Sportswear retailer, Under Armor Inc. (UA) has signed a multi-year partnership with NFHS Network— a noted high school sports media company. Under Armor would become the first Anchor Partner of the network.

Under the terms of the deal, Under Armor will have the entire traditional sponsorship to itself along with certain online media elements like in-game promotions and featured content, integrated site takeovers and pre-roll video advertisements.

Under Armor is fast emerging as a popular brand among athletes. In a world dominated by the likes of Nike Inc. (NKE) and German sports wear giant Adidas AG, Under Armor’s efforts to carve a niche for itself are quite impressive.

Based in Baltimore, Under Armour is currently the second-largest sporting goods company that specializes in making compression T-shirts and other apparel which accounts for nearly 75% of its total revenue, while the remaining 25% come from the footwear business.

The company constantly strives to sign lucrative sponsorship deals and invest heftily on these as they generate customer engagement and online interaction that improves brand recall and extends the shelf life of products.

Earlier in the month, the company lost basketball star Kevin Durant to Nike but it was the most aggressive bidder among in the lot. The company has set a target to gain a larger share in the overall sneaker market. Moreover, in the initial part of the year, Under Armor clinched a strategic deal with U.S. Speedskating after the fiasco at the Sochi Olympics, in which the company’s state-of-the-art suits failed to meet expectations.

With the Olympics controversy, it seemed that the company was heading toward a public relations debacle. Instead, it made an impressive turnaround by renewing its contract with U.S. Speedskating to take the team through the next two Olympics, thereby restoring investor confidence.

The collaboration with NFHS will provide Under Armor significant exposure to budding athletes as the network is a leading online destination for high school sporting events across the country.

Currently, Under Armor is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock. Other favorably ranked stocks in the retail sector include Citi Trends, Inc. (CTRN) and Foot Locker, Inc. (FL). While Citi Trends is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock, Foot locker is a Zacks Rank # 2 (Buy) stock.

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