Stephen Curry, Under Armour Launch 'Curry Brand'; New Shoes Drop Dec. 11
Under Armour and Stephen Curry on Monday announced the launch of an offshoot apparel division, Curry Brand, which is set to debut its shoes Dec. 11.
The brand, which is similar to Michael Jordan's relationship with Nike, will feature apparel for several sports, most notably basketball and golf.
"Obviously, basketball is the no-brainer and my expression of what I do best, but when it comes to golf and when it comes running and training and when it comes other sports, that is part of my experience growing up," Curry told Jarrel Harris of Sports Illustrated.
He continued:
"I always played other sports, got exposed to a lot of different skill sets and people, and that was big in my development. I feel like whatever a kid is interested in, we want to be able to present an opportunity to kind of live that out. We are going to start with basketball, and we want to make sure we have the product, programming and the arenas they would be able to go to and participate and hopefully scale out and brand out from there."
The Curry Brand will make a significant investment in youth sports, partnering with a nonprofit, Positive Coaching Alliance, to provide professional assistance to youth coaches. Curry said the program will begin with a $1 million investment:
"A big piece of the Curry Brand is going to be investing into youth sports and creating a network and support around kids' participation in sports. We are starting with over a $1 million investment to people, programs, products and places—so that is our four P's. Safe places to play, court refurbishments and investing in programs that will get kids active in a safe way in fields to play, courts and around the right people and influencers."
Under Armour CEO Patrik Frisk told CNBC's Lauren Thomas that the company plans on investing profits from the Curry Brand back into the youth-sports initiative, with a specific focus on expanding into lower-income areas.
Fans will get a first look at what's to come from Curry Brand when the official website launches this week.
