NBA star Steph Curry extends historic partnership with Under Armour

The Yahoo Finance Live team discusses Under Armour's stock and Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry signing an extension with Under Armour.

Video Transcript

DAVE BRIGGS: My play is Under Armour. Today, the Baltimore based apparel brand extending their deal with Warriors star Steph Curry to what's expected to result in one of the richest endorsement deals in sports history and what could amount to a lifetime deal. As part of the agreement, Curry becomes the President of Under Armour's Curry brand, and he'll work on golf, youth sports, sports style, in addition to basketball.

The two time MVP, four time NBA champ initially signed with Under Armour in 2013 for around $4 million per year. His current contract is worth a reported $215 million, expires in '24, and includes equity in Under Armour. And that, of course, is the key.

Said the founder of Under Armour, Kevin Plank, I couldn't imagine under Armor without Steph, nor Steph without Under Armour. Shares relatively flat today and down 5%-plus this year, 47% over the last 12 months as they try to compete with Nike. There are reports from "Rolling Stone" that this is what equates to a $1 billion deal with Steph Curry, but, again, no numbers from Under Armour. And, of course, it depends on what that equity is worth.

The real question is, Josh, how much of a difference maker is he? Because, look, Steph Curry, and I'm not afraid to say that he has changed the game of basketball more so than Michael Jordan. And people can get mad at that all they want. He has changed it at every level-- youth, high school, college, the pros.

He's changed everything we know about the game fundamentally-- again, more than Magic, more than Jordan. But will the shoes move the needle? We're not going to compare it to the Jordan brand, because they did $5 billion in revenue 25 years after Jordan retired.

- The key here is going to be can, they make Steph Curry cool from a lifestyle perspective? I think right now, Steph Curry's shoes are cool to wear on the court and his basketball shoes are pretty popular. But he hasn't had that Jordan effect where once he retires, people don't wear shoes of retired guys on the court anymore. That's not really that cool for kids.

So you've got to get to the lifestyle part of it. I think the golf tie-in is pretty cool. Steph Curry is a big golfer. He'll probably have a presence in the golf game post his career. But I don't know, Seana, I was surprised about the amount of athletes that you kind of can't name that are sponsored by Under Armour.

And it's not like the Nike group that I think is kind of famous and really drives a lifestyle brand. We were looking them up earlier and some of the names are like, they're sponsored by Under Armour? I didn't remember that.

SEANA SMITH: Yeah, they caught us a little bit offguard. We didn't even realize that. That's so true. And I think part of this deal and part of the reason why Under Armour is keeping Steph Curry is also just his ability to attract other very large name, well known athletes that Under Armour is hoping they will be able to come out with their own lines, they will be able to attract that user base.

Because look at the numbers, look at their performance over the last several years. The company continues to struggle. We know inventory has been a massive issue for us Under Armour. They have been promoting as much or if not even more than some of their competitors out there. So huge win, I think, for Under Armour-- obviously, with that potential payday makes sense for Steph Curry too.

DAVE BRIGGS: Yeah, it'll be interesting. I think it's a similar question that Adidas faces with arguably the most famous athlete on the planet, which is Messi. Can he translate, can they develop an off the field shoe? Neither have really made much of an effort or had success off the field. That may be the key.

- It's just crazy, quickly, when you think about it, if I had told you a decade ago that Under Armour got Steph Curry before the Warriors won all those championships and before he got this big, you would think they'd have a bigger presence in basketball, wouldn't you?

DAVE BRIGGS: No question about that.

SEANA SMITH: That's true. He's so likable too.

- Right. No, Steph Curry is awesome. The Warriors are-- they're fun to watch. And it just hasn't taken off to that level.