Wilson Sporting Goods
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| Wilson Sporting Goods | |
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| Type | Subsidiary of Amer Sports |
| Founded | |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| Industry | Sportswear and Sports equipment |
| Products | Footwear Accessories Sportswear |
| Website | wilson.com |
The Wilson Sporting Goods Company is a sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois, and currently is a foreign subsidiary of the Finnish company Amer Sports[1] that also owns Atomic, Suunto, Precor, and Salomon.
Wilson makes equipment for many sports, among them badminton, baseball, basketball, softball, football, golf, racquetball, soccer, squash, tennis, and volleyball.
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[edit] Sponsorship
Wilson is very active at sponsoring events, clubs and athletes.
[edit] Tennis
Wilson tennis racquets are used among many professional tennis players. Pete Sampras used them to win 14 grand slam tennis tournaments; some of the best players currently using Wilson racquets are:
Roger Federer
Novak Đoković
Jonas Bjorkman
Nicolas Kiefer
Gaston Gaudio
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga- Guillermo Canas
Dmitri Tursunov
Mardy Fish
Jarkko Nieminen
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Justine Henin- Serena Williams
- Venus Williams
- Lindsay Davenport
Flavio Saretta- Peter Kikis
Kei Nishikori
Mahesh Bhupathi- Tatiana Golovin
- Bethanie Mattek
Former Wilson brand racquet-using players include Jack Kramer (has an eponymous model), Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert, Stefan Edberg, and Steffi Graf.
The original kevlar Pro Staff model (Sampras' racquet) was heavy (350+gm) and small-headed (85 sq. in.); Roger Federer also used the same racquet model. Currently, he uses the KSix-One Tour model that is heavy (354 gm) and slightly larger(90 sq. in.). Also, many professional players use custom-made racquets that perform differently than do the mass-produced versions.
In 1979, Wilson tennis balls were first used in the US Open,[2] and still are used to this day. In 2006, the Australian Open began using Wilson Tennis Balls[3]. The Australian Open reported using more than 450,000 Wilson tennis balls during the tournament.[citation needed]
Aside from tennis racquets, the Wilson sporting goods company also makes tennis shoes, strings, clothes, and racquet bags.
[edit] Footballs
The Wilson football factory in Ada, Ohio is the only dedicated football factory in the world and the only place where footballs are manufactured in the United States.[citation needed] Wilson has been the exclusive provider of footballs for the National Football League since 1941.[citation needed] The official NFL footballs are sold exclusively to the NFL franchises and are labeled with the model number F1010.[citation needed] The official NFL football sold to the general public, which is labeled with the model number F1000, is essentially the same ball which has passed less stringent quality control checks.[citation needed] The F1000 model is commonly used for the collection of football player autographs.[citation needed]
[edit] Wilson Staff: Golf
For more than 90 years, Wilson Staff has designed, manufactured and distributed premium and recreational golf equipment throughout the world. The Wilson Staff, ProStaff, Ultra and Hope consumer brands continue that tradition today by delivering the highest quality golf equipment to all golfers to enhance performance on the golf course and overall enjoyment of the game.
Wilson Staff irons have not only been “my first set of clubs” for many, but they are and have been the irons of choice for golf greats from the legendary Sam Snead to reigning British Open champ and 2007 European Player of the Year Padraig Harrington.
Wilson irons are designed for golfers of varying abilities and needs. Di – created for distance and maximum forgiveness Ci – designed for control and playability Pi – developed for performance and workability
The biggest innovation in golf equipment this year is the Wilson Staff FYbrid. The FYbrid is a family of six fairway utility clubs that simplifies the game by eliminating the redundancy of a dozen clubs and covering the long-distance needs between the driver and the 6-iron.
Wilson Golf introduced the Wilson Staff Zip, a three-piece golf ball with the world’s first zero compression core. With an overall fifty compression rating, the new Zip joins the Wilson Staff Fifty as the lowest USGA approved compression balls available on the market.
[edit] In popular culture
[edit] Wilson the Volleyball
One of its products, a volleyball, "co-starred" alongside Tom Hanks in the movie Cast Away. After the success of the film, Wilson Sporting Goods actually created and marketed volleyballs with Wilson's face on it for a short time.
[edit] References
- ^ Freudenheim, Milt. "Amer Group to Acquire Wilson Sporting Goods", The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 1989-02-21. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Wilson US Open ball. Retrieved on 2006-06-23.
- ^ Australian Open Sponsors. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.
[edit] See also
- Ripper (racquet)
- Wikipedia's Category of Wilson Sporting Goods Equipment
[edit] External links
Other
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