparel and footwear are
considered equipment for teams and sport/athletic activity participants and therefore are used to
gain a competitive edge on and off the field. Steve Currie, Partner at Catalyst Corporate Finance
stated,
The sports apparel market continues to evolve and companies that wish to maintain or
grow share need to lead with innovation. Consumers are demanding functional apparel
that has a combination of performance, fit and fashion. The sports apparel market now
accounts for approximately 15% of the overall clothing market globally and most
industry leaders believe the trend of men and women increasingly wear athletic apparel in
casual settings is a permanent shift in the broad appeal of functional apparel. (Catalyst
Corporate Finance LLP, 2014, p. 1)

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

In addition to the need for professional and amateur athletes to use the highest quality of
athletic apparel and footwear, there is an increasing global trend for consumers to be more health
and fitness conscious. Thus, sportswear and footwear manufacturers are marketing to athletic
consumers as well. Moreover, new fashion trends towards comfortable, casual attire makes
athletic apparel companies, like Under Armour, aware that some people might not even be using
its products for active purposes. According to the NPD Group, in 2014
an additional $2 billion in sales [of apparel, footwear, and accessories], was driven
primarily by growth in sales of activewear, athletic performance footwear, and bags In
line with the athleisure and casualization movement, sales also grew among sports bras,
polo/golf/rugby tops, sports jerseys, and leggings. (The NPD Group, Inc., 2015)
Target markets include active and athletic consumers, as well as sports fans wanting to wear their
favorite teams logo and the casual athleisure consumers who are more concerned about wearing
comfortable yet fashionable attire. Given these trends, sports marketing initiatives are at the root
of expansion endeavors in order to reach the different target markets globally.
According to Jeff Bail, Professor of Sports Marketing at Northwestern University and
Vice President, Business Development, ESP Properties, global organizations are those that are
physically present in the majority of countries around the world, while international
organizations are only present in a select few countries (2015). This definition acknowledges a
key difference between Under Armour and its top competitors Nike and adidas. For example, in
2013 Under Armour reported having 19 global offices, 127 brand and factory house stores
located in the United States, Canada, and China, and manufacturing its products in 19 countries
outside of the United States (2013 Under Armour Annual Report, 2014). In 2013, Nike reported
having 388 international NIKE Brand factory stores, 59 international NIKE Brand in-line stores,

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

3 international Converse stores, international branch offices in 50 countries, and using apparel
manufacturing factories in 28 countries (NIKE, INC., 2013). By Bails definition, Nike is a
global organization while Under Armour is an international organization.
Under Armour has not only entered all the major markets of the world but is also
determined to grow its international business significantly in the years to come. As a
consequence there is hardly any product or geographical segment in Nikes portfolio that
is not under attack from UA [Under Armour]. (Singh, 2013, p. 431)
Under Armours goal is to become a global organization in order to overtake the sports
performance and athletic apparel market and to become the largest sports performance/athletic
apparel company in the world.
Review of Literature
In order to understand the scope of Under Armours quest for dominating the sports
apparel market, one must examine previous research. While there is little academic research
directly related to Under Armour, research on the internationalization of sports, sports diffusion,
international sports marketing, and business expansion strategies have been conducted. The
research from these studies can be applied to the challenges facing Under Armour, or any
company trying to expand internationally using sports marketing tactics.
The Global Sports Industry
The sports industry has become a major global market since the emergence of spectator
sports during the industrial revolution. International sport has been transformed from sporting
events between individuals or teams to events between nation-states that have unequal resource
to produce elite athletes and teams (Sage, 2010, p. 7). Due to this transformation, sport has
become a multi-billion dollar industry. According to A.T. Kearney, the sports industry

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generates as much as $700 billion yearly, or 1 percent of global GDP from revenues including
ticket sales, media rights, sponsorships, sporting goods, apparel, equipment, and health & fitness
spending (2014, p. 1). 2 A.T. Kearney research also indicated, the sports market has grown
faster than GDP in nearly every country at a rate of 7 percent per year between 2009 and 2013
(2014, pp. 1-2). 3
A study, conducted by Brad R. Humphries and Jane E. Ruseski, estimated the dimensions
of the US sports market by investigating sports participation, sports viewing, and the supply and
demand sides of the sports market (2009, p. 94). These researchers defined the sports market
as having three primary components: (1) Activities involving participation in sport; (2) Activities
involving attendance at spectator sporting events; and (3) Activities involving following
spectator sporting events through some media (Humphreys & Ruseki, 2009, p. 96). Based on
this definition and the economic analysis conducted, the researchers estimated the value of the
economic activity in the [US] sport market in 2005 to be in the range of $44 billion to $60 billion
[US] dollars (Humphreys & Ruseki, 2009, p. 111). 4 While this study showed significant
economic value for the US sports market, it does not take into consideration full sport industry
segmentation such as the research conducted by A.T. Kearney.
The sport industry segment model, developed by Brenda Pitts and David Stotlar, divides
the sports market into three segments: sport-performance, sport-production, and sport-promotion
(Sage, 2010, pp. 23-24). The researchers defined the three sports segments as followed:

See Appendix A for a flow chart demonstrating the flow of money in the sports ecosystem from A.T. Kearney
research
3
See Appendix B and Appendix C for growth charts from A.T. Kearney research
4
See Appendix D for the Estimated Total Economic Value of Sport Industry, 2005 (billions of dollars) chart from
the Humphreys, Ruseski study

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

The sport-performance segment is concerned with sport as participation, such as
nonprofit sport organizations and private-business sport organizations that govern sport
participation, amateurs and professional who play sport, and spectators who attend sports
events or view sport via television, video, or the internet. The sport-production segment
includes sporting goods and equipment that are desired, needed, or required to produce or
influence the quality of sport performances. The sport-promotion segment involves the
promotion of sport products, such as athletes endorsements, sporting goods sponsorship,
media advertising, and broadcasting of sport, and marketing sport merchandise. (Sage,
2010, p. 24)
Each of these segments has to work together in order to further sport around the world. Figure 1
shows the composition of the segments and how the three sports industry segments interact with
one another. For example, Under Armour makes technically advanced products that are
engineered with superior fabric construction, to provide proven innovation available to the
masses aimed at making all athletes perform better (Kraft & Lee, 2009, p. 112). Accordingly,
the company functions under the sport-production segment as a sporting goods manufacturer.
Under Armours consumers are professional and amateur sports organizations, athletes, and
spectators who are categorized under the sport-performance segment. Furthermore, Under
Amour works within the sport-promotion segment by using athlete endorsements and
sponsorship to market its product to its target audience. Thus, in order to understand the full
value of the sports market, one must consider all the segments and how they interact with each
other.

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Figure 1. Sports Industry Segmentation (Sage, 2010, p. 23)

Sports Diffusion
One of the best ways to understand the internationalization of sport is by looking at the
most popular sport in the world: soccer. Soccer (football), widely known as the global game,
has become big business in a globalized world (Miller T. , 2010). It is represented on all
continents throughout culturally diverse societies, has approximately 250 million direct
participants with about 1.4 billion fans, and major soccer tournaments attract a global television
audience of 33.4 billion (Giulianotti & Robertson, 2004, p. 545). A major contributing factor to
soccers global popularity is due to sports diffusion. According to Magee, sports diffusion is a

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phenomenon which...sports spread between countries as a result of a learning and
communications process (1998, p. 126). The diffusion of soccer has a long, rich history
throughout the world starting with its primitive form in China during the Han dynasty around the
2nd and 3rd centuries BC (Hill & Vincent, 2006, p. 219). The game was reborn through
diffusion across the British and French Empires in the 19th century, organizational domination
by European entities and then by Latin American ones in the 20th; and a return of power to
Europe (Miller T. , 2010, p. 3). The diffusion of soccer has been successful partially because
playing customs are not closely associated with British imperialism (Giulianotti & Robertson,
2004, pp. 546-547). Over time and through glocalization processes, local cultures adapt[ed] and
redefine[d] any global cultural product [soccer for example] to suit their particular needs, beliefs
and customs; then as the sport grows locally and globally, governing bodies began to form and
organize to regulate rules leading soccer to become a global sport (Giulianotti & Robertson,
2004, p. 546).
Successful diffusion and cultural acceptance of a sport generates a fan base, as well as
homegrown teams and leagues, and therefore can lead to commercial development of the sport.
Without successful diffusion, there is no audience of which to market sport, sponsorship cannot
be generated, and there is no use for sporting goods manufacturers. In other words, sports
diffusion allows corporations to think globally and act locally in their sports marketing activities
because the sport has already done the job of spreading across cultures to create a global fan
base, while also maintaining local cultural interests.
International Sports Marketing
Diffusion and cultural acceptance directly affects sports marketing. According to
Chadwick, sports marketing should be defined as,

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an ongoing process through which a contest with an uncertain outcome is staged, creating
opportunities for the simultaneous fulfillment of objectives among sport customers, sport
businesses, participants and other related individuals, groups and organisations. This
definition differentiates sports marketing from other forms of marketing because no other
product can consistently replicate sport, even in the cultural (what some marketers call
the unconventional) industries. (2005, p. 7)
Due to the unique characteristics of the sports industry, organizations can use sports marketing to
connect with consumers on a deep cultural level. Sports marketers have a variety of ways to use
this medium to reach their target markets. The sports industry consists of governing bodies,
teams, events, and athletes, which can all be used as marketing avenues through sponsorship,
licensing, endorsements, experiential marketing, etc. Internationalization of the global economy
has meant that many sports marketers now look to the global market instead of one region in
their marketing efforts (Ratten & Ratten, 2011, p. 618). The global sports marketing landscape
consists of a variety of points of entry that sports marketers can use to enter new markets. Points
of entry include global/national/local events, international governing bodies/federations,
domestic governing bodies/federations, global series-leagues, domestic sports leagues/teams, and
athletes (Bail, 2015). For example, a sports marketer can strategically decide if it is better for an
organization to run a global marketing campaign such as the TOP sponsors for the Olympic
Games or choose specific markets by sport and region such as targeting rugby in South Africa,
New Zealand, and Australia or gymnastics in China, Russia, and the U.S.
A more concrete example of how sports diffusion affects sports marketing and
international expansion is with Manchester United. In particular, Hill and Vincent examined
Manchester United and determined it has become one of the most prominent global brands in a

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sport that has proven worldwide appeal (2006, p. 214). An analysis on globalization versus
Manchester Uniteds brand identity emphasizes how and why the team has had the best outcome
thus far in sports globalization. This success is due to Manchester United being the first to bring
a true-marketing oriented focus to football to capitalize on its reputation as one of Englands
premier clubs (Hill & Vincent, 2006, p. 227). In other words, Manchester United built
marketing into its globalization strategy from the very beginning. It created strong brand values,
which have been the foundation of its successful expansion. Manchester Uniteds rise to National
Brand status consisted of traditional club culture (youth orientation, excellence in talent, and the
club over the individual), attacking style, charismatic players, and a strong history of success
(Hill & Vincent, 2006). These brand values, mixed with the rise of international soccer through
worldwide appeal and international media, propelled Manchester into becoming a global brand
(Hill & Vincent, 2006). In order to continue to build the brand globally, Manchester United uses
sponsorships with other global brands, such as Nike, Budweiser, Aon, etc., to create relationshipbuilding programs with fans such as One United, and to manage its own media rights through
BSKYB and its own media channel MUTV (Hill & Vincent, 2006). The one question
Manchester United is still trying to address is how to make their foreign fans turn into
consumers, and therefore, how to generate profit from its international successes. Brands looking
to sponsor a team to expand internationally would look to Manchester United because of its
established global presence and fan base.
Expansion Strategies
The research presented clearly demonstrates that international sports marketing is one
strategy that can be used for organizations to expand internationally. However, companies can
use many other strategies in addition to international marketing strategies. Some of the strategies

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include Porters five forces framework, Cavusgils index approach for measuring the potential of
emerging markets, assessing the competitive landscape, SWOT analysis, etc. Using these
strategies helps companies acknowledge and understand the many challenges they will face
when entering into a new market. A survey conducted by Radius and CFO Research showed that
74 percent of finance executives who responded to the survey said, maintaining control of
international activities was difficult. In their responses, executives consistently trumpeted the
importance of conducting thorough research before establishing an office, to understand the
target countrys legal, regulatory and cultural environment (Harding, 2015, p. 1). Therefore,
organizations looking to expand internationally should use a combination of strategies and
analyses to determine the best expansion option(s) for that organization.
In the article Which Strategy When?, the authors examined the logic of leading strategic
frameworks [including Porters five-forces analysis] used in business and engineering schools
around the world in order to break down how to choose the right strategy (Bingham, Eisenhardt,
& Furr, 2011, p. 71). The research found that the strategic frameworks examined consisted of
three archetypes: the circumstances facing the organization, the organizations resources, and the
relationships among its resources (Bingham, Eisenhardt, & Furr, 2011, p. 71). Choosing which
of these three archetypes depends on a variety of internal and external factors, such as the
stability of the environment, characteristics of resources, relationships with resources, basis of
competitive advantage, sustainability of advantage, and inimitability of advantage (Bingham,
Eisenhardt, & Furr, 2011, p. 73). Figure 2 demonstrates the different characteristics of each
strategy. Under Armour is an example of using leverage strategy. Under Armour CEO Kevin
Plank and his team realized that they could leverage their moisture-wicking synthetic
fabrications into new markets by developing their first line of moisture-wicking running

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

shoes (Bingham, Eisenhardt, & Furr, 2011, p. 75). While leverage strategy was a good choice
for Under Armour at the time, now it has moved into the technology space with wearable
technology and apps. The companys new Connected Fitness division might be better using
opportunity strategy because the technology market is constantly changing and the division will
need to adapt more quickly to new technological advances and trends. On the other hand, apparel
and footwear might stay with leverage strategy or decide to move to position strategy to grow
deeper into the sports apparel and footwear markets. In the international environment sport
companies and players need to be entrepreneurial to stay ahead of the competition and at the
forefront of their respective sport (Ratten & Ratten, 2011, pp. 614-615). Being flexible with
strategy and analyzing multiple resources gives companies the opportunity to create competitive
advantages in order to compete in the global market successfully.

Figure 2. Choosing the right strategy (Bingham, Eisenhardt, & Furr, 2011, p. 73)

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Analysis, Interpretation and Findings
Competitive Landscape Analysis
One of the first steps in determining how an organization can expand internationally is to
examine the competitive environment, which includes an analysis of the industry and
competitors. An industry analysis provides a business with an idea of the complexity of a
particular industry and helps to formulate strategy and understand the competitive landscape in
which a company operates (Industry Analysis, 2015, p. 1) (MaRS, 2014, p. 1). One type of
industry analysis is Porters five forces framework, which allows a company can determine the
attractiveness of an industry (MaRS, 2014, p. 1). 5 While a full analysis using Porters five
forces framework will not be conducted, factors within the five forces framework, such as
existing competitors, industry growth, product differentiation, and buyer profile, will be
discussed. This section will investigate the main industries and markets in which Under Armour
competes, including the sporting goods, sports apparel, footwear, and wearable technology
industries, as well as global trends that would affect Under Armours international expansion.
Furthermore, this section will examine some of Under Armours global competitors,
specifically Nike, adidas, and lululemon athletica6. A competitive analysis identifies an
organizations competitors and evaluates its strategies to determine its strengths and weaknesses
relative to the competitors products or services (Entrepreneur Staff, 2015). According to
NetMNA,
Competitive analysis has two primary frameworks, 1) obtaining information about
important competitors, and 2) using that information to predict competitor behavior. The
goal of competitor analysis is to understand: with which competitors to compete,

5
6

Appendix E includes a template of Porters five forces framework.

lululemon athletica will be referred to as lululemon.

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

competitors strategies and planned actions, how competitors might react to a firms
actions, and how to influence competitor behavior to the firms own advantage.
(Competitor Analysis, 2010, p. 1)
This section will discuss where Under Armours top competitors fit into the athletic apparel and
athletic footwear industries, the global footprint of Under Armour competitors, the competitors
missions, and the competitors sports marketing and internationalization initiatives.
Market and Industry Analysis.
Overview. Under Armour operates primarily under the athletic apparel industry, with
athletic footwear and wearable technology listed as secondary industries (Cother, 2015). Athletic
apparel and footwear are segments within the sporting goods and equipment industry. The
National Sporting Goods Association defines sporting goods as products purchased for use
related to sports and recreational activities comprised of three main categories: equipment,
footwear, and apparel (National Sporting Goods Association, 2014, p. 1). Therefore, Under
Armour is one of over 4,000 sporting goods and equipment manufacturers competing in the
global market (Sage, 2010, p. 100). Due to the extensive number of activities classified as
sports, many manufacturers specialize in a specific sport or a specific product. 7 For example,
Under Armour focuses on athletic apparel, footwear, and accessories across a variety of sports,
including American football, basketball, baseball, soccer, etc. Research reports from Hoovers
separate athletic apparel and athletic footwear from the sporting goods manufacturing industry
based on NAICS and SIC codes. Therefore, in order to examine the full sporting goods
manufacturing market, one must look at apparel and footwear as well.

See Appendix F for a full list of international sports federation representing over 200 sports worldwide

23

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Market Concentration. One factor to examine in these markets is the market
concentration. According to Hoovers, the [sporting goods manufacturing] industry is
concentrated: the 50 largest companies account for about 70 percent of industry revenue (2015,
p. 4). As previously mentioned, this does not take into consideration athletic apparel and
footwear. However, Under Armour competitors Nike, adidas, Columbia Sportswear Company,
ASICS, V.F. Corporation, and Puma, who also participate in the athletic apparel and footwear
sectors, are still listed as companies who operate in the sporting goods market. 8 Conversely, the
apparel industry is much more fragmented than the sporting goods manufacturing industry. For
the US apparel market, the 50 largest companies generate less than 40 percent of revenue
(Apparel Manufacturing, 2015, p. 4). Furthermore, the footwear industry is more concentrated
than the sporting goods manufacturing and the apparel industries where in the US market the
top 50 companies account for more than 90 percent of sales (Hoover's, 2015). Under Armour
must take each of these market concentrations into consideration when developing its
international expansion strategy. Under Armour will have to adapt each product category to the
different market concentrations for the best strategic results. For example, in a highly
concentrated market, large companies enjoy advantages in economies of scale and brand
recognition, and often offer a wide range of products. Small companies can compete effectively by

offering specialized or unique products that interest enthusiasts (Hoover's, 2015).

Geographical Market Share. Another factor to examine in the external environment is
the geographical market share in the industries. In 2010, the global sporting goods and
equipment industry made $258 billion with the US holding 36% of the global market share, Asia
holding 34% share, and Europe holding 19% share (Sage, 2010, p. 102). In the apparel market,

See Appendix G for a sporting goods manufacturing industry company list (Hoover's, 2015)

24

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia Pacific all have growth
surpassing the 5.8% global average, making them key growth markets for any sports apparel
manufacturer.9 Similar to the overall apparel market, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the
Middle East/Africa Region are projected to have the highest sportswear purchasing growth: Latin
America with 16.6% market share by 2020, Eastern Europe with 13.6% share, and the Middle
East/Africa region with 10.1% share (CompaniesandMarkets.com, 2014, p. 2). North America,
Western Europe, and Asia are still large apparel markets by sales figures. As Figure 3 shows, the
US is still the largest market at $91 billion USD, Asia Pacific is the second largest at $56 billion
USD, and Western Europe is the third largest at $53 billion USD (Catalyst Corporate Finance
LLP, 2014, p. 3)

Figure 3. Global sportswear market by region - 2013 sales and 2013-2017 forecast
CAGR (Catalyst Corporate Finance LLP, 2014)
In the footwear industry, over 90 percent of the sneakers and other sporting goods sold
in the United States are imports made in foreign countries (Sage, 2010, p. 118). Asia Pacific is

See Appendix H for Apparel Value Sales Growth 2012 by Region

25

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

dominating the global athletic footwear market and is estimated to hold 41.6% of the market
share by the end of 2018 (Transparency Market Research, 2015). Europe is expected to emerge
as the second largest market for athletic footwear shoes worldwide during the forecast period
(Transparency Market Research, 2015, p. 1). Globalization through which cultural norms,
healthy habits and international sports events can be projected could be cited as a key driving
factor in the expansion of sports apparel to a global audience (CompaniesandMarkets.com,
2014, p. 2). Based on these geographical market share trends, Under Armour has many market
choices for international expansion by either establishing itself in growth markets and/or in
stable markets.
Market Growth. A third factor to examine is market growth. According to Euromonitor
International the global apparel market was valued at US $1.7 trillion in 2012, growing by 5.8%
over the year (Kunde, 2013, p. 1). In 2013, 15.3% of the global clothing market was made up of
sportswear and sports-based footwear (CompaniesandMarkets.com, 2014, p. 1). Trefis Team
states that the global sports apparel market was worth $135 billion in 2012 and is expected to
grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4% during 2012-2019 to reach $178 billion
(Trefis Team, 2013, p. 1). Performance apparel, a segment within the sports apparel market
defined as garments that perform or function for some purpose, was also a big growth driver in
2014 (Performance Apparel and its Global Market Trends, 2014, p. 1). The performance apparel
market was up 7.8% ($111 million) from 2013, surpassing $1.5 billion in wholesales for the first
time (Jacobs, 2015, p. 1). Total Athletic Footwear shipments reached $14.48 billion, an
increase of 4.3% from previous year. Running footwear continues to dominate as a category
leader with $4.3 billion in 2014 shipments, followed by Kids, Classics, Basketball, and Skate
Surf (Jacobs, 2015, p. 1). The growing demand for activewear has lifted sales for makers of

26

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

the clothing and the retailers that sell it. Athletic gearis doing better than the overall retail
industry and active wear sales growth is exceeding the apparel market as a whole (Kell, 2014, p.
1). Based on these growth statistics, Under Armour is in a great industry for growth, which it can
leverage as it expands internationally.
Global Trends. The growth seen in these industries stem from several consumer demands
and trends. One of the major global growth drivers for athletic apparel is due to a change in
lifestyle by consumers who have a rising awareness of health and wellbeing. Consumers are
trying to lead more active lifestyles and becoming increasingly focused on healthy living,
embracing health and wellbeing as an important part of their routine (Catalyst Corporate
Finance LLP, 2014, p. 2). The trend in health consciousness and wellbeing has led to the increase
in active sports participation (Catalyst Corporate Finance LLP, 2014, p. 2). The combination of
increased awareness of the health benefits surrounding regular exercise and increased
participation has correlated positively with a general overall increase in the amount of
disposable incomes people are enjoying. With higher affordability, those participating in
sports are demanding better quality, higher performance and more well-designed
products, which also allow them to be worn in everyday situations.
(CompaniesandMarkets.com, 2014, p. 1)
Due to this change in active and healthy lifestyles, consumers are looking for athletic apparel that
is both functional and fashionable.
Moreover, consumers now want their athletic apparel to be able to transition from the
gym to the grocery store and even work. Thus, the blurring lines of differentiation between
sports and fitness clothing for casual, business, everyday and street wear is continuing to trend in
the sports apparel market (CompaniesandMarkets.com, 2015, p. 1). Manufacturers of sports

27

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

apparel are responding to the trend of fashion forward athletic apparel by using fashion icons as
endorsers. For example, Nike uses supermodel Karlie Kloss, while Gisele Bundchen has
appeared in Under Armour ads. Their willingness to sign on as ambassadors highlights just how
fashionable athletic gear has become (Kell, 2014, p. 2). The desire for consumers to have
fashion meet fitness has created a demand for fitness attire to embody functionality combined
with style and design (CompaniesandMarkets.com, 2015, p. 1).
In order for athletic apparel manufacturers to fulfill those demands, a trend in developing
innovative and technically advanced products has emerged. According to Catalyst Corporate
Finance,
There is growing awareness and increasing levels of consumer attention on the
technology used in sportswear, where performance fabrics such as lightweight, breathable
micro fibers have gained attention among consumers. Consumers have shown a
willingness to pay more for performance characteristics such as temperature control,
friction regulation, moisture management and water resistance to reduce the potential for
injury and discomfort. (2014, p. 2)
This technology trend has led companies, like Under Armour, to enter the smart
clothing/performance clothing and wearable technologies markets. Consumers wear functional
clothing because they have special needs, and may want to enjoy most advanced technology
without losing their fashion sense. Smart clothing integrates functional clothing designs and
portable technology (Lazaroiu, 2012, p. 163). From a sports apparel perspective, one function of
smart clothing/performance clothing is to help athletes and active people keep cool,
comfortable, and dry through moisture management and other techniques (Performance Apparel
and its Global Market Trends, 2014, p. 1). Emerging technologies such as smart clothing and

28

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

wearables allow consumers to be more aware of their health and fitness by tracking their steps,
athletic/fitness activities, weight, and more.
The quantifiable self makes use of mobile apps, wearable technologies, and cloud
computing. The wearable technology landscape intersects the Connected Age, with
connection to resources, people and ideas Physical activity monitors are the most
common wearable technologies (e.g., FitBit, Jawbone, smart watches, and smart running
shoes)Wearables can gather data from the body of the wearer or from the
environment or provide information, or both. (Skiba, 2014, p. 346)
Business Insider Intelligence estimates the global wearables market will grow at a compound
annual rate of 35% over the next five years, reaching 148 million units shipped annually in 2019,
up from 33 million units shipped this year [2015] (Danova, 2015, p. 1). The forecast of the
global wearable device unit shipments through 2019 indicates massive growth potential.10 The
combination of smart clothing and wearable technology allows consumers to gain more
information about themselves, as well as gives manufacturers of sporting goods and equipment,
apparel, and footwear a better insight into who the consumers are, how they function, and how
they are using products.
Arguably, one of the most important growth drivers is women. Women have been major
contributors to many of these global trends in the sportswear market leading to women being a
major target market for sports brands. The dramatic surge of female athletes into playing fields
and the associated opportunities have continued to shift market dynamic (Catalyst Corporate
Finance LLP, 2014, p. 2). Furthermore, women in particular have demonstrated an appetite for
fashionable workout wear (Catalyst Corporate Finance LLP, 2014, p. 2). Women are becoming

10

See Appendix I for the Global Wearable Device Unit Shipments Forecast through 2019

29

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

a lucrative target audience, given their increased involvement in newer sports and fitness
activities such as yoga and aerobics (CompaniesandMarkets.com, 2015, p. 1). Sports-oriented
companies are even looking towards girls as key consumers because their interest levels in
sports are tracking better than that of their male counterparts (Bernstein, 2001, p. 2).
While there are additional growth drivers of the global sporting goods manufacturing,
athletic apparel, and footwear industries, such as income, age groups, seasonal conditions, retail
competition, and sporting events, the key drivers mentioned in this section are having the largest
impact on growth in the sportswear and athletic footwear industries (National Sporting Goods
Association, 2014, p. 1). Healthy and active lifestyles, the need for functional and fashionable
athletic apparel, innovative sportswear and wearable technology, and the influence of women are
driving manufacturers in their expansion and marketing initiatives.
Competitor Analysis.
Overview. The sports apparel and athletic footwear markets have many companies vying
for market share. However, both Nike and adidas stand out in their global dominance compared
to every other competitor. A 2014 report from BB&T Capital Markets estimated the global
athletic apparel market share. Figure 4 shows the market share breakdown of the global athletic
apparel industry with adidas having a 11% share, Nike holding a 10% share, V.F. Corporation
(VFC) holding 5% share, and Under Armour holding only 2% share (Kim, 2014, p. 1). This is
supported by the organizations global revenues, which include footwear and athletic apparel.
Out of the top 13 global sportswear retailers Nike retains the global lead in terms of
revenue with a turnover of over $26Bn. adidas came in second with around $19.5Bn, and
then V.F. Corporation in third with a significant reduction in profit to just over $11Bn.
(CompaniesandMarkets.com, 2014, p. 1)

30

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Figure 4. Global Athletic Apparel Market Share 2014 (Kim, 2014, p. 1)

Similarly, Bank of America Merrill Lynch conducted research in 2011 to determine the global
market share of athletic apparel and footwear. Figure 5 shows the 2011 global athletic apparel
market share and Figure 6 shows the 2011 global athletic footwear market share.11 By comparing
the BB&T Capital Markets 2014 estimates with Bank of America Merrill Lynchs estimates
from 2011, it is clear that Nike and adidas are the industry leaders with lululemon being the only
top competitor to gain market share. Thus, an examination of Nike, adidas, and lululemons
product lines, missions, global footprints, and sports marketing initiatives will be conducted.

11

See Appendix J for revenue table of the 2011 global athletic apparel and Appendix K for global athletic footwear
markets by vendor.

31

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Figure 5. Global market share of athletic apparel vendors revenue in 2011 (Bank of
America Merrill Lynch, 2012, p. 91)

Figure 6. Global market share of athletic footwear vendors revenue in 2011 (Bank of
America Merrill Lynch, 2012, p. 91)

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Nike. Nikes principal business activity is the design, development, and worldwide
marketing and selling of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services (NIKE,
INC., 2014, p. 47). Its mission is To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the
world (Nike, 2015, p. 1). Nike consists of several brands: the NIKE brand, Converse, Hurley,
and the Jordan brand. The Nike brand offers eight key categories including running, basketball,
football (soccer), mens training (baseball and U.S. Football), Womens Training, Action Sports,
Sportswear (sports-inspired lifestyle products), and Golf, but also offers products for children
and other athletic and recreational use such as cricket, lacrosse, tennis, volleyball, wrestling,
walking, and outdoor activities; The Hurley brand focuses on action sports and youth lifestyle
apparel and accessories; The Jordan brand is primarily a basketball brand of athletic and casual
footwear, apparel, and accessories; Converse is a casual sneaker, apparel, and accessories brand
(NIKE, INC., 2014, p. 1).
Between these four brands, Nike operates 322 U.S. based retail stores and 536 non-U.S.
based retail stores and has offices in 52 countries (NIKE, INC., 2014, pp. 48-49). Nike also sells
its products online and through retail distributors across the globe. Figures 5 and 6 show that, in
2011, Nike was the leader in the sportswear market with 10% share in athletic apparel and 34%
share in athletic footwear. Nikes 2014 Annual Report stated total revenues at $27.799 billion
USD. Figure 7 shows footwear as the companys biggest revenue driver with $16.208 billion
USD in revenue while apparel brings in $8.109 billion in revenue (NIKE, INC., 2014, p. 66). 12
Furthermore, 50.36% of its wholesale revenue came from the Mens line, 17.88% came from the
Womens line, and 13.44% came from the Young Athletes line (NIKE, INC., 2014, p. 66).

12

See Appendices L and M for Nikes revenues financial statements

33

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

2014 Revenues by Major

Product Lines
Equipment
6.01%

Other
6.52%

Apparel
29.17%

Footwear
58.30%

Figure 7. Nike 2014 Revenues by Major Product Lines (NIKE, INC., 2014, p. 114)

2014 Revenue by Geographic Segment

Converse Corporate
6.06%
0.01%

Global Brand
Divisions
0.45%

Japan
2.77%

Emerging Markets
14.21%
Greater China
9.36%

Central & Eastern

Europe
4.99%

North America
44.24%

Western Europe
17.91%

Figure 8. Nike 2014 Revenue by Geographic Segment (NIKE, INC., 2014, p. 70)

34

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

The wholesale revenue breakdown by sports is as follows: 16.63% Running, 11.22% Basketball,
8.17% Soccer, 8.92% Mens Training, 4.13% Womens Training, 2.65% Action Sports, 21.14%
Sportswear, and 2.84% Golf (NIKE, INC., 2014, p. 66). The revenue by geographic segment in
Figure 8 shows that North America generates 44.24% revenue while the international markets
combined generate 49.24% revenue (NIKE, INC., 2014, p. 70).
To gain these revenues, Nike spent $3.031 billion globally on advertising and promotions
in 2014, including hundreds of sponsorship and endorsement deals across a multitude of sports
(NIKE, INC., 2014, p. 97). According to Nike,
The increase in revenues was driven by growth across nearly all NIKE Brand
geographies, key categories, and product types. This growth was primarily fueled by:
Innovative performance and sportswear products, incorporating proprietary technology
platforms such as NIKE AIR, Lunar, Shox, Free, Flywire, Dri-Fit, Flyknit, NIKE+, and
NIKE Fuel; Deep brand connections to consumers through a category lens, reinforced
by investments in endorsements by high-profile athletes and teams, high impact
marketing around global sporting events (such as the World Cup, Olympics, and NFL
Super Bowl) and digital marketing; and Strong category retail presentation online and at
NIKE-owned and retail partner stores. (2014, p. 97)
This statements from Nikes 2014 Annual Report can be confirmed by the StockTwits
comparison of the complete history of Nikes stock to major company initiatives from the 1980s
to 2014. 13 For example, Nikes stock showed increases in values after Nike signed endorsement
deals with Tiger Woods and Lebron James, as well as after announcing a partnership with Apple,

13

See Appendix N for History of Nikes Stock and Major Company Initiatives

35

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

launching a massive World Cup campaign, launching Nike Fuel Band, and being named the most
innovative company by Fast Company (StockTwits, 2014).
Furthermore, other research confirms that one of the reasons Nike has become the leader
in athletic footwear and athletic apparel is Nikes ability to leverage its sponsorships. Nike has
dominated basketball footwear due to it sponsoring Michael Jordan and creating the Jordan
brand, as well as other endorsement deals with key NBA players (Moskowitz, 2014). Out of the
top ten NBA player sponsor deals in 2014, seven are under the Nike umbrella: LeBron James,
Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, Blake Griffin, and Chris
Paul (Badenhausen, 2014). Moreover, the NBA reported the top-selling NBA jerseys during the
2014-15 season overall and in China. Six of the top-selling NBA jerseys overall are sponsored by
Nike, including the most popular player, LeBron James (Boudway, 2015). In China, five of the
top-selling NBA jerseys are sponsored by Nike, including Kobe Bryant as the number one topseller (Boudway, 2015).
Sponsorship and endorsement deals have played a large part in the global success of Nike
because they increase brand exposure. For example, When young kids and teens see LeBron
wearing Nike sneakers, theyre going to want the same sneakers. This puts the Nike name in
young consumers minds for life (Moskowitz, 2014, p. 1). These sponsorship deals have helped
to create a strong global brand. Its long partnership with legendary basketball player Michael
Jordan has driven strong sales of the companys basketball sneakersNikes ability to maintain
and enhance its iconic brands has allowed it to enjoy continued success for decades (Value
Line, 2015, p. 1). Aside from Michael Jordan, Nike has maintained strong endorsement
partnerships across multiple sports, including endorsements by Tiger Woods, Maria Sharapove,
Rory McIlroy, NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin, Derrick Jeter, Terrell Owens, and more. Nikes

36

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

sponsorship deals range from basketball teams, soccer teams, the NFL, college teams, and even
cricket. Nike dominates sponsorship of teams in all five major sports organizations in the USA:
NFL for football, NBA for basketball, MLB for baseball, NHL for hockey and MLS for soccer
(Cox, 2015, p. 6). This is demonstrated by the growth of Nikes endorsement deals between 2003
and 2015. In 2003, Nikes endorsement deals were around $300 million and, in 2015, Nikes
endorsement deals are reaching $1 billion. 14
The newest addition to Nikes sponsorship clout is an eight-year global merchandising
and marketing partnership with the NBA beginning the 2017-2018 season, which essentially
blocks out other competitors from the NBA/basketball market (SportsOneSource Media, 2015).
The NBA chose Nike over Under Armour due to Nikes extensive global reach. NBA
Commissioner Adam Silver stated that Nike will be instrumental in our collective efforts to
grow the game [of basketball] globally while applying the latest in technology to the design of
our uniforms and on court products (SportsOneSource Media, 2015, p. 1).
Aside from sponsorships, Nike has also been successful because of its focus on lifestyle
marketing. Nike focuses on lifestyle marketing, which combines sporting goods and everyday
life to make its products useful both on and off the field (Sage, 2010, p. 117). It has also
incorporated a new international apparel strategy, which focuses on cost efficiency and quality,
market fragmentation to target its iconic brands, and market innovation such as tapping into the
lucrative fashion sports apparel industry (CompaniesandMarkets.com, 2014, p. 1).
Furthermore, attractive designs with innovative technological performance advancements is part
of the reason why Nike emerged as top on The Worlds Most Valuable Sports Brands 2014 list
published by Forbes (CompaniesandMarkets.com, 2014, p. 1)

14

See Appendix O for how Nikes endorsement deals have grown since 2003

37

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

adidas. The second industry leader with an 11% market share in athletic apparel and 19%
market share in footwear in 2011 is adidas (Bank of America Merrill Lynch, 2012). The adidas
group maintains several brands including adidas Sport Performance, adidas Originals & Sport
Style, Five Ten, Reebok, Taylor Made, adidas Golf, Adams Golf, Ashworth, and Reebok CCM
Hockey (adidas Group, 2015). adidas Groups mission is to be the best sports brand in the
world by taking advantage of the brands broad and unique sports product portfolio, with
expertise spanning footwear, apparel, and equipment for professional athletes to premium
fashion (adidas Group, 2015, p. 54). Under the Reebok brand, the mission is to design and
create the best gear and experiences for the sport of fitness and for fitness athletes around the
globe (adidas Group, 2015, p. 56). In 2014, adidas key contributors to its long-term sustainable
growth across all brands include
gaining sales and market share in the key global categories football [soccer], running and
basketball with adidas Sport Performance, expanding adidas Sport Style in fast fashion
with the adidas NEO label, maintaining adidas Originals strong momentum with the
fashion-driven lifestyle consumer, and establishing Reebok as the leading fitness brand.
(adidas Group, 2015, p. 53)
adidas operates these brands in nine global market segments; however, Western Europe, North
America, Greater China, and Russia/CIS are the companys key markets (adidas Group, 2015, p.
49). The company also sees growth opportunity in Latin America and other emerging markets
such as the Middle East and North Africa, Turkey, and India (adidas Group, 2015, p. 50).
In order to drive future sales growth, adidas uses four strategic principles for each brand
under the adidas Group. The four pillars are leadership in product innovation to inspire and
excite the consumer, marketing and communication leadership to drive brand advocacy,

38

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

activation and validation via a relevant set of promotion partnerships, and extending brand reach
and appeal through strategic partnerships (adidas Group, 2015, p. 54). This strategic platform
centers on adidas marketing initiatives, especially its sports sponsorships. Figure 9 shows a
breakdown of the adidas Groups strategic pillars. A key tenet of our marketing and
communication strategy is to hardness the emotion of sport and the benefits of a sporting
lifestyle across all communication channels (adidas Group, 2015, p. 58). Between Nike, adidas,
and lululemon, adidas is the only company that has a strong emphasis on its marketing initiatives
in its annual report.

Figure 9. adidas Group Strategic Pillars (adidas Group, 2015, p. 46)

Even though Nike is the world leader when it comes to sports apparel and footwear,
adidas holds many impressive partnerships that have made it a global brand. For example, adidas
dominates international soccer by sponsoring the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA EURO, the UEFA
Champions League, national federations in Germany, Spain, Russia, Mexico, Argentina,
Columbia and Japan, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Chelsea FC, FC Bayern Munich, Manchester
United Football, and many high-profile athletes such as Lionel Messi (adidas Group, 2015, p.
59). These represent some of the sponsorships that are included in the companys 2014 working
marketing budget of 1.548 billion (adidas Group, 2015, p. 110).

39

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

In addition, adidas announced in March 2015 that it would not renew its contract with the
NBA as the official uniform and apparel supplier after the 2016-2017 season and instead will
take a new approach to basketball, and other sports, by focusing on athlete sponsorships (SI
Wire, 2015). For basketball, adidas hopes to double its roster of NBA players by 2020 and
invest more in the high school and college ranks (SI Wire, 2015, p. 2). Prior to the NBA
announcement, in January 2015, adidas Groups North American President, Mark King stated
that the companys US arm is making a play to sign as many as 250 players from the NFL and
MLB over the next three years (Adidas Could Go After Hundreds Of NFL, MLB Players As It
Shifts U.S. Focus From Soccer, 2015). This move was made in response to adidas dropping into
the number three spot within the US sports apparel and footwear market behind Nike and Under
Armour. adidas, being a German brand, has always captured the global soccer market, but the
company also needs to do a better job at connecting with American consumers, especially since
North America is still the biggest sportswear market in the world. The hope for adidas is that
marketing Reebok as a fitness brand and making these strategic changes to its sponsorship
platform will ignite US consumers to purchase adidas products over Nike and Under Armour.
Despite a decrease in the US market, adidas has continued to grow globally. In 2014,
adidas global revenue grew 9% (Kell, 2014, p. 2). In 2014, adidas Group had net sales of
14.534 billion, up from 14.203 billion in 2013 (adidas Group, 2015, p. 107). 15 Figure 10
shows adidas net sales by region and Figure 11 shows the net sales by product category.
Western Europe, adidas home market, is its strongest region; however, adidas knows its North
American sales need to be stronger. Other markets are similar in net sales ranging from 14% to

15

See Appendices P and Q for Adidas financial information

40

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

11%. Unlike Nike, adidas net sales are more evenly distributed between footwear and apparel,
with only a 3% difference.

Figure 10. adidas Net Sales By Region (adidas Group, 2015, p. 107)

Figure 11. adidas Net Sales By Product Category (adidas Group, 2015, p. 107)
These statistics show that while adidas has to improve in North America, its overall global net
sales are strong and consistent with the global sportswear market sales from Figures 4, 5, and 6.
lululemon athletica. lululemon is a designer and retailer of technical athletic apparel
which makes healthy lifestyle inspired athletic apparel marketed under the lululemon athletica
and ivivva athletica brand names (lululemon athletica inc., 2015, p. 1). The apparel and
accessories lines are for women, men and female youth and consists of pants, shorts, tops and
jackets for yoga, running, general fitness, and dance. The mission of lululemon is to produce
products which create transformational experiences for people to live happy, healthy, fun lives

41

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

(lululemon athletica inc., 2015, p. 1). As of February 1, 2015, lululemon has a total of 302 stores,
268 are located in North America, 26 in Australia, 5 in New Zealand, 2 in the United Kingdom,
and 1 in Singapore (lululemon athletica inc., 2015, p. 2). lululemon also has a presence in the
Middle East due to a new license and supply agreement to operate branded retail locations in the
United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain for five years (lululemon athletica
inc., 2015). lululemon relies on direct-to-consumer and corporate-owned stores to generate
revenue focusing on creating direct and personal relationships with its consumers (lululemon
athletica inc., 2015). In 2014, lululemon made $1.797 billion in revenue where (lululemon
athletica inc., 2015, p. 18). From the data shown in Figures 7 and 8, lululemon seems to be the
only major athletic apparel company to have gained market share between 2011 and 2014 with
an increase of 1%.
One of the reasons lululemon has had rapid growth, and is becoming a viable competitor
of Under Armour, is because it began focusing solely on the female consumer, capturing a target
audience which other athletic apparel companies, like Under Armour, have struggled to attract.
Women were not being addressed in a way that related to their lifestyles, and lululemon filled
that void with fashionable and functional athletic apparel. In order to continue that growth,
lululemon plans to expand its mens line and female youths lines in the same way it has
connected to women.
In the next few years, the company [lululemon] hopes its mens business will grow to $1
billion in annual sales. Meanwhile, Nike and Under Armour, whose customers are mostly
men, want to do a better job of tackling the womens market. Nike is hoping sales of
sports bras, tights, and other womens gear can add $2 billion to annual sales by 2017.

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Under Armour has said its $500-million womens business can one day be as big if not
bigger than its mens business. (Kell, 2014, p. 2)
While lululemons annual report does not delineate its revenue between its womens line, mens
line, and female youth line, it is assumed that the majority of the $1.797 billion in revenue comes
from its womens line.
Another reason for lululemons growth is its use of lifestyle marketing. lululemon uses a
community-based approach to building brand awareness and customer loyalty and pursues a
multi-faceted strategy which leverages our local ambassadors, social media, in-store community
boards and a variety of grassroots initiatives (lululemon athletica inc., 2015, p. 3). This means
that lululemon creates a deep personal connection between the brand and its consumers through
four key strategies. The four key strategies are (1) to design and develop innovative athletic
apparel that combines performance with style and incorporates real-time guest feedback; (2)
locate our stores in street locations, lifestyle centers and malls that position each lululemon
athletic store as an integral part of its community; (3) create an inviting and educational store
environment that encourage product trial and repeat visits; and (4) market on a grassroots level
in each community, including through social media and influential fitness practitioners who
embrace and create excitement around our brand (lululemon athletica inc., 2014, p. 1). These
four strategies are implemented in each product line as well as in lululemons international
expansion.
lululemon does not seem to have a sports sponsorship strategy like Under Armour, Nike,
and adidas. However, it does have alternative programs that center around community.
lululemon uses ambassadors, local athletes, instructors and role models in our lululemon store
communities who embody the lululemon lifestyle, to test lululemon product and provide

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

feedback (Our frequently asked questions, 2015, p. 12). lululemon also has a team sales program,
which develops relationships local athletic teams, yoga studios, and fitness facilities that are
active in their communities, but it is not a sponsorship (lululemon athletica team sales program,
2015). The focus in these strategies is to create personal relationships with its consumers and the
community.
Under Armour Company Analysis
Mission/Vision/Goals. Under Armours mission is to make all athletes better through
passion, design, and the relentless pursuit of innovation and its vision is to empower athletes
everywhere (Mission & Values, 2015, p. 1). Along with its mission and vision, Under Armour
uses four pillars of greatness to guide the company in its future growth: make a great product, tell
a great story, provide great service, and build a great team (Mission & Values, 2015). These
statements guide every aspect of the business from product development to marketing strategy to
human resources.
With these guiding principles in mind, CEO and founder Kevin Plank stated that Under
Armours goal is to become of world's biggest sports brand by targeting the women's sports
apparel and footwear markets, expanding its base of Under Armour retail outlets and spreading
its brand around the globe (Mirabella, Under Armour surpasses Adidas to become No. 2 sports
brand, 2014). Plank has also stated that he wants Nike and adidas to know what it feels like to
be No. 2 (Belvedere, 2015, p. 1). In order to accomplish this goal, Under Armour needs to
continue to increase revenue and take market share away from Nike and adidas by expanding its
product lines and growing internationally.
History. Under Armour began in 1996 when former University of Maryland football
player Kevin Plank decided there needed to be a better product for athletes to train in than a

44

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

cotton t-shirt (About Under Armour, 2015). He was frustrated that the cotton apparel provided by
the University of Maryland athletic department would soak up moisture and weigh athletes
down. Plank felt that if athletes could feel lighter and more comfortable it would ultimately lead
to better performance (Kraft & Lee, 2009, p. 1). Plank developed the first shirt to work with
your body to regulate temperature and enhance performance, which ultimately changed the
landscape of the sportswear market (About Under Armour, 2015, p. 1). Thus, the idea of
performance apparel - gear engineered to keep athletes cool, dry and light throughout the course
of a game, practice or workout was born (About Under Armour, 2015, p. 1).
Under Armour had many challenges to overcome as a new company in the athletic
apparel market. It needed to break into a market that was dominated by Nike and adidas; and it
had a minimal marketing budget to market its product (Kraft & Lee, 2009). Lacking financial
resources, it became essential for Under Armour to generate unique means for allowing its
product to hit the marketplace, and ultimately grow in visibility (Kraft & Lee, 2009, p. 113).
Under Armour employed inexpensive, strategic marketing initiatives that developed its brand
image and reached its target audiences to make it stand out from the clutter in the industry (Kraft
& Lee, 2009). The four main marketing initiatives Under Armour used were athlete
endorsements and product seeding, word of mouth marketing, popular culture, and product
placement (Kraft & Lee, 2009, p. 113). Since Plank was a former collegiate football player, he
had connections with players and athletic trainers in the NFL and the collegiate football scene.
He marketed his new performance T-shirts to athletes and key people in football programs,
which ultimately enabled Under Armour to land its first major contract with Georgia Tech
University (Kraft & Lee, 2009). By 1997, one year after Under Armour launched in the market,
the company had deals with twelve college football teams and ten NFL teams (Under Armour

45

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Performance Apparel History, 2004). These athletes became, in essence, walking billboards and
increased the word of mouth marketing in the marketplace (Kraft & Lee, 2009, p. 113).
Under Armour also used product placement in pop culture and entertainment to create
buzz marketing around its products. Under Armour products were seen in movies and television
programs such as Any Given Sunday, The Replacements, Fantastic Four, The Apprentice, Friday
Night Lights, etc. (Kraft & Lee, 2009, pp. 114-115). The utilization of the marketing technique
of product placement in television, movies, and video games has allowed Under Armour to
promote the benefits of its product line to a larger audience (Kraft & Lee, 2009, p. 115).
Ultimately, these low cost, strategic marketing initiatives led Under Armour to grow its market
share, to expand industry stature and revenue, and to utilize more traditional marketing
techniques, such as advertisements during sporting events, sponsorship deals, and licensing deals
(Kraft & Lee, 2009).
In order to continue to grow, Under Armour developed new product lines by using the
apparel technology innovation of the moisture-wicking t-shirt, which included expanding into
athletic footwear and wearable technology. The company also expanded from a male-dominant
brand to a womens line in 2003 (Under Armour Performance Apparel History, 2004). These
product and line expansions have been essential for the year-over-year rapid growth of the
company. However, Under Armour still faces a big growth challenge in growing internationally.
The 2014 Annual Report stated that over 90 percent of Under Armours revenue comes from
North America (2014 Under Armour Annual Report, 2015, p. 4). As Figures 8 and 9
demonstrate, Nike and adidas are still the global leaders in the sportswear market. Therefore,
Under Armour needs to treat the market as it did when it first entered the scene in 1996. Under

46

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

47

Armour needs to utilize low-cost, strategic marketing initiatives in order to grow in other
markets like it did in the U.S.
Products. Since 1996, Under Armour has developed, marketed, and distributed products
for branded performance apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and youth (Under
Armour, 2015, p. 1). Under Armour apparel consists of three gearlines, HEATGEAR (warm
weather), COLDGEAR (cold weather) and ALLSEASONGEAR (in-between weather),
which come in three fits: compression, fitted, and loose (Under Armour, 2015). These product
lines intend to enhance comfort and mobility, regulate body temperature and improve
performance regardless of weather conditions (Under Armour, 2015, p. 1). Under Armour also
broke into the footwear business, offering footwear products for football, baseball, lacrosse,
softball and soccer cleats, slides and performance training, running, basketball and outdoor
footwear (Under Armour, 2015, p. 2). Accessories include headwear, bags, and gloves that
utilize HEATGEAR and COLDGEAR technologies (Under Armour, 2015). Under Armour
also has licensing agreements for other apparel and accessories products (Under Armour, 2015).
Furthermore, Under Armour has a new digital fitness division by acquiring MapMyFitness,
MyFitnessPal, Endomondo, and developing its own digital fitness community app Record, which
has created the worlds largest digital health and fitness community (Miller M. J., 2015).

16

Company Financials and Growth. As shown in the mission and vision statements,
innovation and the care of athletes are the top priorities that drive the remarkable growth and
success of Under Armour. According to the Under Armour 2014 Annual report, net revenues
grew from $1.0639 billion in 2010 to $3.0844 billion in 2014 with just over 9% of the net
revenues coming from countries outside of North America (Under Armour, 2015, pp. 25, 30).

16

See Appendix R for a network map of Under Armour Connected Fitness

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Figure 12. Under Armour 2014 Net Revenues by Market (2014 Under Armour Annual
Report, 2015, p. 4)
Figure 12 shows Under Armours 2014 Net Revenues by market, where international business is
so small that all of the markets are combined into a category called Other foreign countries and
businesses. Plank believes Under Armour is a $10 billion company (Stock, 2013). With the
current growth rate at over 20 percent, Under Armour should reach the $10 billion mark by 2020.
Furthermore, the company is projecting to reach $4 billion in revenue by 2016 (Adams, 2014).

Figure 13. Under Armour Five-Year Net Revenue Growth (2014 Under Armour Annual
Report, 2015, p. iii)

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Figure 13 shows the companys net revenue growth over the past five years, which has a fiveyear CAGR of 29.2% (2014 Under Armour Annual Report, 2015, p. iii).
According to Adams, for Under Armour to maintain its growth and narrow the gap
between its much-larger competitors like NIKE Inc. and adidas AG, officials concede it must
strengthen its international, footwear, and womens businesses (2014, p. 1). Footwear is still a
small portion of Under Armours business, producing only 14% of the companys net revenues
(2014 Under Armour Annual Report, 2015, p. iii). Figure 14 shows the breakdown of net
revenues by product category. Both Nike and adidas have the majority of their revenue coming
from footwear. Under Armour must increase footwear revenue to at least half of its business to
remain a viable competitor in the market. Under Armour made a smart move into performance
wear technology because it complements the apparel technology Under Armour is known for, as
well as broadens Under Armours global reach. However, there is still a lot of room to grow
when it comes to increasing its international business.

Figure 14. Under Armour 2014 Net Revenues by Product Category (2014 Under Armour
Annual Report, 2015, p. iii)

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Target Markets. Under Armour focuses on providing and selling our products to highperforming athletes and teams on the high school, collegiate and professional levels (Under
Armour, 2015, p. 2). Historically, the company has been a male athlete driven brand. In the early
days of Under Armour, Kevin Plank focused the brand on getting into the hands of collegiate
football athletes and programs; thereby, getting his first team sale at the end of 1996 (History,
2015). In 1999, Under Armour supplied product for the movie Any Given Sunday, helping to
establish the brand in sports (History, 2015). Over the next two years, the Brand formed
relationships with key retail partners and professional sports leagues, including Major League
Baseball, the National Hockey League, and the Baltimore Marathon (History, 2015). With the
addition of male-dominant advertising initiatives, the company focused the first seven years of
its existence to male athletes and sports.
By 2003, Under Armour began shifting its focus to include the ever-growing female
demographic with its first womens line (History, 2015). In the past couple of years, Under
Armour has been more aggressive in attracting female consumers by further developing the
womens line and creating the I WILL WHAT I WANT campaign in 2014, which has been
called the companys biggest-ever marketing push for women (Meehan, 2015).
This campaign has also helped to change Under Armour focus on athletes to
athletic/active consumers. Under Armours purchases of fitness tracking apps further shows its
interest in refocusing its brand to include athletic consumers and not just athletes. Under Armour
purchased Endomondo and MyFitnessPal in February 2015 in hopes of furthering its
development into the fitness/health tracking space.
Together, the two companies [Endomondo and MyFitnessPal] can boast of an amazing
100 million registered users. When the company manages to integrate them into its

50

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

MapMyFitness platform, it will have the biggest digital health and fitness community in
the world on its books. (Trefis Team, 2015)
About 72% of the app users are women and 40% are outside North America, which should help
Under Armour reach new female and international consumers.
Global Expansion and Sports Marketing. Under Armour has been focusing its
international expansion endeavors on the European (EMEA), Asian-Pacific, and Latin American
regions with sports sponsorships and retail being the key strategies for gaining market share
(2014 Under Armour Annual Report, 2015). As of March 2015, Under Armour has 140 stores
in the US and 67 stores outside of the US and sells online to consumers in more than 80
countries (Under Armour Eyes Australian Foray, Plans To Open Flagship Stores Within A
Year, 2015, p. 1). Under Armours sponsorships focus mainly on North American sports and
athletes including college football, the NFL, USA Gymnastics, the MLB, Jordan Spieth, Stephen
Curry, etc. However, Under Armour is working to build its international sponsorship footprint.
To facilitate Under Armours international expansion focus, the company has its international
headquarters in Panama City, Panama; its European headquarters in Amsterdam, The
Netherlands; and its Asian-Pacific regional headquarters in Shanghai, China (UNDER
ARMOUR GLOBAL OFFICE LOCATIONS, 2015, p. 1).

17

Under Armour has a short-term goal of growing its international revenue to 12% by 2016
(Investor's Business Daily, 2014, p. 2). Much of that growth will be focused on Europe, where
Under Armour looks to tap into the Continents passion for soccer by sponsoring professional
clubs (Investor's Business Daily, 2014, p. 2). The three key markets in Europe are the UK,
Germany, and France, which reached $100 million for the first time in 2014 (2014 Under

17

See Appendix S for a map of Under Armours international offices

51

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Armour Annual Report, 2015, p. iii). In Europe, Under Armour sponsors the Tootenham Hotspur
Football Club and the Welsh Rugby Union (2014 Under Armour Annual Report, 2015). Under
Armour is also looking to open brand stores in major European cities such as Paris, Berlin,
London, Munich, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and/or Madrid, which would create much needed
visibility in the European market (Weisz, 2015). Furthermore, stronger sponsorship presence in
Europe is also essential to growing the brand in Europe (Weisz, 2015).
In Latin America, Under Armour has focused on Chile, Mexico, and Brazil. In 2014,
Under Armour added Chiles Colo Colo football team (soccer) to its sponsorship family (2014
Under Armour Annual Report, 2015). In March 2015, Under Armour added the Sao Paulo
football club to its soccer sponsorships which also includes Cruz Azul and Toluca of Mexicos
Liga MX (Mirabella, Under Armour will sponsor Brazil's most decorated soccer club, 2015).
Furthermore, Under Armour established its apparel and footwear in Mexico and Brazil, hitting
the South American market heavily compared to its other international endeavors.
Both Europe and Latin America are markets where soccer is the number one sport for
fans. While soccer is the most popular sport in the world, it is a tough sport to gain sponsorships.
The soccer market for athletic apparel is dominated by adidas and Nike, as shown by the 2014
FIFA World Cup. It will be very difficult for Under Armour to penetrate such a competitive
market within soccer, especially since Under Armours marketing budget is much smaller than
Nike and adidas. It would be a better move for Under Armour to focus on a different
international sport or a couple of international sports that are easier to penetrate and have fans
just as passionate as soccer fans. For this reason, Under Armours addition of Rugby Canada to
its international sponsorship deals is a positive contribution, except for the fact that it is still
within North America (Symington, 2014).

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

In Asia-Pacific, Under Armour is using retail to create an experience of the Under
Armour brand. Under Armour sells its products directly to consumers through its 13 brand
house stores. But the number of stores will grow to more than 50 by the end of this year [2015]
(Adams, 2014, p. 2). These retail stores consist of 80 percent storytelling and 20 percent
product in the attempt to help educate consumers in this market on what it is like to be an
athlete (Adams, 2014). Another piece of Under Armour that helps to grow its Asia-Pacific
business is Under Armours deal with Stephen Curry. Curry is one of the best players in the
NBA and in June 2015 helped the Golden State Warriors to win the NBA Championship.
Research on the top-selling NBA Jerseys during 2014-15 season shows Curry is the second most
popular jersey overall and the third most popular jersey in China, where Under Armour has its
brand experience stores (Boudway, 2015, p. 1).

18

Currys exposure in China is a great way for

Under Armour to expand its footwear line and the brand in the Asia-Pacific; however, Curry is
the only NBA athlete in Under Armours sponsorship family and the basketball market is still
dominated by Nike.
Another important sports sponsorship to note is Under Armours endorsement deal with
golfs Jordan Spieth, who won the 2015 Masters and created $33.6 million in brand exposure
for Under Armour (Katje, 2015, p. 1). Under Armour signed Spieth in 2013 to be the face of
UA Golf and after a strong showing in the golf world, Under Armour renewed the endorsement
deal in January 2015 for another ten years (Katje, 2015, p. 1). While the sport of golf is
declining, Under Armour believes the success from Spieth in the sport will generate growth
(Katje, 2015).

18

See Appendix T for the Top-Selling NBA Jerseys During 2014-15 Season

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Finally, one of the biggest expansion efforts by Under Armour is its womens line. Under
Armour not only wants its womens division to reach $1 billion by 2016, but also become the
number one womens athletic apparel brand in the world (Adams, 2014, p. 2). In 2014, the I
WILL WHAT I WANT campaign featuring Giselle Bundchen, Misty Copeland, Lindsay Vonn,
Sloane Stephens, and Kelley OHara has championed stories of women from various athletic
backgrounds who have broken barriers to climb the top of their respective fields (Under Armour
Unveils Newest Chapter Of I WILL WHAT I WANT Campaign Featuring Gisele Bundchen,
2014). This campaign and these sponsorships aim at three key growth areas, women, the athletic
consumer, and athleisure trends. The campaign not only tries to empower all women to achieve
their goals, but spans from sports to dance to modeling, showing that women of different
backgrounds can all be considered athletic and strong. With women becoming increasingly more
important to the global economy, focusing on women is at the top of all sports apparel and
footwear companies.
SWOT Analysis
Overview. SWOT analysis is the identification and assessment of strengths,
weaknesses, opportunties, and threats intended to yield strategic insights (Valentin, 2001, p.
54). While there are many criticisms of how a SWOT analysis is used, Hussey suggests that an
analytical approach is needed to get the best results from a SWOT analysis (2002). Hussey also
suggests that a SWOT analysis is situational and must be done in context (2002). Figure 15
shows some of the analytical components that should be considered when conducting a SWOT
analysis.
The SWOT analysis conducted for this study takes into consideration industry and market
analyses, the external business environment, and the capabilities, vulnerabilities, effectiveness,

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

flexibility, and resources examined in the company analysis. Furthermore, the following SWOT
analysis was conducted in the context of Under Armours using of sports marketing initatives to
expand into new international markets.

Figure 15. Analytical Components to SWOT Analysis (Hussey, 2002, p. 47)

Based on research analyzed in the competitive landscape analysis and the company analysis,
several stregnths, weakness, opportunities, and threats have been determined relating to Under
Armours international expansion. The internal components are the strengths and weaknesses
and the external components are the opportunities and threats. Figure 16 is a summation of the
SWOT analysis conducted in this study.
Strengths and Weaknesses. Internally, Under Armour has many strengths that will help
it grow internationally. Under Armour is known for its technological innovation in apparel and
now footwear and digital health and fitness. This innovation stems from its mission to make all
athletes better and therefore is a core competency in the company. Furthermore, this core
compentency and mission generate high quality products that consumers trust to help them
perform better. Under Armour uses several marketing techniques that focus around showcasing

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESSES

Technology innovation in apparel and

footwear
High quality products
Successful sport sponsorships
Connected Fitness
I WILL WHAT I WANT campaign
Branded retail stores
Strong year-over-year growth

Lack of marketing budget

Small Internatonal presence, revenue, and
growth
Focusing international expansion on soccer
Not enough branded retail stores in key
international markets
Known as an American Football brand

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

Health and fitness and athleisure trends

Global growth outlooks for sports apparel and
footwear
Womens influence
Trend in athletes wanting better performance
Increase in global sponsorship spending

Nike and Adidas global industry leaders

Nike leads in basketball sponsorships
Adidas leads in soccer sponsorships
Cluttered industry
Lululemon dominating women

SWOT
ANALYSIS

High competiton for technology advancements

Figure 16. Under Armour International Expansion SWOT Analysis

the quality and technological attributes of its products, including strategically and successfully
sponsoring both seasoned elite athletes, such as Michael Phelps and Lindsay Vonn, and the next
generation of elite athletes and teams, such as Steph Curry and Jordan Spieth. These
sponsorships help to build brand awareness of Under Armour products to consumers.
Next, the new Connected Fitness division is furthering the relationship between athletic
performance and the consumer. Under Armour is not only gaining new customers through this
effort, but is learning about its consumers, including how they use athletic apparel and footwear
products, what their lifestyles are, how active they are, etc. This helps to create brand loyalty and
build a strong relationship with consumers. Additionally, Under Armour has built a strong
marketing campaign to focus on bringing brand awareness to women with the I WILL WHAT I
WANT campaign. Under Armour incorporates each of these key pieces, as well as other brand

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

components into its branded retail stores. With these stores, Under Armour creates brand
experience and allows customers to interact with the products. All of these strengths have driven
Under Armour to have many consecutive quarters of over 20% growth. Both the womens line
and the footwear division are large contributing factors to its impressive growth.
While Under Armour has many strengths, the company also has weaknesses which hold
it back from gaining market share and expanding internationally. Under Armour does not have
the financial backing to make big marketing decisions like Nike and adidas do. Therefore, Under
Armour is limited, from a financial standpoint, to participate in some lucrative sports
sponsorships that would help it grow its international audience and create global brand
awareness. The company does have some international presence, but after 19 years, the company
struggles to gain international revenue. As mentioned in the company analysis section, Under
Armour has a focus on Western Europe, specifically France, the UK, and Germany; Asia-Pacific;
and Latin America for its international expansion. However, international revenues are so small
that the company categorizes all of its international revenue under one category. This shows that
none of these international markets are at a turning point for being a significant revenue driver
for the company. The lack of international presence, revenue, and growth is one of the main
reasons Nike was awarded the new sponsorship with the NBA starting the 2016-2017 season.
Furthermore, Under Armours strategy to grow internationally is to sponsor soccer teams and
players. This strategy might not be the best move for Under Armour, given that soccer
sponsorship are some of the most lucrative in all of sports and Nike and adidas are the industry
leaders in soccer.
Another weakness for Under Armours international expansion is the lack of branded
retail stores in Europe and Under Armours just beginning its entrance into Latin America with

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

58

retail and sponsorships. These two markets, especially since Under Armour deemed Europe as its
key market, are essential for international growth. Even though Under Armour is creating a
strong retail base in the Asia-Pacific region, retail development in Europe and Latin America
will help build brand awareness and allow customers to experience the brand and its products.
More international sports sponsorships would also help to create a localized touch to the brand in
those regions.
The final key weakness for Under Armour is being known as an American Football
brand. Chatmine Technologies analyzed athletics and sports associated with Under Armour in
social media showing that American football is the sport most associated with the company.

19

Under Armour needs to position itself as more than an American football brand in order to reach
international markets and consumers. Basketball, being the most international American sport,
is a good start for Under Armour to reach international consumers. However, Nike is clearly the
dominant player. Under Armour needs to focus on sports that have international fan bases, but do
not require the marketing dollars of Nike and adidas to enter the sport.
Opportunities and Threats. From an external perspective, there are several
opportunities that align well with Under Armours strengths and could help overcome some of
Under Armours weaknesses. First, the health and fitness trend is global. Not only are consumers
more concerned about their health and fitness, but governments and other businesses are
concerned as well. Bank of America Merril Lynch came out with the Globesity report in 2012 to
discover ways to fight obesity across the globe (Bank of America Merrill Lynch, 2012). The
New Economics Foundation created the Happy Planet Index which ranks countries based on
their efficiency, how many long and happy lives each produces per unit of environmental output

19

See Appendix U for Chattime Technologies research on the top 10 Under Armour sports associations

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

(Happy Planet Index, 2015, p. 1). The United Nations has a human development report that
measures many indicators of human development such as birth rates, poverty levels, education,
expenditure on health, gender inequality, overweight children, etc. (Human Development
Reports Data, 2015). Finally, The Social Progressive Imperative has created the Social
Progressive Index which, offers a rich framework for measuring the multiple dimensions of
social progress, benchmarking success, and catalyzing greater human wellbeing including
health and wellness, nutrition, access to basic knowledge, and access to information and
communications (The Social Progress Imperative, 2015, p. 1). Each of these reports shows trends
across the globe in concern for health and fitness. As the Globesity report demonstrates, athletic
apparel and footwear companies, like Under Armour, are essential to help make the world a
healthier place (Bank of America Merrill Lynch, 2012).
The health and fitness trend is intertwined with the athleisure trend. As mentioned in the
competitive landscape section, more and more consumers across the globe are looking to have
their fitness attire transition from the gym to social events and even work. Apparel now has to be
both fashionable and functional. Athletic apparel and footwear companies are not the only
companies following this trend. Fashion apparel is also entering this space, creating fashionable
athletic wear and sportswear companies are adding fashion and celebrity to their product lines.
Because of the trend in health and fitness awareness and athleisure in the global market, there is
also a global growth trend for athletic apparel and footwear. Strong growth outlooks for the
sportswear market show that this trend is not slowing down and athletic apparel and footwear
companies are in a great market to be expanding.
Furthermore, spending growth in sports sponsorship is continuing to increase year after
year throughout the world. Figure 17 shows how much each region has grown in sponsorship

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Figure 17. Global Sponsorship Spending by Region from 2009 to 2015 (in billion U.S.
dollars) (Cox, 2015)
spending since 2009. North America still has the biggest sponsorship spend in the world, but the
European and Asian Pacific regions are large components of the global market, which confirms
Under Armours moves to focus on the European and Asian Pacific regions. This is also
important for sportswear companies because athletes, professional and amateur, want sports
apparel and footwear products that will increase their performance. Considering the growth in
sponsorship dollars, sportswear companies are not only creating brand awareness for consumers
by sponsoring athletes and teams, but other athletes and teams might seek out a top performing
apparel and footwear brand to add to their equipment. For athletes and teams, athletic apparel
and footwear are considered equipment and can make a difference for high level sports
performance.

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

The trend of women becoming more influential to the global marketplace is another
opportunity. Under Armour, like many other companies, recognized that and created its largest
marketing campaign focusing on women. lululemons entire business was built on women with
active, healthy lifestyles. Not only are female consumers becoming key purchasing decision
makers, but womens participation in sports is continuing to increase. These are key factors for
Under Armour to consider when expanding internationally. Under Armour has acknowledged
most of these opportunities by choosing to enter growth markets, focusing marketing campaigns
on key demographics, and making sure its products meet the athleisure trend as well as the
quality to perform that is needed by serious athletes.
Even with such great opportunities, Under Armour has to strategically maneuver around
threats in the market. The biggest threat is Nikes and adidas global dominance the industry,
specifically in soccer and basketball sponsorships and sales. Under Armour needs to create an
expansion and sports marketing strategy that can compete against the global dominance of its
competitors without over spending. This means finding low-cost, smart sponsorships that will
drive brand awareness and sales internationally. Nike is the clear leader in basketball and adidas
and Nike are both leaders in soccer. Marketing spend for sponsors in these sports is going to be
higher.
Moreover, the sportswear industry is fairly cluttered with companies the size of Under
Armour or smaller. Under Armour will need to use a strategy that can break through the clutter
of the market as well as compete with the industry leaders. This includes lululemons dominating
women, a key growth target audience. While lululemon focuses primarily on the yoga and
running healthy lifestyles, the brand has gathered a strong following because of how it builds
relationships with its consumers. Under Armour needs to keep this in mind as it expands its

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

womens line. lululemon has not expanded its focus into other sports, so it is possible that Under
Armour can capture women on a different level than what lululemon has done. Finally, the sports
apparel and footwear market has strong competition to have the best technology for its
consumers. While Under Armour is a very innovative company, it constantly needs to be aware
of the technology its competitors are producing and continue to out-innovate the competition.
Internationalization Strategy
Overview. When companies are looking to expand into new international markets, they
must decide which markets are best suited for the expansion. Faced with too many choices,
marketers have the challenge of determining which international markets to enter and the
appropriate marketing strategies for those countries (Market Potential Index (MPI) - 2014,
2014, p. 1). The first step in determining which markets to enter is to analyze the market
potential (Cavusgil, 1997). To do this, macro-environmental factors are used to select the
countries that have the most international expansion potential for the company. Cavusgil
conducted a study where he used seven dimensions of market opportunity to determine the
Overall Market Opportunity Index for emerging markets (Cavusgil, 1997). This index helps
organizations measure market attractiveness for expanding into new international markets
(Cavusgil, 1997). The seven dimensions of market opportunity are market size, market growth
rate, market intensity, market consumption capacity, commercial infrastructure, economic
freedom, and market receptivity (Cavusgil, 1997, pp. 88-90). Each of these dimensions could
encompass multiple criteria. For example, market intensity includes purchasing power parity
(PPP) and private consumption expenditure per capita (Cavusgil, 1997, p. 89).
Criteria for Measuring the Potential of Markets. In order to determine which
countries are best suited for Under Armours international expansion, Cavusgils indexing

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

approach to measuring the potential of emerging markets was adapted for Under Armour. The
first evaluation consists of the key markets in which Under Armour currently conducts business.
The second evaluation consists of ten potential markets, which were chosen based off the Market
Potential Index (MPI) from globalEDGE Michigan State University and sports/activity level
factors. 20 The final evaluation combines Under Armours current markets with the potential
markets. Markets in North America were not analyzed because of Under Armours dominance in
North America. The evaluations only focus on international markets outside of North America
that could help grow Under Armours international sales to over ten percent of revenue.
The three country attractiveness evaluations used the same criteria for comparison fitting
into three categories: Market Indicators, Consumer Indicators, and Business Indicators. Each
criterion was given a weight based on how important the criterion is to Under Armours
international expansion success and stayed consistent between each evaluation. The Market
Indicators consisted of percent GDP growth, purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita, and
population, which came from research conducted by The World Bank (World Bank Group,
2015). These criteria help to determine the size of the economy and potential for growth in each
market.
The Consumer Indicators include health spending as a percentage of GDP, prevalence of
insufficient physical activity among adults aged 18+ years, gender gap global rankings, and top
sporting nations rankings. Health spending as a percentage of GDP is from research by the
World Health Organization and helps show how committed the market is to being healthy
(Rogers, 2012). The World Health Organization also produced the research on the prevalence of
insufficient physical activity among adults aged 18+ years. This criterion is defined as the

20

See Appendix V for the Market Potential Index

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Percent of defined population attaining less than 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical
activity per week, or less than 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week, or
equivalent (Indicator: Prevalence of insufficient physical activity among adults aged 18+ years,
2011). This helps to show whether potential consumers in the market are active and would
benefit from Under Armour products. The only country that did not have any information from
this research was Costa Rica. Therefore, a rating of one was given for this criterion. The gender
gap global ranking is from the 2014 Global Gender Gap Index, which measures the magnitude
of gender-based disparities in 111 countries (World Economic Forum, 2014, p. 3). Since Under
Armour has a strong focus on expanding its womens line, this criterion will help measure how
women friendly a country is. Finally, the top sporting nations ranking list was used to determine
how committed the market is to sports and athletics. The sporting nations ranking list analyzed
data for men and women on each of the 55 biggest global sports (Brown, Top Sporting Nations
2014, 2014). The rankings were weighted by size of sport to form a comprehensive list to the
world's best current sporting nations (Brown, Top Sporting Nations 2014, 2014, p. 1).
Incorporating this data into the evaluation was imperative because this could affect the
opportunity of sport sponsorship, licensing deals, athlete endorsements, and potential sales in
those markets.
The Business Indicators criteria consisted of commercial infrastructure ease of doing
business rank, and the Global Competitiveness Index. The commercial infrastructure criterion
came from the 2014 Market Potential Index, which consisted of research on cellular mobile
subscribers in 2012, households with internet access in 2012, main telephone lines in 2012,
number of PCs in 2012, paved road density in 2013, population per retail outlet in 2013, and
percentage of households with color TV in 2013 (Market Potential Index (MPI) - 2014, 2014, p.

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

2). This criterion helps to show whether or not a markets infrastructure would be able to support
Under Armour retail store, its online store, its products, especially the new digital fitness
division, and its marketing campaigns. The ease of doing business ranking from the World Bank
Group ranked 189 countries on factors such as starting a business, dealing with construction
permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors,
paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency (Economy
Rankings, 2014). A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is
more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm (Economy Rankings, 2014, p. 1).
The Global Competitiveness Index was conducted by the World Economic Forum to assess
the competitiveness of 144 economies across all geographies and stages of development.
The GCI aims at capturing the complexity of the phenomenon of national
competitiveness, which can be improved only through an array of efforts in different
areas that affect the long-term productivity of a country, which is the key driver of
economic growth. (2014, p. 42)
Each of these criteria helps to determine how easy or difficult it would be for a company, like
Under Armour, to expand into a new market.
Market Potential Results. The results from the three evaluations show that Under
Armours focus on France, Germany, and the United Kingdom as its key markets is valid. Figure
18 shows the results from the Under Armour evaluation; Figure 19 shows the results from the
potential market evaluation; and Figure 20 shows the results from all markets country
evaluation.21 Results in green represent high scores, results in yellow represent mid scores, and
results in red represent low scores.

21

See Appendix W for spreadsheets of country attractiveness evaluations

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

66

Under Armour Markets Evaluation

Total Scores
Australia

5.48

Chile
Mexico

3.76
2.76

Brazil

3.57

China

3.59

Germany

6.43

UK

5.04

France

5.41

Figure 18. Under Armour Markets Evaluation Total Scores

Potential Markets Evaluation Total Scores

Qatar

4.41

South Africa
Costa Rica

5.04
4.22

Uruguay

4.82

Russia

6.45

Ireland

6.17

UAE
India
South Korea
Japan

Figure 19. Potential Markets Evaluation Total Scores

5.72
4.87
6.11
7.26

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

67

All Markets Evaluation Total Scores

Qatar

6.99

South Africa
Costa Rica
Uruguay

7.37
6.41
6.93

Russia

10.36

Ireland

9.62

UAE
India

8.6
7.44

South Korea

9.25

Japan

11.19

Australia

12.91

Chile
Mexico

8.92
7.63

Brazil
China

8.88
9.26

Germany
UK
France

14.46
12.45
12.94

Figure 20. All Markets Evaluation Total Scores

Germany seems to have the most market potential among the companys current markets
as well as all eighteen of the markets researched. Germany scored 14.46 out of 18 in the
weighted ranking in the all market evaluation. This shows that Germany is the top market to
focus on expanding internationally. While Germany has the lowest percent GDP growth out of
all the markets, it ranks highest in top sporting nations and has the second lowest score for
insufficient physical activity among adults. These two criteria are weighted higher than the other
criteria due to the importance of capturing the target market. In fact, all of the consumer indicator
criteria ranked high for Germany, making it a great target market for Under Armour.

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Under Armour also made a great decision to expand into Australia, especially since
Australia scored second highest among the companys current markets and third highest among
all of the markets analyzed. Australia scored 12.91 out of 18 in the all market evaluation showing
that the country matched 72% of the criteria. Australia is very strong in commercial
infrastructure and ease of doing business. The country also has a strong consumer base showing
an active adult population, small gender gap, and being one of the top sporting nations.
Based on the potential markets analysis, Under Armour has the most potential in Japan,
Ireland, and Russia. In the all markets evaluation, Japan ranked 11.19 out of 18 putting it in the
highest score rankings with Germany, France, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Japan has
strong market and business indicators, as well is in the top five for health spending as a percent
of GDP. It is also top six of sporting nations between all of the markets analyzed. The next
highest scores after Japan were Russia with 10.36 and Ireland with 9.62. Both of these nations
have different strengths that would make them good markets for Under Armour to consider.
Russia seems to have stronger consumer indicators than Ireland, but Ireland has the best
commercial infrastructure and ranks high in ease of doing business. Russia beats out Ireland
based on population and growth, but Ireland has higher PPP. While Under Armour wants to
build more of a presence and gain more market share in its top markets, Japan, Ireland, and
Russia should be considered as next new markets to enter.
Unfortunately, these evaluations show that developing economies might not be the best
markets to expand into right away. Qatar and South Africa are two countries that have been
developing in the sports industry. South Africa has hosted many international sporting events
such as the 2005 World Cup, but the evaluation results show that the country is low on market
and business indicators. However, South Africa ranked high in closing the gender gap, which

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

could be good for Under Armours womens line. Qatar, on the other hand, will be hosting the
2022 World Cup, but has one of the lowest consumer indicator scores. 41.6 percent of adults
over 18 years old in the country are inactive (Prevalence of insufficient physical activity among
adults, 2015). In addition, only 1.8 percent of GDP was spent on health in 2012 (World Bank
Group, 2015). These two criteria show that consumers in the country might not be ready to pay
for high quality athletic apparel and footwear.
Sports Marketing Strategy
Overview. Following the country selection analysis, Under Amour needs to determine
which sports will provide the best avenue for reaching the target consumers in each market.
According to research conducted by Vanessa Ratten and Hamish Ratten, there seems to be a
lack of integration between sports marketing and international business disciplines Sports
marketing are an important aspect of international sports ventures as it is necessary to the
business growth and survival (2011, pp. 614-615). Since Under Armour operates on multiple
levels within the sports industry, the company must have a global perspective of sports, while
also taking into consideration the local consumers cultural and lifestyle interests. Thus, the
international sports marketing strategy for Under Armour must include global and local
presence; provide growth; have strong, avid fan bases; and provide cost-effective marketing
strategies.
Under Armours Current Sports Marketing Initiatives. Shank and Lyberger state the
strategic sports marketing process is the process of planning, implementing, and controlling
marketing efforts to meet organizational goals and satisfy consumers needs (2015).
Furthermore, sports marketing research suggests that in addition to demographic measures (age,
gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and education), consumer lifestyle indicators (activities,

69

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

interests, and opinions) which reflect regional cultural characteristics, are also useful (Bradish,
Stevens, & Lathrop, 2003). Currently, Under Armour markets its mens products in North
America through baseball, basketball, boxing, fishing, football, golf, hockey, hunting, lacross,
running, ski/snowboarding, soccer, surf, tactical, tough mudder, and training (Men's Sports,
2015). Under Armour markets its womens line in basketball, field hockey, hunting and fishing,
lacrosse, military and tactical , running, ski/snowboarding, soccer, softball, studio, tennis, tough
mudder, training, and volleyball (Women's Sports, 2015). Under Armour also delineates its
childrens products by boys sports and girls sports. Boys sports consists of baseball,
basketball, football, golf, hunting, lacrosse, running, surfing, soccer, and training; while girls
sports consist of basketball, lacrosse, running, soccer, softball, studio, training, and volleyball
(Boys' Sports & Girls' Sports, 2015). In total, Under Armour markets its products across twenty
sports in the North America.
However, after examining several of Under Armours international websites, including
the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, etc., it is clear that Under
Armour is not taking into consideration the consumers needs and consumer lifestyle indicators
in its international markets. For example, in North America, Under Armour has marketed its
products based on popular sports in the region and then localizes the marketing by team and
athlete to connect with consumers on a personal level. On the other hand, the company does not
apply the same marketing strategy to the additional 85 countries in which it sells product (Region
Selection, 2015). For example, Under Armours France website has no French athletes or teams
marketing Under Armour products. The only team shown with its products is Tottenham (United
Kingdom) and the only athletes shown are Memphis Depay (The Netherlands) and Andy Murray
(Scotland). Regionalization encourages the decision making process to be closer to specific

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

consumer markets (Bradish, Stevens, & Lathrop, 2003, p. 209). Based on glocalization, it is
important for Under Armour to market its products with sponsorships using local athletes and
teams in order to reach consumers on a personal level.
Under Armour sponsors 41 athletes, and five international soccer teams (UA Roster,
2015). Out of the 41 athletes, only eight are international (UA Roster, 2015). While this roster
list does not include all of Under Armours sponsorship family such as its collegiate teams and
other international teams such as Rugby Canada, it still is a good representation for the lack of
global presence in its sports marketing strategy. Furthermore, this shows a correlation between
the companys revenue being mainly from North America and its sponsorship family being
mostly from North America. In order to gain revenue internationally, Under Armour will have to
adapt its sports marketing strategy to sponsor more teams and athletes in all its key markets.
Sports Marketing Analysis. In order to determine which sports teams and athletes are
going to give Under Armour the biggest global impact on a budget, a sports marketing analysis
should be conducted with each market. There are many factors to consider when conducting a
sports marketing analysis. These factors include the growth of the sport, sport participation,
number of professional athletes, number of Olympic teams, number of fans, global media
coverage, attendance, number of national federations, the number of professional teams, global
viewership, etc. Much like the factors used in Cavusgils indexing approach to measuring the
potential of emerging markets, these sports factors will help to determine which sports have the
biggest global presence and the right target audiences for Under Armour.
Unfortunately, much of the information regarding these factors is scattered, making it
difficult to pinpoint accurate information on the global reach of each sport. Separate research by
sport needs to be conducted in order to analyze each of these factors on a global perspective.

71

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Therefore, a comparison chart was used instead to determine the sports in which Under Armour
should focus its marketing efforts. 22 Six factors were used in the analysis. These six factors are
most popular sport ranking, markets interested in each sport, degree of difficulty ranking,
number of players, fans, and number of national federations. These six factors were chosen
because they each can affect how Under Armour products should be marketed to consumers. The
most popular sports ranking, number of players, fans, and number of national federations help to
understand how many potential consumers there are for Under Armour products. Furthermore,
number of players and number of national federations gives insight into potential sponsorship
opportunities from professional to amateur athletes and teams. The number of national
federations and markets interested in each sport gives the geographic profile of the sport. The
research conducted by Brown provided insight into how big each sport is in each country, while
the number of national federations is separated into regions. Finally, the degree of difficulty of
each sport was included specifically because Under Armour products are made to help all
athletes perform better. The technology Under Armour products provide could help with athlete
performance and recovery. Thus, the sports with high degrees of difficulty might be good
markets for Under Armour products.
Therefore, thirteen sports covering these six factors were analyzed. The thirteen sports
were basketball, rugby, cricket, ice hockey, field hockey, tennis, volleyball, baseball, golf,
athletics, gymnastics, boxing, and cycling. The sports were chosen based on the products Under
Armour currently produces for the consumer. For example, Under Armour does not make
swimwear, therefore swimming and aquatics would not be a good sport for Under Armour to
focus on, even though it does sponsor Michael Phelps. Another example is Under Armour

22

See Appendix X for the sport comparison chart

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

making products for American football and soccer meaning those products can translate to rugby
and hockey because of the similar nature of the sports. American football is not included in this
evaluation because the sport is mainly an American sport and Under Armour is already a
dominant player in the North American market. In addition, soccer is not included because it is
clearly the most popular sport in the world and Under Armour has already chosen to focus its
international expansion on soccer.
Results. Based on the research in the comparison chart, eight of the thirteen sports are
well suited for Under Armour to market to its top four markets, Germany, France, Australia, and
the United Kingdom. These sports are basketball, rugby, cricket, tennis, golf, athletics, boxing,
and cycling. Each of these sports is significant in all four or three out of the four markets. For
example, rugby is a major sport in France, Australia, and the United Kingdom and a fringe sport
in Germany (Brown, Biggest Global Sports, 2014, p. 5). Therefore, Under Armour would want
to focus its marketing efforts in France, Australia, and the United Kingdom on rugby
sponsorships, licensing, grassroots, and other marketing programs to create brand awareness and
generate sales in those markets. Figure 21 shows the breakdown of sports by market. The sports
listed as a huge or major interest in the market are a primary focus for Under Armour. The sports
listed as medium and minor in the markets are secondary. Fringe sports are not included because
they are still too small to create the impact that Under Armour needs. Tennis was the only sport
out of the thirteen to be major in all four markets. Baseball is the only sport in the comparison in
which all four markets considered it a fringe sport.

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

74

Germany

France

Australia

United
Kingdom

Primary Focus:

Primary Focus:

Primary Focus:

Primary Focus:

Rugby
Cricket
Tennis

Rugby
Cricket
Tennis
Golf

Basketball
Tennis

Secondary
Focus:
Ice Hockey
Field Hockey
Volleyball
Golf
Athletics
Gymnastics
Boxing
Cycling

Basketball
Rugby
Tennis
Cycling

Secondary
Focus:
Volleyball
Golf
Athletics
Boxing

Secondary
Focus:
Basketball
Field Hockey
Golf
Athletics
Boxing
Cycling

Secondary
Focus:
Basketball
Field Hockey
Athletics
Boxing
Cycling

Figure 21. Sports Analysis Comparison Chart By Key Market

In addition to these sports being good fits in Under Armours top four markets, these
factors also give insight into the global reach of each of these sports for further expansion. For
example, basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world with 450 million people
playing the sport globally and about 400 million fans (FIBA, 2015), (Top 10 List of the Internet
World's Most Popular Sports, 2015). Basketball also has the most national federations among the
sports analyzed and is ranked as the second most popular sport in the world after soccer (Brown,
Biggest Global Sports, 2014, p. 1). This shows that Under Armour will be able to expand into
new markets once it has successfully established itself in the key markets because basketball has
such a strong global presence. Under Armours current sponsorship with Stephen Curry is a good
start to gaining global recognition in the basketball community, but the company can also gain

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

advantage with national federations after it creates enough brand awareness and increases
buyers propensity to purchase.
According to Lesa Ukman, professor at Northwestern University and Futures Director at
ESP Properties, sponsorship has three main objectives: to improve corporate image, increase
propensity to purchase, and build brand awareness (2014, p. 3). By using the country selection
analysis with sports marketing strategy evaluations, Under Armour will be able to segment
markets and target consumers based on their cultural lifestyles through sports sponsorships, thus
allowing consumers to create an emotional connection to the brand that will drive sales and
increase brand exposure globally.
Conclusion and Implications
The purpose of this study is to examine how the sports industry and sports marketing
strategy affect the international expansion of Under Armour. Research showed the sports
industry is a multi-billion dollar global industry that bridges a gap between business and the
consumer. Sport is a cultural institution and is embedded in every society in the world.
Companies use sports to create brand awareness, promote product and services, gain new
consumers, and more. Under Armour operates within all three of the sports segments as a
producer of sporting goods, as a sponsor of athletes and teams, and aids in the sports
performance of athletes. In addition to being a part of the sports industry, it also operates in the
apparel, footwear, and technology industries. While these industries have many players, Under
Armours biggest competition comes from leaders Nike and adidas. Both Nike and adidas
control the top two sports in the world, soccer and basketball, and have large marketing budgets
that can buy the top sponsorships in any sport. While Under Armour has a strong focus on its

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home market in North America, it has struggled to grow internationally. Less than ten percent of
its revenues come from outside North America.
The research conducted in this study shows that Under Armours internal factors are well
suited for continued growth due to its mission to make all athletes better, to produce high quality
performance gear, and to act on consumer trends. However, the companys lack of international
presence, being known as an American football brand, and threats from Nike and adidas keep the
company from becoming a truly global brand. In order to break through the barriers it faces in
growing globally, it is necessary for Under Armour to connect its international expansion
strategy with its sports marketing strategy.
The country selection analysis based on Cavusgils indexing approach to measuring the
potential of emerging markets, validated Under Armours focus on Germany, France, and the
United Kingdom, and its expansion into Australia as the companys key markets for international
growth potential. Finally, the sports strategy evaluation compared thirteen sports on six factors in
order to determine which sports would be the best strategic sports marketing approach. Primary
and secondary sports were determined for each market. Tennis was the only sport that was highly
popular in all four key markets and baseball was the only sport in which all four markets
considered it a fringe sport. The sports strategy analysis concluded that Germanys primary
sports are basketball and tennis; Frances primary sports are basketball, rugby, tennis, and
cycling; Australias primary sports are rugby, cricket, and tennis; and the United Kingdoms
primary sports are rugby, cricket, tennis, and golf. Under Armour should be focusing its sports
marketing efforts in these markets on those sports in order to attract new consumers and drive
sales. Sponsoring local teams and athletes, as well as setting up licensing and grassroots
marketing in these sports and markets will help grow international sales. Furthermore, the sports

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

strategy evaluation showed that these sports also have strong global presence and can be
expanded upon in the future, which would help in Under Armours quest for becoming the top
sportswear manufacturer in the world.
While this study examined a lot of research, further research should be conducted to
expand upon the findings. There are many different strategic analyses companies use to provide
direction for growth an expansion. This research studied the external and internal environments
of Under Armour using a competitive landscape analysis, a company analysis, and a SWOT
analysis. Other strategic analyses such as Porters five forces analysis, the BCG Growth Share
Matrix, and a PESTEL analysis would provide a deeper understanding of the external
environment before entering a new market. Specifically Porters five forces analysis and a
PESTEL analysis would look at each of Under Armours key markets individually. The external
and SWOT analyses focused on the global market instead. Other further research should also be
conducted on the individual sports in each of the key markets. Global sports data is scattered and
not well researched. Every international federation, national federation, National Olympic
Committee, league, and team gathers information about its participation, viewership, attendance,
etc. However, that information is not compiled into a single database, making it difficult to
research on a large, global scale. The focus is also typically on the major U.S. sports or soccer,
which was not included in this study. Furthermore, any data that was compiled on a larger scale
was inaccessible due to the cost of purchasing the data. A company, like Under Armour, Nike, or
adidas would have the financial means to purchase the data, which would further support the
analyses used in this study.
Nonetheless, other companies within and outside the sports industry can implement the
research and analyses used in this study. The implications of this study are that sports marketing

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IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

can be an important growth strategy in international business. A company must understand its
internal factors and the external environment in order to choose the best strategy for international
growth. Finally, sports marketing can be combined with a country selection model to bridge the
gap between a business, international markets, and consumers to help a company grow.

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to hit US$84.4 billion by 2018; Asia Pacific to Dominate Demand: Transparency Market
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Trefis Team. (2013, May 13). Why Nike Will Outpace The Sports Apparel Market's Growth.
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97

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix A
The Sports Ecosystem: The Flow of Money

(A.T. Kearney, Inc., 2014, p. 6)

98

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix B
Sports Market Revenue vs. CAGR

(A.T. Kearney, Inc., 2014, p. 2)

99

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix C
Sports Revenue Growth vs. GDP Growth

(A.T. Kearney, Inc., 2014, p. 2)

100

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix D
Estimated Total Economic Value of Sports Industry, 2005

(Humphreys & Ruseki, 2009, p. 110)

101

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix E
Porters Five Forces Framework Template

102

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

103

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

104

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

105

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

(Dobbs, 2014, pp. 40-45)

106

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

107

Appendix F
Sports Federations List
Sport

Federation

Aikido

International Aikido Federation (IAF)

Air sports (including aerobatics, air racing,

Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI)

ballooning, gliding, hang gliding, and

parachuting/skydiving)
Airsoft

International Airsoft Practical Shooting (IAPS)

Alpine Skiing

IPC Alpine Skiing (IPC AS)

Aquatics (swimming, diving, synchronized

Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA)

swimming, water polo and open water swimming)

Archery

World Archery Federation (WA)

Arm wrestling

World Armwrestling Federation (WAF)

Athletics

IPC Athletics (IPC AT)

Athletics (covering track and field, road running,

International Association of Athletics

cross country running, decathlon and racewalking) Federations (IAAF)

Australian rules football

AFL Commission

Auto racing

Federation Internationale de l'Automobile

(FIA)

Badminton

Badminton World Federation (BWF)

Bandy

Federation of International Bandy (FIB)

Baseball and softball

World Baseball Softball Confederation

(WBSC)

Basketball

Federation Internationale de Basketball

(FIBA)

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Basque pelota

Federation Internationale de Pelota Vasca

(FIPV)

Beach Soccer

Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW),

Federation Internationale de Football
Association (FIFA)

Behcup

World Behcup Federation (WBF)

Biathlon

International Biathlon Union (IBU)

Billiard sports (including carom billiards, pocket

World Confederation of Billiard Sports

billiards/pool, and snooker)

(WCBS)

Bobsleigh and skeleton

Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de

Tobogganing (FIBT)

Bocce

Confederazione Boccistica Internazionale

(CBI)

Boccia

Boccia International Sports Federation

(BISFed) [10]

Bodyboarding

International Bodyboarding Association (IBA)

Bodybuilding

International Federation of Bodybuilding &

Fitness (IFBB)

Boot throwing

International Boot throwing Association

(IBTA)

Boule Lyonnaise

Federation Internationale de Boules (FIB)

Boules sports

ConFederation Mondiale des Sports de

Boules (CMSB)

Bowling (Canadian five-pin)

Canadian 5 Pin Bowlers Association (C5PBA)

Bowling (Ten-pin)

Federation Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ)

Bowls

World Bowls (WB)

108

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Bowls

Professional Bowls Association (PBA)

Boxing

World Professional Boxing Federation

(WPBF)

Boxing (amateur)

International Boxing Association (AIBA)

Bridge

World Bridge Federation (WBF)

Broomball

International Federation of Broomball

Associations (IFBA)

Canoeing

International Canoe Federation (ICF)

Casting

International Casting Sport Federation (ICSF)

Chess

Federation Internationale des checs

(FIDE)[3][4][5]

Correspondence Chess

International Correspondence Chess

Federation (ICCF)

Cricket

International Cricket Council (ICC)[6]

Croquet

World Croquet Federation (WCF)

Curling

World Curling Federation (WCF)

Cycling

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI / ICU)

DanceSport

International DanceSport Federation (IDSF)

Darts

World Darts Federation (WDF)

Dragon boat racing

International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF)

Draughts

World Draughts Federation (FMJD)

Elephant Polo

World Elephant Polo Association (WEPF)

Equestrian

International Federation for Equestrian Sports

(FEI)

Fencing

Federation Internationale d'Escrime (FIE)

109

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Fishing

International Confederation of Sports Fishing

(CIPS)

Fistball

International Fistball Association (IFA)

Floorball

International Floorball Federation (IFF)

Flying disc

World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF)

Foosball

International Table Soccer Federation (ITSF)

Football

Federation Internationale de Football

Association (FIFA)

Football (American and Canadian)

International Federation of American Football

(IFAF)

Football (Gaelic)

Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA)

Football 5-a-side

International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA)

Football 7-a-side

Cerebral Palsy International Sports and

Recreation Association (CPISRA)

Game Fishing

International Game Fish Association (IGFA)

Go

International Go Federation (IGF)

Goalball

International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA)

Golf

The R&A; United States Golf Association

(USGA)

Golf

International Golf Federation (IGF)

Greyhound racing

American Greyhound Track Operators

Association (AGTOA), National Greyhound
Racing Club (NGRC)

Gymnastics, (including rhythmic gymnastics,

Federation Internationale de Gymnastique

sports acrobatics, sports aerobics, trampolining

(FIG / IFG)

and tumbling)

110

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Ham Radio Contesting, Amateur Radio Direction

International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)

Finding & High Speed Telegraphy

Handball (court)

Irish Handball Council, United States

Handball Association (USHA)

Handball (team)

International Handball Federation (IHF)

Hapkido Boxing

Hapkido Boxing International Organization

(HBIO)

Harness horse racing

Harness Horsemen International (HHI),

European Trotting Union (UET)

Hockey (field)

International Hockey Federation (FIH)

Horse racing

International Racing Bureau (IRB)

Horseshoes

National Horseshoe Pitchers Association of

America (NHPA)

Hurling

Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA)

Ice hockey

International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF)

Ice skating (including figure skating, speed

International Skating Union (ISU)

skating, and Short-track speed skating)

Ice Sledge Hockey

IPC Ice Sledge Hockey (IPC ISH)

Intercrosse

Federation Internationale d?Inter-Crosse

(FIIC)

Judo

International Judo Federation (IJF)

Judo

International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA)

Ju-jitsu

Ju-Jitsu International Federation (JJIF)

Kabaddi

International Kabaddi Federation (IKF)

Karate

World Karate Federation (WKF)

111

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Kendo

International Kendo Federation (IKF)

Kickboxing

World Federation of Kickboxing (WFK)

Kickboxing, Muay Thai and San Shou

International Kickboxing Federation (IKF)

Korfball

International Korfball Federation (IKF)

Kung Fu

International Kung Fu Federation (IKF)

Lacrosse

Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL)

Life saving

International Life Saving Federation (ILSF)

Luge

Federation Internationale de Luge de Course

(FIL)

Mallakhamb

Mallakhamb Confederation of World (MCW)

Military Sports

International Military Sports Council (Conseil

International du Sport Militaire)

Miniature golf

World Minigolfsport Federation (WMF)

Mixed martial arts

International Sport Combat Federation (ISCF)

Modern Arnis

International Modern Arnis Federation (IMAF)

Modern pentathlon

Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne

(UIPM)

Motorcycle sport

Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme

(FIM)

Mountain running

World Mountain Running Association

(WMRA)

Mountainboarding

International Mountainboard Riders

Association (IMRA)

Mountaineering

Union Internationale des Associations

d'Alpinisme (UIAA)

112

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Muay Thai

International Kickboxing Federation (IKF),

International Federation of Muaythai Amateur

Netball

International Federation of Netball

Associations (IFNA)

Nordic skiing (including Biathlon and Cross-

IPC Nordic Skiing (IPC NS)

Country Skiing)
Orienteering

International Orienteering Federation (IOF)

Paddleball

National Paddleball Association (NPA)

Panathlon

Panathlon International

Parkour

World Freerunning Parkour Federation

(WFPF)

Pespallo

Pespalloliitto

Petanque

Federation Internationale de Petanque et Jeu

Provencal (FIPJP)

Pigeon racing

Royal Pigeon Racing Association (RPRA)

Pitch and Putt

International Pitch and Putt Association

(IPPA)

Poker

International Federation of Poker (IFP)

Pole dance

International Pole Sports Federation [IPSF]

Polo

Federation of International Polo (FIP)

Powerboating

Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM)

Powerlifting

IPC Powerlifting (IPC PO), International

Powerlifting Federation (IPF), WUAP, GPC,
WPC

Practical shooting

International Practical Shooting

Confederation (IPSC)

113

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Quidditch

International Quidditch Association (IQA)

Quizzing

International Quizzing Association (IQA)

Racketlon

International Racketlon Federation (FIR)

Racquetball

International Racquetball Federation (IRF)

Radio-controlled car racing

International Federation of Model Auto

Racing (IFMAR)

Rafting

International Rafting Federation (IRF)

Rock-It-Ball

International Rock-It-Ball Federation (IRIBF)

Rogaining

International Rogaining Federation (IRF)

Roller sports (including inline hockey, roller racing, International Federation of Roller Sports
rink hockey, roller derby and artistic)

(FIRS)

Rope Skipping

International Rope Skipping Federation

(IRSF)

Rope skipping

World Rope Skipping Confederation (WRSC)

Rounders

National Rounders Association (NRA)

Rowing

International Rowing Federation (FISA)

Rugby Fives

Rugby Fives Association (RFA)

Rugby league

Rugby League International Federation

(RLIF)

Rugby union

World Rugby (WR)

Sailing

International Sailing Federation (ISAF),

International Federation for Disabled Sailing
(IFDS)

Sambo

Federation International of Amateur Sambo

(FIAS)

114

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Sepak Takraw

International Sepaktakraw Federation

(ISTAF)

Shinty

Camanachd Association

Shooting

International Shooting Sport Federation

(ISSF), IPC Shooting (IPC SH)

Shuttlecock

International Shuttlecock Federation

Skateboarding

International Skateboarding Federation (ISF)

Ski mountaineering

International Ski Mountaineering Federation

(ISMF)

Skibobbing

International Skibob Federation (FISB)

Skiing (including Alpine, Nordic combined, cross-

Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS)

country, freestyle, ski jumping and

snowboarding):
Sled dog sports

International Federation of Sleddog Sports

Slot car racing

International Slot Racing Association (ISRA)

Soft Tennis

International Soft Tennis Federation (ISTF)

Sports climbing

International Federation of Sport Climbing

(IFSC)

Sports fishing

ConFederation Internationale de laPeche

Sportive

Sqay

International Council Of Sqay (ICS)

Squash

World Squash Federation (WSF)

Sumo

International Sumo Federation (ISF)

Surfing and bodyboarding

International Surfing Association (ISA)

Swimming

IPC Swimming (IPC SW)

115

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Table hockey

International Table Hockey Federation (ITHF)

Table Soccer

International Table Soccer Federation (ITSF)

Table Tennis

International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)

Taekwondo

World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) &

International Taekwondo Federation (ITF)

Tchoukball

Federation Internationale de Tchoukball

Tennis

International Tennis Federation (ITF)

Tent Pegging

International Tent Pegging Federation (ITPF)

Throwball

International Throwball Federation (ITF)

Timekeepers

Federation Internationale des Chronomtreurs

Touch football

Federation of International Touch (FIT)

Triathlon

International Triathlon Union (ITU)

Tug-of-war

Tug-of-War International Federation (TWIF)

Underwater sports

ConFederation Mondiale des Activitis

Subaquatiques (CMAS)

Villowo

International Villowo Federation (IVF)

Volleyball and Beach volleyball

Federation Internationale de Volleyball

(FIVB), World Organization Volleyball for
Disabled (WOVD)

Vovinam

International Vovinam Federation (IVF)/The

Vovinam-VietVoDao World Federation
(WVVF)

VX

The International Federation - Global VX

Water skiing

International Water Ski Federation (IWSF)

Weightlifting

International Weightlifting Federation (IWF)

116

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Wheelchair basketball

International Wheelchair Basketball

Federation (IWBF)

Wheelchair curling

World Curling Federation (WCF)

Wheelchair Dance Sport

IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport (IPC WDS)

Wheelchair Fencing

International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports

Federation (IWAS)

Wheelchair rugby

International Wheelchair Rugby Federation

(IWRF)

Wheelchair tennis

International Tennis Federation (ITF)

Wrestling

United World Wrestling (UWW)

Wushu

International Wushu Federation (IWUF)

Yoga

Yogasports Confederation of World (YCW)

(Wood, 2015, pp. 1-5)

117

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

118

Appendix G
Sporting Goods Manufacturing Companies:
Company

Sales

Employees

Gross Profit
Margin

TOSHIBA
CORPORATION

63,922.95M

200,260

26.30%

MITSUBISHI
ELECTRIC
CORPORATION

39,347.55M

124,305

BRIDGESTONE
CORPORATION

33,904.00M

144,875

37.68%

Chuo-Ku,
Tokyo, Japan

NIKE, INC.

27,799.00M

56,500

45.82%

Beaverton, OR

adidas AG

17,666.08M

50,700

47.64%

Herzogenaurach,
Bayern,
Germany

V.F. Corporation

12,282.16M

59,000

48.71%

Greensboro, NC

Location
Minato-Ku,
Tokyo, Japan
Chiyoda-Ku,
Tokyo, Japan

The Swatch Group 9,901.49M

Far East
Distribution Ltd

29,788

Biel-Bienne,
Bern,
Switzerland

JARDEN
CORPORATION

8,287.10M

33,000

31.60%

Boca Raton, FL

SUMITOMO
RUBBER
INDUSTRIES,
LTD.

6,983.46M

30,224

38.92%

Kobe, Hyogo,
Japan

Macandrews &
Forbes Holdings
Inc.

5,310.70M

60,637

YOKOHAMA
RUBBER
COMPANY,
LIMITED, THE

5,212.67M

15,869

DECATHLON

5,072.10M

60,000

PUMA SE

4,109.56M

10,830

New York, NY

34.75%

Minato-Ku,
Tokyo, Japan

Villeneuve D
Ascq Cedex,
Nord, France
46.48%

Herzogenaurach,
Bayern,
Germany

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

119

YAMAHA
CORPORATION

3,982.00M

20,034

37.19%

Hamamatsu,
Shizuoka, Japan

BRUNSWICK
CORPORATION

3,838.70M

12,165

26.66%

Lake Forest, IL

Puma (Schweiz)
AG

3,586.52M

45

Oensingen,
Solothurn,
Switzerland

PURE FISHING,
INC.

3,347.00M

25,000

Columbia, SC

ASICS
CORPORATION

3,197.45M

7,484

43.82%

Kobe, Hyogo,
Japan

Amer Sports Oyj

2,941.11M

7,330

43.93%

Helsinki,
Uusimaa,
Finland

Dorel Industries
Inc

2,677.55M

11,500

39.27%

Westmount, QC,
Canada

The Warnaco
Group Inc

2,295.75M

7,136

43.28%

New York, NY

Olin Corporation

2,241.20M

3,900

17.00%

Saint Louis, MO

PENTLAND
GROUP P L C

2,217.28M

15,468

48.48%

London, London,
England

2,100.59M

5,326

45.77%

Portland, OR

COLUMBIA
SPORTSWEAR
COMPANY
OZ RING PTY
LIMITED

1,887.08M

(Hoover's, 2015, pp. 7-8)

Burleigh Heads,
Queensland,
Australia

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix H
Apparel Value Sales Growth 2012 By Region Source: Euromonitor International

(Kunde, 2013, p. 1)

120

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix I
Global Wearable Device Unit Shipments Forecast

(Danova, 2015, p. 1)

121

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix J
Key Athletic Apparel Vendors

(Bank of America Merrill Lynch, 2012, p. 91)

122

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix K
Key Athletic Footwear Vendors

(Bank of America Merrill Lynch, 2012, p. 91)

123

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix L
Nike 2014 Revenues

(NIKE, INC., 2014, p. 66)

124

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix M
Nike 2014 Revenues by Region

(NIKE, INC., 2014, p. 70)

125

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix N
History of Nikes Stock and Major Company Initiatives

(StockTwits, 2014)

126

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix O
Nike Endoresment Deals in Millions of Dollars

(Cox, 2015, p. 3)

127

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix P
Adidas Net Sales

(adidas Group, 2015, p. 107)

128

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix Q
Adidas Net Sales by Region

(adidas Group, 2015, p. 108)

129

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix R
Under Armour Connected Fitness Network

(Miller M. J., 2015, p. 1)

130

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix S
Under Armour Global Office Locations

(UNDER ARMOUR GLOBAL OFFICE LOCATIONS, 2015)

131

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix T
Top-Selling NBA Jerseys During 2014-15 Season

(Boudway, 2015, p. 1)

132

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix U
Top 10 Under Armour Sports Associations

(Pitts, 2014, p. 2)

133

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix V
Market Potential Index (MPI) - 2014

134

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

(Market Potential Index (MPI) - 2014, 2014)

135

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Appendix W
Under Armour Country Attractiveness Evaluations

136

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Potential Country Attractiveness Evaluations

137

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

All Markets Country Attractiveness Evaluation

Sources:
Country Selection: (Market Potential Index (MPI) - 2014, 2014)
% GDP Growth 2013: (World Bank Group, 2015)
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) per capita $ 2013: (World Bank Group, 2015)
Population in millions 2013: (World Bank Group, 2015)

138

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Health Spending % of GDP 2012: (Rogers, 2012)
Prevalence of insufficient physical activity among adults aged 18+ years % 2010: (Indicator:
Prevalence of insufficient physical activity among adults aged 18+ years, 2011)
Gender Gap Global Rankings 2014: (World Economic Forum, 2014)
Top Sporting Nations Rankings 2014: (Brown, Top Sporting Nations 2014, 2014)
Commercial Infrastructure: (Market Potential Index (MPI) - 2014, 2014)
Ease of doing business rank: (Economy Rankings, 2014)
Global Competitiveness Index (The Global Competitiveness Index 20142015 Rankings, 2014)

139

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

140

Appendix X
Sports Comparison Chart
Most
Popular
Sport
Ranking

Markets
Interested in
Sport

Degree
of
Difficulty
Rank

Number of
Players

Main
Source:
(Brown, Biggest Global Sports,
2014, pp. 1-14)

Basketball

Huge sport in: US,

China, Turkey

(ESPN,
2004)

Major sport in: Italy,

Germany, France,
Russia, Brazil,
Mexico, Canada,
Spain, S.Korea

N/A

450 million
as of 2003
(FIBA,
2015)

Fans
(Top 10 List
of the
Internet
World's Most
Popular
Sports, 2015)
400 million

Number of
National
Federations
(International
Olympic
Committee,
2009)
Africa: 53
America: 42
Asia: 44
Europe: 49
Oceania: 17
Total: 205
(p. 34)
Currently 215
members
(FIBA, 2015)

Medium sport in:

Australia, Japan
Minor sport in: UK

Rugby
(Union &
League)

Union:
19
League:
31

Fringe sport in: India

Union:
Major Sport in:
France, UK,
Australia

13

7.23 million
(Mapping
the global
popularity
of rugby,
2014)

4 billion
television
audience in
2011 for the
Rugby World
Cup
(Ernst &
Young, 2014,
p. 6)

Africa: 21
Asia: 23
Europe: 40
N. America:
13
S. America: 9
Oceania: 12
Total: 118
(World Rugby,
2015)

N/A

1,403,779
registered
participants

2.5 billion

Full Members:
10
Associate

Medium sport in:

Italy, Japan, Spain
Fringe sport in:
Russia, Brazil,
Germany, China,
S.Korea, Turkey,
Canada
League:
Huge Sport in:
Australia
Medium sport in: UK

Cricket

Fringe sport in:

France, Spain
Dominant sport in:
India

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Huge sport in: UK,
Australia

141

(ICC, 2015,
p. 38)

Fringe sport in:

France, Germany,
Spain, Turkey,
S.Korea

Ice Hockey

10

Dominant sport in:

Canada

1,779,911
registered
players
(Survey of
Players
(2014),
2014)

World
championship
gained
cumulative
audience of
over 700
million in
over 100
countries
(Brown,
Biggest
Global
Sports, 2014,
p. 3)

17

3 million
(HISTORY
OF FIELD
HOCKEY Page 1 of 2)

2 billion

Fringe sport in:

China, France,
Russia, S.Korea,
Spain, Canada,
Turkey
Major sport in:
France, Germany,
Italy, UK, China,
Brazil, India, Russia,
Mexico, Canada,
Spain, Turkey and
Australia

Africa: 17
America: 26
Asia: 29
Europe: 41
Oceania: 9
Total: 122
(p. 70)

27.81
million
participants
(TIA, 2010,
p. 4)

1 billion

Africa: 50
America: 42
Asia: 44
Europe: 49
Oceania: 17
Total: 202
(p. 177)

12

Medium sport in:

Japan, US, S.Korea
Major sport in:
Brazil, Turkey,
S.Korea

20

800 million
(History of
Volleyball,
2015)

900 million

Africa: 53
America: 42
Asia: 44
Europe: 49
Oceania: 16
Total: 204
(p. 116)

Huge sport in: Russia

Major sport in: US
Medium sport in:
Germany
Minor sport in:
France, S.Korea

Field
Hockey

20

Fringe sport in UK,

Italy, China, Japan,
India, Brazil,
Australia, Mexico,
Spain, Turkey
Major Sport in: India
Minor sport in: UK,
Germany, Japan,
Australia

Tennis

Volleyball

Members: 38
Affiliate
Members: 57
Total
Members:
105
(International
Cricket
Council, 2015)
Full Members:
53
Associate
Members: 19
Affiliate
Members: 2
Total
Members: 74
(International
Ice Hockey
Federation,
2015)

Medium sport in:

China, Japan, France,
Italy, Russia

6 million
registered

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

players
(FIVB 2015
Media
Guide,
2015, p. 6)

Minor sport in:

Germany

Baseball

Fringe sport in: UK,

US, India, Mexico,
Canada, Spain
Huge sport in: US,
Japan, S.Korea,
Canada

142

Major sport in:

Mexico

35 million
participants
(IBAF
Numbers
Book, 2011,
p. 3)

500 million

Africa: 23
(Africa IBAF,
2015)
Americas: 29
(Americas
IBAF, 2015)

Fringe sport in:

France, Germany,
Italy, UK, Australia,
China, India, Spain,
Turkey and Brazil

Asia: 24 (Asia
IBAF, 2015)
Europe: 40
(Europe IBAF,
2015)
Oceania: 14
(Oceania
IBAF, 2015)

Golf

Major sport in: US,

Japan, UK, S.Korea

50

80 million
(HSBC,
2012, p. 9)

450 million

Track &
Field:
Pole
Vault
16
High
Jump
33
Long,
Triple
Jumps
34
Sprints
38

Millions*
no exact
global
statistic
(ABOUT
THE IAAF,
2015)

Millions* no
exact global
statistic
(ABOUT
THE IAAF,
2015)

Medium sport in:

Australia, Germany,
Italy, France, India,
Canada and Spain

Total: 130
Total
Members: 143
from 137
Countries
(International
Golf
Federation,
2014)

Minor sport in:

China, Mexico,
Turkey

Athletics

Fringe sport in
Brazil, Russia
Medium sport in:
China, Japan, UK,
Germany, France,
Italy, Brazil, India,
Russia, Spain,
Mexico and Turkey
Minor sport in: US,
Australia, Canada,
S.Korea

30 million
runners in
the US
(USATF,
2013, p. 4)

Africa: 53
America: 42
Asia: 44
Europe: 49
Oceania: 17
Total: 205
(p. 126)

IMPACT OF GLOBAL MARKETS AND SPORTS MARKETING

Gymnastics

23

Medium Sport in:

S.Korea

Distance
40
Middle
Distance
42
Weights
48
8

50 million
amateur
gymnasts
worldwide
(Population,
2014)

29.6 million
viewers of
the 2012
Olympics
Final
Womens
Competition
(O'Connell,
2012, p. 1)

Africa: 17
America: 26
Asia: 34
Europe: 48
Oceania: 2
Total: 127
(p. 61)

10 million
(AIBA International
Boxing
Association:
Summary,
2015)

80 million
(Phelps,
2013)

Boxing:
Africa: 46
America: 42
Asia: 44
Europe 50
Oceania: 14
Total: 196
(p. 7)

Distance:
20
Sprints:
27

Nearly
1,500
professional
riders,
hundreds of
thousands
of licensed
competitors,
millions of
sport
cyclists and
more than a
billion
leisure
riders and
everyday
cyclists
around the
world
(UCI, 2013,
p. 7)

Total viewers
in 2013:
181.94
million
(UCI, 2013,
p. 13)

Africa: 41
America: 40
Asia: 39
Europe: 48
Oceania: 4
Total: 172
(p. 212)

Minor sport in:

Japan, China, US,
Germany, Russia,
Brazil, Turkey

Boxing

Boxing:
11

Fringe sport in: UK,

France, Italy,
Australia, Spain,
Mexico, Canada
Boxing:
Major sport in:
Mexico, Russia
Medium sport in: US,
UK, Germany,
Spain, Japan, India,
Brazil

Cycling

15

Minor sport in:

France, Italy, China,
Australia, Canada,
S.Korea, Turkey
Major Sport in:
France, Italy, Spain
Medium sport in:
UK. Germany,
Australia, Mexico,
Turkey
Minor sport in:
Russia, US, Brazil,
India, China,
S.Korea, Canada
Fringe sport in:
Japan

143