Under Armour

I had a a great meeting this week with our good friends from Under Armour. I’ve been a long-time fan and supporter of this terrific sports retail brand. Plus, I love their products. I was a Nike guy for a long, long time but I’ve made the switch to Under Armour gear.

I was on a panel with the head of marketing for Under Armour, Steve Battista, a couple of years ago for an Ad Club of Washington, DC conference. I remember making an analogy three years ago and I think it continues to be true.

I compared Under Armour to where AOL was in ’95 when I started working for the company. We were the #3 online service, trailing the CompuServ and Prodigy, who were both owned by large corporate giants. Similarly, Under Armour is the underdog, much like we were, in their battle against Nike, adidas and Reebok.

And, just as AOL executed on its’ well-executed strategies back then — and clearly become a househould brand name and the leading online service in the world — Under Armour is executing well on their strategies and they’re continuing to become more and more of a major player in the sports retail space. They are the “it” brand with the high school and college age crowd.

I’ll be keenly watching their growth over the coming years as they continue to expand their product lines (they just launched their new line of running shoes) as well as global expansion into Asia, Europe and South America.

And, maybe someday we’ll be going over a case study in my Sports Marketing class about how Under Armour became the world’s leading sports retailer!

Jimmy Lynn

Jimmy Lynn, a veteran of more than 25 years in the Sports and Entertainment sectors, is one of the pioneers of the Digital Sports space and is regarded as one of the leading relationship brokers and connectors in the sports industry. He is a co-founder and Vice-President of Kiswe Mobile, a interactive mobile video start-up focused on bringing a rich viewing experience for live media content such as sports and entertainment events to mobile devices. Previously, Lynn was the managing partner of JLynn Associates, a global strategic advisory firm focused on sports-related digital media, marketing, and retail for a diverse set of clients including teams, athletes, leagues and associations, media outlets and other businesses. Prior to founding JLynn Associates in 2009, Lynn served as Vice-President, Strategic Development and Partnerships at AOL, where he and his team were responsible for the strategic development and account management of AOL Sports’ strategic partnerships and organizations including the NFL, NBA, NASCAR, MLB, WNBA, NHL, PGA Tour, ABC Sports, CBS Sports, HBO Sports, Sports Illustrated, Turner Sports, NFL Players Association, WWF, The Sporting News, STATS, SportsTicker, etc. During his 14-year career at AOL, he was instrumental in developing AOL Sports into one of the leading global sports destination internet sites. Lynn also served as a Vice-President, Diversity Partnerships and Strategic Relationships for AOL's Office of Diversity and Inclusion. In this role, he managed AOL's employee affinity networks and partnerships with community service organizations. Lynn also was a member of the Time Warner Sports Forum, which included executives from Sports Illustrated, HBO Sports, Turner Sports, AOL Sports, Time Warner Cable, Time 4 Media and Warner Brothers Licensing. The group focused on cross-company sports initiatives for Time Warner. Previously, Lynn was the Advertising Manager for Home Team Sports, the CBS-owned regional sports network serving the Mid-Atlantic Region (TV partner of the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals) and the Promotion Manager for WLTT-FM, the CBS-owned and operated station in Washington, D.C. Lynn has been actively involved in philanthropy and community service over the past 15 years. Lynn was one of the 2006 recipients of Time Warner’s most prestigious public-service prize, the “Andrew Heiskell Community Service” award. This award is given to employees who exhibit outstanding leadership and accomplishment in voluntary public service, human rights and/or equal opportunity efforts. Lynn also was recognized in 2008 by Greater DC Cares as one of Washington DC's top 10 rising leaders in philanthropy; as one of City Year's "Idealists of the Year"; and by Year Up as an "Urban Empowerment" award winner. In 2010, he received an award from Washington, DC Mayor Fenty for outstanding community service. Lynn is a board member of the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy Lynn is a full-time faculty member of Georgetown University's Sports Industry Management graduate program, where he also serves as the "Special Advisor." Lynn received the "Dean's Outstanding Service" award in 2010 and the “Faculty Service” award in 2014. He is also a member of the Adjunct Faculty in Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. He has a B.A. in Public Communication and an M.B.A. in Marketing from American University.

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