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Prince O3 Racquets Capture Four of the Top Ten Best Selling Spots in Tennis

Bordentown, NJ — The SMS/TIA fourth quarter 2007 racquet audit revealed more exciting news for Prince Sports, Inc. The report showed that Prince has four of the top ten best selling racquets in the sport (ranked by year-to-date dollars). Further, all four of these racquets are O3 frames, the Company’s revolutionary racquet design and technology. In addition, the brand has more than one-quarter of all top twenty best sellers and the O3 White, which was the best selling racquet for 2006, has ended the year at #2.

“The fact that there are so many O3 racquets in the top ten is simply a testament to the quality of the products we are bringing to market and further validates this beneficial racquet design. What might have once been a product that was in the minority, O3 has spoken for itself and is quickly becoming the must-have technology among all players” said Doug Fonte, President of Prince Americas.

Key Findings from the SMS/TIA Report:

• Prince has four of the top ten best selling racquets:
  • O3 White (#2)
  • O3 Speedport Red (#6)
  • O3 Speedport Blue (#8)
  • O3 Speedport Silver (#9)
• Though only on the market for six months, the O3 Speedport Black is one already #7 among racquets introduced in the past year
• Prince has one quarter of the top twenty Hot New Racquets (ranked by year-to-date dollars):
  • O3 Speedport Blue (#5)
  • O3 Speedport Black (#7)
  • Ozone Seven (#13)
  • Ozone Four (#15)
  • Ozone One (#19)
• The O3 White, tennis’ best selling racquet for all of 2006 remains in the top five (currently the #2 best selling racquet year-to date) and helped Maria Sharapova capture two Grand Slam titles, including the 2008 Australian Open

“Players at every level get it. The presence of O3 continues to grow as more players realize and take advantage of the benefits of these racquets,” said Linda Glassel, VP of Marketing for Prince. “Some of the games brightest up and comers, John Isner, Sam Querrey, as well as the #4 ranked man, Nikolay Davydenko, three of the four women in the Australian Open semifinals, Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic and Daniela Hantuchova, the #1 men’s doubles team, Mike and Bob Bryan, the #1 women’s doubles player, Liezel Huber, the #1 junior in Europe U16, Carlos Boluda, and two of the most promising U.S. juniors, Reo Asami and Joseph DiGuilio, all play Prince O3 racquets.”

In fact, since its introduction, Prince’s O3 racquet technology has revolutionized the racquet category and helped the brand gain significant market share. Today, one-third of all top ten players in the world (singles and doubles) are now playing racquets with O3 technology and nearly 40% are playing Prince frames overall. O3 has racked up more than 330 tour titles.

In addition, according to SMS/TIA Q3 data, Prince has the #1 string and three of the top ten best selling shoe models (MV4, T10, MC4) in tennis and the Company’s newest O3 racquets, the O3 Speedport White, Ozone Tour, O3 Speedport Platinum and O3 Speedport Gold, as well as its new Aerotech apparel are now available to players.

For more information on all Prince products, players and programs, log on to princetennis.com.

*The data presented here are based on a retail audit of key pro/specialty and sporting goods stores conducted by Sports Marketing Surveys.

Posted on February 1, 2008
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