Under Armour CEO KEVIN PLANK said his top priority in returning to the role this year is to “bring clarity and stability to our business.” Plank is “betting that the company can become a premium sports brand by cutting the number of products it sells by 25%, reducing the discounts it offers and delivering merchandise that has greater impact." His plan is to “reconstitute a brand that has lost its grip on shoppers after its explosive sales growth hit a wall in 2017.” Some investors and former execs “doubt whether Plank’s strategy to turn the company around will make a difference for a brand that watered down its value they said by selling much of its inventory at a discount to hit revenue targets” ( WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/11 ).
LEGAL MATTERS : Knicks owner JAMES DOLAN has been ordered to “give sworn testimony" in former NBAer CHARLES OAKLEY ’s civil case arising from his ejection from Madison Square Garden during an altercation in 2017. Oakley for seven years has sued over the incident, though most of the case has been thrown out. But now Manhattan federal court judge RICHARD SULLIVAN ordered Dolan to “sit for a deposition to give his first-hand account" of how Oakley "ended up hauled out of the arena in handcuffs after tussling with security guards” during a game against the Clippers ( N.Y. POST, 9/11 )....British Justice SIMON PICKEN has “laid out an extensive -- and lengthy -- timeline" for the proceedings in IndyCar driver ALEX PALOU 's case against McLaren Racing and Arrow McLaren that includes a "more than three-month window (Oct. 28, 2024-Jan. 31, 2025) during which the parties must consider settling this litigation by any means of Negotiated Dispute Resolution (including Mediation).” If the case “doesn’t come to a mediated end by February of next year,” both sides must “report what steps towards (NDR) have been taken and why such steps have failed.” A successful mediation process would “likely be seen as a victory” for Palou, who is being sued for more than $30M that McLaren “claims they’re allowed to recoup for the young driver’s breach of contract dating back to Aug. 8 of last year” ( INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 9/11 ).
NAMES : Artist FLAVOR FLAV and U.S. gymnast JORDAN CHILES opened the MTV Video Music Awards last night as the show’s first presenters, where Flav surprised Chiles with a “bronze clock necklace to replace" the bronze medal Chiles was awarded in the floor exercise at the Paris Games which the IOC ordered her to return after a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ( N.Y. POST, 9/11 )....WNBA Chicago Sky F ANGEL REESE debuted her podcast, “ UNAPOLOGETICALLY ANGEL ," last week. On the first episode, Reese "explained her four-game absence at the start of her final season at LSU, talked about her relationship with college teammates FLAU’JAE JOHNSON and HAILEY VAN LITH , outlined her goals with the Sky and confronted the narrative around her dynamic" with Indiana Fever G CAITLIN CLARK ( CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/11 ).
