As Jennings flourishes, some question when Under Armour should release new basketball shoe

The Business Journal of Milwaukee - by Ryan Sharrow Baltimore Business Journal



And he is doing it all in Under Armour’s yet-to-be released basketball sneaker. That raises the question among some retail experts of whether the sportswear maker should rush to get the shoes on shelves.

“There’s certainly going to be some internal pressure from them to say, ‘Gee, how do we capitalize on this now?’ ” said Matt Powell, a retail analyst with SportsOneSource, referring to the success of the Milwaukee Bucks’ guard.

But Powell and other sports retail experts say basketball is one of the toughest categories for an apparel and sneaker maker to grab market share. Not only does the price need to be right for consumers, particularly in this retail market, but the look and performance of the shoe need be to topnotch, Powell said.

Nike Inc.’s Jordan Brand line has a 75 percent share of the $2 billion U.S. basketball shoe category, Powell said. Nike’s basketball lines, excluding products linked to icon Michael Jordan, have a 19 percent share. Between the Jordan Brand and Nike, NBA titans LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony are all endorsers.