| Dunlop Sport | |
| Type: | Subsidiary |
| Foundation: | [1] |
| Location City: | Leatherhead |
| Location Country: | England[2] |
| Area Served: | Worldwide |
| Industry: | Sports equipment, textile, footwear |
| Products: | Rackets, strings, balls, shuttlecock, sportswear, sneakers, accessories |
| Revenue: | approx. $650 million[3] |
| Parent: | SRI Sports |
Dunlop Sport is a British sports equipment manufacturing company established in 1910 that focuses on racquets and water sports, more specifically tennis, swimming, 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 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]
Dunlop was established as a company manufacturing goods from rubber in 1889. The company entered the sporting goods market in 1910, when it began to manufacture rubber golf balls at its base in Birmingham. The company introduced the Maxfli golf ball in 1922.
Dunlop extended into tennis ball manufacture in 1924.[6] In 1925, F A Davis was acquired, which had tennis racket manufacturing expertise.[7] Dunlop opened acquisition discussions with Slazenger in 1927, but without success. In 1928 the sports division became a subsidiary of Dunlop Rubber named Dunlop Sports. Headquarters were relocated from Birmingham to Waltham Abbey in Essex.[8]
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. The Dunlop "flying D" logo was introduced in 1960.
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.
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.
In 1996 Dunlop Slazenger was acquired by the private equity firm Cinven for £330 million. 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]
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:
Jamie Murray Jack Draper
Sanchai Ratiwatana
Bjorn Fratangelo Donald Young
Max Purcell
Roberto Marcora
Miomir Kecmanović Alexei Popyrin
Wang Qiang Xu Yifan Heather Watson (to 2021)
Misaki Doi Yui Kamiji Kurumi Nara
Zarina Diyas Luksika Kumkhum Ann Li Taylor Townsend
Jürgen Melzer
Tommy Robredo Pat Cash Evonne Goolagong Cawley Lew Hoad Rod Laver/ Alicia Molik Tony Roche Pat Rafter Mark Philippoussis
Tiago Fernandes Nicolás Almagro
Amélie Mauresmo Cédric Pioline Jaroslav Drobný Ross Hutchins Helen Jacobs Jonathan Marray Greg Rusedski Virginia Wade
Agnieszka Radwańska
Dominika Cibulková
Thomas Johansson Danai Udomchoke John McEnroe Martina NavratilovaNotable players who use Dunlop squash racquets include :
Jonathon Power
Amr Shabana Stewart Boswell Sarah Fitz-Gerald
Madeline Perry
Natalie Grinham
Nicolette Fernandes Aisling Blake
