Menu
In-Depth

What if? Imagining Kevin Plank without Under Armour

So what would Kevin Plank be doing if he wasn’t running Under Armour? There’s overwhelming opinion that he would be running his own business.

“He couldn’t work for anybody,” said Under Armour North America President Matt Mirchin. “Kevin would definitely have his own company.”

Supporting that theory, Plank recalls that just after his Maryland graduation, he was expecting a job offer to sell

Photo by: Under Armour
insurance. However, his mom failed to deliver the phone message. When Plank protested, his mom quieted him by telling him what everyone at Under Armour now knows. “She said, ‘There’s no way you are working for someone else,’” Plank said. “She was right.”

Still, there are some who can see Kevin as a coach.

“He’d show you a little bit of love and a little yelling, just like any good coach, and throw a clipboard now and then,” said Under Armour co-founder Kip Fulks, with a laugh.

Ryan Kuehl, a veteran of 12 NFL seasons who now runs Under Armour’s sports marketing, said the culture is already reminiscent of a locker room. “There’s a level of buy-in here that’s the equivalent to a good NFL team, as far as the direction we’re going, and Kevin sets that,” he said.

Peter Ruppe, senior vice president of footwear, said it wouldn’t be much different. “He’s an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur, so my guess is he would have started something else, and it would still be in sports.”

After quickly considering whether there could be a business in combining the flower service he ran during his college days with today’s fleet of Uber drivers, Plank quickly retreated to the present. “I am intellectually curious by nature, so the good news is that I was able to combine that with a passion,” he said. “Sports defined my life for my first 23 years; building this has been special and defined me for the last 20 or so.”

Said Under Armour Chief Digital Officer Mike Lee: “Kevin was born to do this. It’s impossible to imagine him doing anything else.”

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2016/06/20/In-Depth/What-if.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2016/06/20/In-Depth/What-if.aspx

CLOSE