For many NFL fans who don't like the New England Patriots, quarterback Tom Brady gives them nightmares. Now Brady is teaming with Under Armour for sleepwear it claims will help you sleep better.
Under Armour CEO and founder Kevin Plank launched the new Athlete Recovery Sleepwear during his keynote speech Friday here at the Consumer Electronics Show. The pajama tops and bottoms — for men (available now on underarmour.com, $79.99-$99.99) and women ($59.99-$99.99) — have special bioceramic particles woven in to reflect back to the body infrared waves it emits during sleep. This is meant to help you sleep and help your body recover from exercise.
Brady has credited sleep as part of his training regimen to help him play at a high level as he's aged. "Proper sleep has helped me get to where I am today as an athlete and it is something that I continue to rely on every day," he said in a statement.
Under Armour is also updating its UA Record mobile app so that users of its UA Band or other sleep-tracking device, can get a regular sleep score as a way to promote more consistent sleep patterns.
Plank also talked about the company's latest line of Speedform smart and connected running shoes ($140-$160, available for pre-order now, due Feb. 1) that lets users do a jump test — they jump six times with the shoes on — and the MapMyRun app will tell the wearer their legs' fatigue level. That way they know whether to take it easier on a run or to push themselves more, Plank said. "Our ambition is to go beyond telling you what you did and to begin to tell you what you should do," he said.
Plank introduced Olympic multi-medalist Michael Phelps to talk about the shoes. "I'm doing these different things now that my body is not used to," Phelps said, "something like this can tell me go for it ... or maybe take it easy and go for the two-mile run."
The new products come at a pivotal moment for Under Armour, which recently dropped to the No. 3 sports brand when Adidas regained the No. 2 spot behind Nike. Under Armour (UA) shares are down 34% over the last 12 months and the company has said its growth is slowing.
But Plank is bullish technology will underwrite Under Armour's success. With the various fitness apps Under Armour owns — My Fitness Pal, in addition to MapMyRun — the Baltimore, Md.-based company already has 194 million connected users. To better understand the data its apps and wearables are collecting, Under Armour is teaming with enterprise software giant SAP to create a Math House database to inform its customers about wellness and fitness.
"What Facebook has done for social, what Amazon has done with Amazon Prime for purchasing, what LinkedIn has done for business, we expect to do with fitness and wellness," he said.
