According to a report from Rolling Stone, Steph Curry is poised to sign a lifetime contract with Under Armour worth “potentially more than $1 billion.”
The four-time NBA champion and two-time NBA MVP’s current deal with Under Armour expires in 2024, with the current deal reportedly worth $20 million annually. Curry, 34, left Nike in 2013 for a roughly $4 million-per-year deal with Under Armour.
Stephen Curry signed to Nike when he entered the league in 2009, but left in 2013—notably due, in part, to a botched presentation from the Swoosh to get Curry to stay with the brand. Shortly after his Nike contract expired, Curry inked an endorsement deal with Under Armour. Curry’s tenure with Under Armour was in question in 2018 after he felt the brand had a lack of commitment to his shoes at the time. Curry then had a meeting with Under Armour’s former CEO, Kevin Plank, who agreed to establish Curry Brand, a subsidiary brand of Under Armour that officially launched in 2020. Curry’s current deal with Under Armour is set to expire in 2024.
In 2020, Curry and Under Armour launched an offshoot apparel division, Curry Brand, in an effort to compete with Nike and its Jordan Brand. The new line included shoes and clothes for basketball, as well as other sports such as golf.
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Stephen Curry joined Under Armour in 2013, landing a signature shoe deal and merchandising deal. His first sneaker dropped in 2015 as the “Under Armour Curry 1.” Since then, Curry has become the face of the corporation, even creating his own sub-brand named the “Curry Brand.”
But that doesn’t mean that things have always been smooth with the Davidson product and Under Armour. According to Sullivan, there was significant friction between Curry and Under Armour founder Kevin Plank.
Stephen Curry’s primary sponsor has presented its own headache. In 2013, he left Nike for a roughly $4 million-per-year deal with Under Armour. Then came the designs for one of Curry’s early signature sneakers, which were ridiculed online as “an outdoor bowling shoe” — and in his own locker room. Founder Kevin Plank claims that he developed ensuing models together with Curry. But some people familiar with the process remember Plank personally emphasizing the UA logo, just as Curry’s imprimatur was coming into its own; sales of his 2016 sneaker were disappointing. (An Under Armour representative says there is “complete alignment” on shared branding.)
“There wasn’t quite an understanding of what it took to run a business like that properly,” Curry says of Under Armour’s commitment to his shoes at the time. He pauses. “So, yeah, I got mad.”
Curry’s current contract with Under Armour runs through 2024 but that is expected to change as he’ll likey become a lifelong parter with the company before that.
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Sources: Rolling Stone, Complex, Forbes
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