The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the U.S. state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game was first played on January 5, 2008, and has been played annually at the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The game is sponsored by Under Armour and enjoys a national audience thanks to broadcast partner ESPN (the first edition was broadcast on ABC opposite the U.S. Army All-American Bowl). The game is co-owned by Chicago-based sports marketing agency Intersport and ESPN.

Player selection

National recruiting analysts and talent evaluators from ESPN Scouts, Inc., will select players for both team rosters. Eight of the top 10 ranked players in the ESPN 150 competed in the 2009 game. Because there are a number of All-America games concurrently, they are in competition for players. A total of 80 players are invited, with all them having the opportunity to also participate in a televised skills competition and other ancillary events held at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in the days prior to the game. In addition, ESPNU televises the team practices.

Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports clothing and accessories company. The company is a supplier of sportswear and casual apparel. Under Armour began offering footwear in 2006. Under Armour's global headquarters is located in Baltimore, Maryland with additional North American corporate office locations in Austin and Houston Tex.; Denver, Colo.; New York, NY; Portland, Ore.; and Toronto, Canada. Under Armour's International Headquarters is located in Panama City, Panama, with Latin America offices in São Paulo, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; and Mexico City, Mexico. Its European headquarters is in Amsterdam's Olympic Stadium with an additional office in Munich, Germany. The Under Armour Shanghai office is the regional headquarters for Greater China. Additional Asia Pacific offices are in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, China; Jakarta, Indonesia; Tokyo, Japan; and Sydney, Australia.

History

Early history

Under Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a then 23-year-old former special teams captain of the University of Maryland football team. Plank initially began the business from his grandmother's basement in Washington, D.C. He spent his time traveling up and down the East Coast with nothing but apparel in the trunk of his car. His first team sale came at the end of 1996 with a $17,000 sale. From his grandmother's basement, Plank moved to Baltimore. After a few moves in the city he landed at his current headquarters in Tide Point.