Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame

KEVIN PLANK is the Founder and current CEO of Under Armour, Inc., a leading manufacturer of sports performance apparel, footwear and accessories. Plank is a pioneer in the sporting goods industry, ultimately creating a new category of athletic apparel now called performance apparel. 

The original concept for Under Armour came to Plank on the football field. As the special teams captain at the University of Maryland in 1995, Plank was fed up with the heavy cotton t-shirts he had to wear under his uniform. He was the self-proclaimed “Sweatiest Guy on the Football Field,” and dreamed of a day when he was not weighed down by his soaked clothing during games. 

After graduation Plank pursued his dream, trying various materials before finding the right one – a tight-fitting, moisture-wicking fabric that could ultimately support the wearer’s muscles and help to regulate body temperature. Under Armour was born. In 1996, Plank began marketing his new product out of the basement of his grandmother’s house. Using his professional football friends to network, Plank visited locker rooms across the country, selling his shirts directly to players and equipment managers. 

A turning point for Plank was landing a $25,000 advertisement in ESPN The Magazine. Through the new-found exposure and excellent word-of-mouth reviews, Plank was able to gross $1 million in direct sales in 2000, just four short years after the start of Under Armour. In 2003, Plank secured his first television advertisement featuring his former University of Maryland teammate Eric Ogbogu. In the commercial, Ogbogu is seen shouting “we must protect this house,” surrounded by a huddle of fellow football players. The resulting success of the commercial led to Plank adopting the popular phrase “Protect This House” as the slogan for Under Armour. Still to this day you can hear this phrase rumbling throughout football stadiums across the United States. 

In 2012, Forbes publicly recognized Plank for “changing the athlete’s experience on the playing field.” He was named No. 3 on Forbes’ annual “40 Under 40” list and number three on Forbes’ list of “America’s 20 Most Powerful CEOs 40 and Under.”

Under Armour has recently undergone aggressive expansion, becoming an international sensation as well. Most recently, Under Armour signed a 10-year deal with the University of Notre Dame to become its official apparel supplier. This is currently the largest sporting goods deal in NCAA history, estimated to be worth more than $90 million. Under Armour is also entering deals with numerous other universities and has undergone the first-ever acquisition of a digital fitness company. 

Plank is also a major donor of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. He played an integral role developing a new endowment fund for the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship to help invest in startup businesses like Under Armour. Currently, Plank sits on the University Of Maryland’s Board of Trustees. Plank is also on the Board of Directors for the Baltimore City Fire Foundation, the Greater Baltimore Committee and the Greater Washington Sports Alliance. He is an active member of the Board of Trustees for Living Classrooms. 

Please note: This biography was produced from the nominating materials in the candidate’s nominating year, so the information is not current.