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Wikipedia

Dunlop Sport

February 15, 2024

Dunlop Sport is a British sports equipment manufacturing company established in 1910 that focuses on racquet sports, more specifically tennis, squash, padel and badminton. Products by Dunlop Sport include racquets, strings, balls, shuttlecocks, and bags. Sportswear and clothing line includes t-shirts, shorts, skirts, jackets, pants, socks, caps, sneakers, and wristbands.

Dunlop Sport
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustrySports equipment, textile, footwear
Founded1910; 114 years ago (1910)[1]
Headquarters
Leatherhead
,
England[2]
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsRackets, strings, balls, shuttlecock, sportswear, sneakers, accessories
Revenueapprox. $650 million[3]
ParentSRI Sports
Websitedunlopsports.com

Dunlop Sport is operated by SRI Sports, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Rubber Industries, which acquired the Dunlop brand in 2017.[4]

In the past, Dunlop also manufactured golf equipment.[5]

History edit

 
Dunlop advertisement for its golf balls, 1922

Dunlop was established as a company manufacturing goods from rubber in 1889.[5] The company entered the sporting goods market in 1910, when it began to manufacture rubber golf balls at its base in Birmingham.[1] The company introduced the Maxfli golf ball in 1922.[6]

Dunlop extended into tennis ball manufacture in 1924.[7] In 1925, F A Davis was acquired, which had tennis racket manufacturing expertise.[8][7] Dunlop opened acquisition discussions with Slazenger in 1927, but without success.[7] In 1928 the sports division became a subsidiary of Dunlop Rubber named Dunlop Sports.[5] Headquarters were relocated from Birmingham to Waltham Abbey in Essex.[6]

The Dunlop Masters golf tournament was established in 1946.[9] It was sponsored by Dunlop until 1982, and is now known as the British Masters.

In 1957 Dunlop acquired the golf club manufacturer John Letters of Scotland.[10] In 1959 the Slazenger Group was acquired.[5] The Dunlop "flying D" logo was introduced in 1960.[9]

In the 1970s and 1980s, Dunlop was slow to adapt to the new materials that tennis rackets were increasingly being made from, believing that wood would remain the dominant material.[5]

 
 
Tennis (left) and squash balls by Dunlop

In 1983 the John Letters golf club business was sold back to members of the Letters family.[11] One year later, the sports businesses were merged to form Dunlop Slazenger.[12]

In 1986, the parent company, Dunlop Holdings, was acquired by the industrial company BTR for £549 million.[13] BTR cut marketing spending to just 8 per cent of sales and reduced investment in grass roots sponsorship and research and development.[14] Steffi Graf's sponsorship money was cut so she defected to a Wilson racket.[14]

In 1996 Dunlop Slazenger was acquired by the private equity firm Cinven for £330 million.[5] To save money, Cinven moved production of Dunlop tennis balls from England to the Philippines. Slazenger Golf and Maxfli were sold off to reduce debt.[15]

Frasers Group bought Dunlop Slazenger for £40 million in 2004.[16]

In December 2016, Sports Direct announced it had agreed to sell the Dunlop brand to Sumitomo Rubber Industries for £112 million ($137.5 million).[17] Sumitomo already owned the rights to the sports as well as the rubber industries brand in most of the world. The sale is due to be completed by May 2017.[18]

Sponsorships edit

Tennis edit

 
Dunlop advertisement featuring John McEnroe in 1981

More tennis Grand Slams have been won with Dunlop rackets than any other brand.

Dunlop Sport is the current supplier for the Australian Open as well as the ATP World Team Championship in Düsseldorf. It is also the official supplier for all three clay court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, which includes the Monte-Carlo Masters, the Rome Masters and the Madrid Masters. As for ATP World Tour 500 tournaments, it is the official supplier for the Barcelona Open.

Additionally, Dunlop is the official supplier for ATP World Tour 250 tournaments at the BMW Open in Munich, the Portugal Open and the Open de Nice Côte d'Azur. Dunlop Sport is also the official supplier of the WTA Tour Volvo Cars Open in Charleston, South Carolina.

Notable present and former players that have used Dunlop tennis rackets (and switched sponsorships) include:

Male edit

Female edit

Retired players edit

Squash edit

Notable players who use Dunlop squash racquets include :

Male edit

Female edit

Former players edit

Associations edit

Former sponsorships edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b The Growth and Performance of British Multinational Firms before 1939: The Case of Dunlop Geoffrey Jones The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Feb. 1984), pp. 35–53 Published by: Wiley on behalf of the Economic History Society Article Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2596830
  2. ^ "Terms & Conditions".
  3. ^ . Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  4. ^ Wood, Zoe (27 December 2016). "Sports Direct sells Dunlop for $137m". The Guardian.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Klaus Schmidt; Chris Ludlow (2002). Inclusive Branding: The Why and How of a Holistic Approach to Brands. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 183–9. ISBN 978-0-230-51329-7.
  6. ^ a b Jones, Stephen G. (1992). Sport, Politics and the Working Class: Organised Labour and Sport in Inter-war Britain. Manchester University Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-7190-3680-4.
  7. ^ a b c Grieves, Keith (1989). Sir Eric Geddes: Business and Government in War and Peace. Manchester University Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-7190-2345-3.
  8. ^ "Dunlop And F. A. Davis, Limited." Times [London, England] 29 January 1925: 18. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 16 January 2014.
  9. ^ a b . Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ John Letters – History & Heritage 1 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ The Guardian (London) 17 November 1984 Dunlop divides into seven 'profit centres' BYLINE: By MAGGIE BROWN
  13. ^ Dunlop sold in BTR re-focus – Business – News – The Independent
  14. ^ a b
  15. ^
  16. ^ Osborne, Alistair (5 February 2004). "Game, set and match for Dunlop Slazenger". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  17. ^ Wood, Zoe (27 December 2016). "Sports Direct sells Dunlop for $137m". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  18. ^ Butler, Sarah (29 December 2016). "Pension expert call for scrutiny over Sports Direct sale of Dunlop". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2016.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dunlop Sport.
  • Official website  

February 15, 2024
dunlop, sport, british, sports, equipment, manufacturing, company, established, 1910, that, focuses, racquet, sports, more, specifically, tennis, squash, padel, badminton, products, include, racquets, strings, balls, shuttlecocks, bags, sportswear, clothing, l. Dunlop Sport is a British sports equipment manufacturing company established in 1910 that focuses on racquet sports more specifically tennis squash padel and badminton Products by Dunlop Sport include racquets strings balls shuttlecocks and bags Sportswear and clothing line includes t shirts shorts skirts jackets pants socks caps sneakers and wristbands Dunlop SportCompany typeSubsidiaryIndustrySports equipment textile footwearFounded1910 114 years ago 1910 1 HeadquartersLeatherhead England 2 Area servedWorldwideProductsRackets strings balls shuttlecock sportswear sneakers accessoriesRevenueapprox 650 million 3 ParentSRI SportsWebsitedunlopsports comDunlop Sport is operated by SRI Sports a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Rubber Industries which acquired the Dunlop brand in 2017 4 In the past Dunlop also manufactured golf equipment 5 Contents 1 History 2 Sponsorships 2 1 Tennis 2 1 1 Male 2 1 2 Female 2 1 3 Retired players 2 2 Squash 2 2 1 Male 2 2 2 Female 2 3 Former players 2 3 1 Associations 3 Former sponsorships 4 References 5 External linksHistory edit nbsp Dunlop advertisement for its golf balls 1922Dunlop was established as a company manufacturing goods from rubber in 1889 5 The company entered the sporting goods market in 1910 when it began to manufacture rubber golf balls at its base in Birmingham 1 The company introduced the Maxfli golf ball in 1922 6 Dunlop extended into tennis ball manufacture in 1924 7 In 1925 F A Davis was acquired which had tennis racket manufacturing expertise 8 7 Dunlop opened acquisition discussions with Slazenger in 1927 but without success 7 In 1928 the sports division became a subsidiary of Dunlop Rubber named Dunlop Sports 5 Headquarters were relocated from Birmingham to Waltham Abbey in Essex 6 The Dunlop Masters golf tournament was established in 1946 9 It was sponsored by Dunlop until 1982 and is now known as the British Masters In 1957 Dunlop acquired the golf club manufacturer John Letters of Scotland 10 In 1959 the Slazenger Group was acquired 5 The Dunlop flying D logo was introduced in 1960 9 In the 1970s and 1980s Dunlop was slow to adapt to the new materials that tennis rackets were increasingly being made from believing that wood would remain the dominant material 5 nbsp nbsp Tennis left and squash balls by Dunlop In 1983 the John Letters golf club business was sold back to members of the Letters family 11 One year later the sports businesses were merged to form Dunlop Slazenger 12 In 1986 the parent company Dunlop Holdings was acquired by the industrial company BTR for 549 million 13 BTR cut marketing spending to just 8 per cent of sales and reduced investment in grass roots sponsorship and research and development 14 Steffi Graf s sponsorship money was cut so she defected to a Wilson racket 14 In 1996 Dunlop Slazenger was acquired by the private equity firm Cinven for 330 million 5 To save money Cinven moved production of Dunlop tennis balls from England to the Philippines Slazenger Golf and Maxfli were sold off to reduce debt 15 Frasers Group bought Dunlop Slazenger for 40 million in 2004 16 In December 2016 Sports Direct announced it had agreed to sell the Dunlop brand to Sumitomo Rubber Industries for 112 million 137 5 million 17 Sumitomo already owned the rights to the sports as well as the rubber industries brand in most of the world The sale is due to be completed by May 2017 18 Sponsorships editTennis edit nbsp Dunlop advertisement featuring John McEnroe in 1981More tennis Grand Slams have been won with Dunlop rackets than any other brand Dunlop Sport is the current supplier for the Australian Open as well as the ATP World Team Championship in Dusseldorf It is also the official supplier for all three clay court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments which includes the Monte Carlo Masters the Rome Masters and the Madrid Masters As for ATP World Tour 500 tournaments it is the official supplier for the Barcelona Open Additionally Dunlop is the official supplier for ATP World Tour 250 tournaments at the BMW Open in Munich the Portugal Open and the Open de Nice Cote d Azur Dunlop Sport is also the official supplier of the WTA Tour Volvo Cars Open in Charleston South Carolina Notable present and former players that have used Dunlop tennis rackets and switched sponsorships include Male edit nbsp Jurgen Melzer nbsp Tommy Robredo nbsp Jamie Murray nbsp Jack Draper nbsp Philipp Marx nbsp Kevin Anderson nbsp Sanchai Ratiwatana nbsp Bjorn Fratangelo nbsp Donald Young nbsp Max Purcell nbsp Roberto Marcora nbsp Miomir Kecmanovic nbsp Alexei Popyrin Female edit nbsp Wang Qiang nbsp Xu Yifan nbsp Heather Watson to 2021 nbsp Misaki Doi nbsp Yui Kamiji nbsp Kurumi Nara nbsp Zarina Diyas nbsp Luksika Kumkhum nbsp Ann Li nbsp Taylor Townsend Retired players edit nbsp Pat Cash nbsp Evonne Goolagong Cawley nbsp Lew Hoad nbsp Rod Laver nbsp nbsp Alicia Molik nbsp Tony Roche nbsp Pat Rafter nbsp Mark Philippoussis nbsp Tiago Fernandes nbsp Nicolas Almagro nbsp Amelie Mauresmo nbsp Cedric Pioline nbsp Jaroslav Drobny nbsp Ross Hutchins nbsp Helen Jacobs nbsp Jonathan Marray nbsp Greg Rusedski nbsp Virginia Wade nbsp Marc Kevin Goellner nbsp Steffi Graf nbsp Tommy Haas nbsp Sjeng Schalken nbsp Tom Okker nbsp Agnieszka Radwanska nbsp Wayne Ferreira nbsp Dominika Cibulkova nbsp Thomas Johansson nbsp Danai Udomchoke nbsp John McEnroe nbsp Martina Navratilova Squash edit Notable players who use Dunlop squash racquets include Male edit nbsp Ali Farag nbsp Nick Matthew nbsp Gregory Gaultier nbsp Diego Elias nbsp Eain Yow Ng nbsp Victor CrouinFemale edit nbsp Nour El Tayeb nbsp Alison Waters Former players edit nbsp Jonathon Power nbsp Amr Shabana nbsp Lee Beachill nbsp Stewart Boswell nbsp Simon Parke nbsp Alex Gough nbsp Sarah Fitz Gerald nbsp Tania Bailey nbsp Madeline Perry nbsp Natalie Grinham nbsp Nicolette Fernandes nbsp Sarah Kippax nbsp Aisling Blake Associations edit Professional Squash Association Official ball Women s Squash Association Official ballFormer sponsorships edit nbsp Deportivo Espanol nbsp Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy nbsp Gimnasia y TiroReferences edit a b The Growth and Performance of British Multinational Firms before 1939 The Case of Dunlop Geoffrey Jones The Economic History Review New Series Vol 37 No 1 Feb 1984 pp 35 53 Published by Wiley on behalf of the Economic History Society Article Stable URL https www jstor org stable 2596830 Terms amp Conditions Dunlop IBML Archived from the original on 18 January 2014 Retrieved 17 January 2014 Wood Zoe 27 December 2016 Sports Direct sells Dunlop for 137m The Guardian a b c d e f Klaus Schmidt Chris Ludlow 2002 Inclusive Branding The Why and How of a Holistic Approach to Brands Palgrave Macmillan pp 183 9 ISBN 978 0 230 51329 7 a b Jones Stephen G 1992 Sport Politics and the Working Class Organised Labour and Sport in Inter war Britain Manchester University Press p 51 ISBN 978 0 7190 3680 4 a b c Grieves Keith 1989 Sir Eric Geddes Business and Government in War and Peace Manchester University Press p 112 ISBN 978 0 7190 2345 3 Dunlop And F A Davis Limited Times London England 29 January 1925 18 The Times Digital Archive Web 16 January 2014 a b Archived copy Archived from the original on 30 September 2013 Retrieved 16 January 2014 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 26 January 2014 Retrieved 17 January 2014 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link John Letters History amp Heritage Archived 1 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian London 17 November 1984 Dunlop divides into seven profit centres BYLINE By MAGGIE BROWN Dunlop sold in BTR re focus Business News The Independent a b BTR eyes overseas sites to cut losses Dunlop back on form after golf sale The Sunday Times Osborne Alistair 5 February 2004 Game set and match for Dunlop Slazenger The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on 12 September 2012 Retrieved 23 September 2008 Wood Zoe 27 December 2016 Sports Direct sells Dunlop for 137m The Guardian Retrieved 30 December 2016 Butler Sarah 29 December 2016 Pension expert call for scrutiny over Sports Direct sale of Dunlop The Guardian Retrieved 30 December 2016 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dunlop Sport Official website nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dunlop Sport amp oldid 1206112927, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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