The Golden State Warriors won the NBA Finals Monday night over Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. This was the highly anticipated rematch in which the Warriors redeemed themselves after dropping a 3-1 series last year in spectacular fashion. Although it wasn’t much of a surprise at who would appear in the finals, since these two “super-teams” have been going head to head in the finals as far back as 2015.
However the match-up was not just on the court. Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) and Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) had a few dogs in the fight, with each sponsoring marquee names on the court.
Nike by far has more star power than Under Armour, sponsoring Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green just to name a few. Durant even walked away with the Finals MVP award this year, averaging over 30 points in each finals game.
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On the other hand, Under Armour has Golden State’s shooting sensation Steph Curry, who some believe may be the best pure shooter in the game. Known for his long bombs and cool demeanor, the baby-faced assassin is a force on the court to be dealt with.
In the past year, Curry inked a shoe deal with Under Armour that suffered some backlash on the internet as some called the shoes old-fashioned or even “dad shoes” (not a bad Father’s Day gift). These didn’t have the initial pickup that Under Armour desired, but later iterations of the shoe got closer to what the younger crowd wanted.
As we see each year, the team that wins the NBA finals always sees an uptick in its merchandise sold. This applies to players on the winning team and the shoe contracts that they are pushing as well. Nike and Under Armour can expect an uptick from the closure of this finals match, but it is still to be seen how much each stands to gain.
Shares of Under Armour traded down about 2% at $22.69 Tuesday morning, with a consensus analyst price target of $21.42 and a 52-week range of $18.35 to $44.68.
Nike shares traded at $54.20, in a 52-week range of $49.01 to $60.33 and with a consensus price target of $62.24.
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