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Dunlop Sport is a British sporting goods company that specialises in tennis and golf equipment. Dunlop have manufactured sporting equipment since 1910.〔 In most parts of the world, Dunlop Sports is owned by Sports Direct International. DNA (Housemarks) Limited, a company jointly owned by Sports Direct and SRI Sports, is the owner of the Dunlop brand in the United States. The brand is wholly owned by SRI Sports in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, and Spartan Sports have the rights to the brand in Australia and New Zealand. ==History== 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. In 1925, F A Davis was acquired, which had tennis racket manufacturing expertise.〔"Dunlop And F. A. Davis, Limited." Times (England ) 29 Jan. 1925: 18. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.〕〔 Dunlop opened acquisition discussions with Slazenger in 1927, but without success.〔 In 1928 the sports division became an independent subsidiary named Dunlop Sports.〔 Headquarters were relocated from Birmingham to Waltham Abbey in Essex. The Dunlop Masters golf tournament was established in 1946.〔http://www.dunlop.com/gb/heritage〕 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.〔http://luxor.acadiau.ca/library/ASAC/v27/content/authors/m/McGovern,%20Tom/DOMINANCE%20TO%20DECLINE%20A%20CASE%20STUDY%20OF%20THE%20DEMISE%20OF%20DUNLOP.pdf〕 In 1959 the Slazenger Group was acquired.〔 The Dunlop "flying D" logo was introduced in 1960.〔 Under the era of wooden racquets the DUNLOP MAXPLY was a favorite for many professionell players, but in the beginning of 1980's the first followers arrived at the market. Made of graphite and metall as materials showed more power and resistans on the court compared to the wooden racquets. 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.〔(John Letters - History & Heritage )〕 In 1983 the iconic MAX 200g was introduced to the public and John McEnroe and Steffi Graf were famous users of this fantastic racquet. The small brother of the MAX 200g was the MAX 150g made from the same mold but introduced 1 year earlier. In 1984 the sports businesses were merged to form Dunlop Slazenger.〔The Guardian (London) November 17, 1984 Dunlop divides into seven 'profit centres' BYLINE: By MAGGIE BROWN〕 In 1986, the parent company, Dunlop Holdings, was acquired by the industrial company BTR for £549 million.〔(Dunlop sold in BTR re-focus - Business - News - The Independent )〕 BTR cut marketing spend to just 8 per cent of sales and reduced investment in grass roots sponsorship and research and development.〔(BTR eyes overseas sites to cut losses )〕 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.〔(Dunlop back on form after golf sale | The Sunday Times )〕 Slazenger Golf and Maxfli were sold off to reduce debt. Sports Direct International bought Dunlop Slazenger for £40 million in 2004. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dunlop Sport」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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