 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports equipment,textile,footwear |
| Founded | 1910; 115 years ago (1910)[1] |
| Headquarters | , England[2] |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Rackets, strings, balls,shuttlecock,sportswear,sneakers, accessories |
| Revenue | approx. $650 million[3] |
| Parent | SRI Sports |
| Website | dunlopsports.com |
Dunlop Sport is a Britishsports equipmentmanufacturing company established in 1910 that focuses onracquets and water sports, more specificallytennis, swimming,squash,padel andbadminton. Products by Dunlop Sport include racquets, strings,balls,shuttlecocks, and bags.Sportswear andclothing line includest-shirts,shorts,skirts,jackets,pants,socks,caps,sneakers, andwristbands.
Dunlop Sport is operated by SRI Sports, asubsidiary of Japanese conglomerateSumitomo Rubber Industries, which acquired the Dunlop brand in 2017.[4]
In the past, Dunlop also manufacturedgolf equipment.[5]
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 inBirmingham.[1] The company introduced theMaxfli 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 withSlazenger 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 toWaltham Abbey in Essex.[6]
TheDunlop 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 theSlazenger 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]
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 formDunlop Slazenger.[12]
In 1986, the parent company, Dunlop Holdings, was acquired by the industrial companyBTR 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 theprivate equity firmCinven 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 toSumitomo 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 tennisGrand Slams have been won with Dunlop rackets than any other brand.
Dunlop Sport is the current supplier for theAustralian Open as well as theATP World Team Championship inDüsseldorf. It is also the official supplier for all three clay court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, which include theMonte-Carlo Masters, theRome Masters, and theMadrid Masters. As for ATP World Tour 500 tournaments, it is the official supplier for theBarcelona Open.
Additionally, Dunlop is the official supplier for ATP World Tour 250 tournaments at theBMW Open inMunich, thePortugal Open and theOpen de Nice Côte d'Azur. Dunlop Sport is also the official supplier of theWTA TourVolvo Cars Open inCharleston, South Carolina. Since 2025 Dunlop Sport is also became the official supplier of theATP Tour Internazionali di Tennis San Marino Open in theRepublic of San Marino.
Notable present and former players who have used Dunlop tennis rackets (and switched sponsorships) include:
Jürgen Melzer
Tommy Robredo
Pat CashEvonne Goolagong CawleyLew HoadRod Laver/
Alicia MolikTony RochePat RafterMark Philippoussis
Tiago FernandesNicolás AlmagroAndrés Gimeno
Amélie MauresmoCédric Pioline
Jaroslav DrobnýRoss HutchinsHelen JacobsJonathan MarrayGreg RusedskiVirginia Wade
Marc-Kevin GoellnerSteffi GrafTommy Haas
Sjeng SchalkenTom Okker
Agnieszka Radwańska
Wayne Ferreira
Dominika Cibulková
Thomas Johansson
Danai Udomchoke
John McEnroeMartina NavratilovaNotable players who use Dunlop squash racquets include :
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