Under Armour has signed a 10-year deal with its closest NFL team, the Ravens, under which the apparel and footwear brand will entitle the Ravens' eight-year-old practice and training facility in Owings Mills, Md. The building that has been known as The Castle will now be known as the Under Armour Performance Center. In what was described as a top-to-top deal by two Baltimore organizations that each started in '96, other than the naming rights, much of the deal is community-based initiatives. Included are coaches clinics, seven-on-seven football competitions, youth football grants, a halftime high school QB Challenge competition at Ravens games, and a display on the Ravens walk outside the team's home M&T Bank Stadium (Terry Lefton, SportsBusiness Journal). UA Chair, President & CEO Kevin Plank said that he “pitched multiple names” to Ravens Owner Steve Bisciotti for the center, including the "Ravens Nest," "Our House" and "Protect this House" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/8). In Baltimore, Jeff Barker noted some UA signs “were already in place Friday afternoon” on the Ravens' practice facility, including “one in the team meeting room.” The collaboration between the company and franchise “deepens Under Armour’s tie to the NFL,” as the company is “already an authorized distributor of footwear and gloves to NFL players, and is the title sponsor of the NFL combine.” UA also “has a presence at M&T Bank Stadium that includes two suites.” Bisciotti said that the deal “aids the team by more closely tying the franchise to a company ... that is popular with a younger demographic.” He said that the partnership was “appropriate because, compared to their rivals, the Ravens and Under Armour are both relatively new organizations” (Baltimore SUN, 6/9).
EXPANDING A PARTNERSHIP: In Maryland, Aaron Wilson noted UA is the title sponsor “for a free clinic at McDaniel College on June 16 where Ravens coach John Harbaugh and his assistant coaches will work with over 400 Carroll County youth football players.” The Ravens and UA are also “launching an annual flag football tournament that includes registration of 72 schools and over 1,400 students.” In addition, the organizations “have both been heavily involved in building and improving local athletic fields at various Baltimore schools” (CARROLL COUNTY TIMES, 6/9). A Baltimore SUN editorial states Plank and Bisciotti "see a healthy Baltimore as essential to the well-being of the state (and, not incidentally, their own success), and they say they want to do whatever they can to improve it." The two men "did not put a dollar figure on their planned charitable activities, and they didn't announce any new initiatives." But based on the value "of their previous efforts, we have no doubt that they will be substantial" (Baltimore SUN, 6/11).
