Dunlop will become the official ball provider for Slinger across the global market, further enhancing the collaboration between the two companies.
Dunlop is excited today to announce a new 4-year exclusive tennis ball partnership with Slinger (OTCQB: SLBG), a leading connected sports technology company. As one of the most iconic tennis brands in the world, Dunlop provides the official ball of the ATP World Tour and the Australian Open Grand Slam Tournament. Dunlop also supplies several WTA tournaments their official tennis balls, and its cooperation with leading individual ATP tournaments gives Dunlop the status as THE NO.1 BALL ON TOUR.* With this new partnership, Dunlop becomes the official ball provider for Slinger across the global tennis market.
“Our goal in further aligning ourselves globally with Dunlop is to provide optimum performance from the Slinger Bag launcher with the best tennis balls in the world and provide access to premium tennis balls for all Slinger Bag users,” said Slinger CEO Mike Ballardie. “Our first year of commercial partnership with Dunlop as our distributor across nine leading European regions has been a resounding success and we look forward to further collaboration with their international team.”
Dunlop and Slinger first announced a commercial partnership in 2020, as Dunlop International Europe Ltd. currently serves as the distributor for Slinger Bag across the core European tennis markets of Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Specific to today’s news, Dunlop will be co-branding its premium FORT TR Plus balls, as well as the pressureless FORT XTRA Life ball for Slinger, with custom eco-friendly packaging aimed at reducing plastic waste. This partnership will be serviced via Dunlop’s global sales subsidiaries to facilitate local inventories and market pricing.
“We are thrilled to take the next step in our partnership with Slinger. We share their passion and drive for innovation within the sport of tennis, and we look forward to enhancing the on-court experience for all Slinger Bag users with the world’s best tennis balls,” said Ken Yamamoto, Head of Tennis Business, Sumitomo Rubber Industries LTD. “Slinger has had a major impact on the tennis industry over the past year, and we are eager to get more involved with the company as its growth continues.”
The new Dunlop balls with Slinger co-branding are available to order now – to find out more about, visit https://dunlopsports.com/products/tennis/slinger/.
* Based on Dunlop supplying tennis balls to more ATP Tour tournaments than any other brand.