Wilson continues to lead industry as the #1 racket brand and #1 hot new racket

Text by Wilson

According to the SMS Report second quarter sell-thru results, Wilson has 5 of the top 10 “Best Selling” rackets (in YTD dollars): [K] Blade 98, [K] Six.One 95, [K] Six.One Tour 90, [K] Six.One Team 95, and [K] Blade Tour. Beyond having a full 50% of the top 10 sellers in the market, Wilson is once again the clear #1 selling brand in both units and dollars. The data above are based on the Second Quarter 2008 Sports Marketing Surveys/TIA audit of retail sales at tennis specialty stores.

In addition to being the #1 brand overall, Wilson now has the #1 “Hot New Racket” with [K] Blade 98. Sports Marketing Survey measures “Hot New Rackets” as the top selling rackets that were release within a rolling 12 month period. Wilson holds 5 of the top 10 “Hot New Rackets”. [K] Blade 98 as the #1 “Hot New Racket”, as well as the [K] Blade Tour, [K] Pro Open, [K] Tour and [K] Blade Team. The SMS survey also reflects that Wilson is the #1 choice for juniors with 38.5 percent of dollar sales in junior frames.

In addition to Wilson’s ongoing US share growth (vs. 2007 year end), Wilson is the clear #1 racket brand leader and continues to grow in Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific markets.

Contact:

Laura Nickel, tel. +1 773 714-6703, laura.nickel@wilson.com

Wilson Racquet Sports

Wilson Racquet Sports is a division of Chicago-based Wilson Sporting Goods, one of the world's leading manufacturers of sports equipment and owned by Amer Sports. Wilson designs, manufactures and distributes sporting goods throughout the world and focuses on making technologically advanced products which help players of all levels perform better. Wilson's core sport categories include: Football, Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball, Soccer, Youth Sports, Uniforms/Apparel, Golf, Footwear and Racquet Sports (Tennis, Racquetball, Squash, Badminton and Platform Tennis). For more information, visit www.wilson.com.