Durham, N.C. – (February 19, 2024) – Spenco, a leader in premium innovative footcare products, recently launched a new product, the Golf Stability™ Insole. Golf Stability™ Insoles are the brand’s first golf-specific insole designed to stabilize feet during the golf swing, creating more consistent and accurate shots.
The Golf Stability™ Insoles feature a Cobra heel that maintains proper weight distribution and positioning for feet during the backswing. They also feature Lateral Friction pads to keep feet stable during the downswing, improving ball striking accuracy. For best-in-class comfort, the Golf Stability Insoles provide heel and forefoot cushioning for walking all day on the golf course.
“We are excited to introduce Golf Stability™ Insoles to the market,” said Michael Polk, Chief Executive Officer of Implus. “These insoles offer a unique solution for golfers who want to enhance their performance and enjoy their game more.”
Golf Stability™ Insoles are suitable for anyone who enjoys playing golf and wants to improve their game, from beginners to avid golfers. They are trim-to-fit for a custom fit in golf shoes and are available in both Men’s and Women’s sizes.
Golf Stability™ Insoles retail for $39.99 and can be purchased online at www.spenco.com and Amazon.
About Spenco: Founded by Dr. Wayman Spence, a physician obsessed with the relationship between biomechanics and physical health, every Spenco product is the result of a comprehensive research and development process rooted in science and continuously refined by health professionals, athletes, and engineering experts. With Spenco’s current line of premium, clinically tested insoles, we strive to improve your physical activity and enhance everyday comfort, starting from the feet up. Learn more at www.spenco.com.
About Implus: Implus is home to 18 brands in the footwear accessories, hosiery, specialty running, outdoor, fitness and movement categories. As an industry leader in active accessories, Implus is committed to enabling people to live active, healthy, and fulfilled lives, providing innovative products to more than 80,000 retail outlets worldwide. Distributing across more than 70 countries, Implus is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, with five international offices. Key brands within Implus’ portfolio include Balega®, SKLZ®, Yaktrax®, TriggerPoint™, Sof Sole®, RockTape® and Spenco®. To learn more, please visit www.Implus.com.
Media Contact
Rachel Rose
205-937-3668
[email protected]
COMPLIMENTARY BUCHALTER WEBINAR: Navigating California’s Statutory Traps – Avoid Penalties, Fines and Headaches in 2024
Join Buchalter for an insightful webinar where we’ll delve into the most pressing legal challenges and topics facing individuals, businesses, and communities in the Golden State. Whether you’re a business owner, legal practitioner, or simply interested in understanding the complexities of California law, this webinar is for you. Our experts will cover the following crucial topics:
- Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) claims
- Consumers Legal Remedies Act and False Advertising Claims
- California’s Proposition 65 and Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (“PFAS”) Laws
- ADA/California Unruh Act Compliance- for Websites and Brick and Mortar Locations
Thursday, March 7, 2024 | 12:00 PM PT
CLE Credits Available
Speakers:
Artin Betpera – Shareholder
Mark Cramer – Shareholder
Anne Marrie Ellis – Shareholder
William Miller – Shareholder
Click here to register for the free webinar.
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
The Sports & Fitness Industry Association has released the 2023 Year End Review. The letter includes a note from President & CEO, Tom Cove, and highlights the successes of SFIA in support of our members and partners from 2023.
Click here to read the letter.
For more information or questions, please contact [email protected].
Durham, N.C. – (December 18, 2023) – SKLZ, the leader in sports training products, recently launched an exciting new product, Speed Gates. Speed Gates is the brand’s latest innovation in speed measurement and is designed to track and record speeds up to 50 yards. The product helps athletes of all levels improve their speed and agility.
The Speed Gates set includes four cones, four sensors, a timer and a carry bag for easy transportation and storage. Users simply set up a start gate and a finish gate using the light indicators and run the distance between them. Speed Gates record the most recent 50 times to easily review progress and can be used both indoors and outdoors. They are ideal for timing the 40-yard dash, improving speed from the batter’s box to first base, beating an opponent to the ball, or any other speed-related goal.
“Speed Gates are an exciting new product as we expand our SKLZ product offerings to include speed measurement devices,” said Michael Polk, Chief Executive Officer of Implus. “Athletes who want to elevate their training and track real-time progress can use the Speed Gates to meet their goals.”
The Speed Gates are available for $129.99 on www.sklz.com, Amazon and both online and in-store at select Dick’s Sporting Goods and Academy Sports + Outdoors.
About SKLZ: SKLZ is the leading provider of performance training products and programs for athletes of all levels. SKLZ products are designed to sync the body to the brain, helping athletes to be stronger, smarter, and faster. With tools available for every sport and skill, like training nets, agility ladders, resistance bands, and more, SKLZ empowers athletes to never settle for yesterday’s best. Learn more at www.sklz.com.
About Implus: Implus is home to 18 brands in the footwear accessories, hosiery, specialty running, outdoor, fitness and movement categories. As an industry leader in active accessories, Implus is committed to enabling people to live active, healthy, and fulfilled lives, providing innovative products to more than 80,000 retail outlets worldwide. Distributing across more than 70 countries, Implus is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, with five international offices. Key brands within Implus’ portfolio include Balega®, SKLZ®, Yaktrax®, TriggerPoint™, Sof Sole®, RockTape® and Spenco®. To learn more, please visit www.Implus.com.
Media Contact
Rachel Rose
205-937-3668
[email protected]
Written by Dr. Jochen M. Schaefer, Attorney-at-Law (Germany), Legal Counsel of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry, and of the European Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (FESI)
This article is primarily based on the grounds of German substantive laws and the jurisprudence of German courts, the legal situation in other European countries might differ.
Introduction:
I very recently represented a well-known sporting goods brand before a German court in temporary injunction proceedings, which had the following factual background:
My client is a long-established manufacturer and seller of high-quality sporting goods products under its well-known brand, which is also part of its company name. Those branded products are equally offered for sale DTC on my client’s own websites targeting consumers in various countries in various language versions including German for the D.A.CH countries.
To facilitate the customer journey for potential and actual buyers in terms of swift orientation and easy differentiation between hundreds of different products within the broad product range of the respective brand, the articles displayed on the websites did not only show numbers but also model names. Such names were, to a major extent, only used for a considerable short time, such as for the respective actual spring/summer and fall/winter collections, and were thereafter replaced by new model names in the following seasons.
The model names were picked and selected by the marketing and sales department of the company without any involvement of the in-house legal department. No prior trademark searches were conducted before selecting a certain model name with the argument raised by the commercial sales and marketing guys that it would be too cumbersome and also too costly to undergo such exercise in each individual case and that such kind of procedure would also create unnecessary delays. Further, one was convinced that it should be clear to anybody that such model names, which only appeared on the respective websites of the brand and on the packaging of an article, yet not on the products themselves, did not constitute a use as a trademark, but were pure identification factors comparable to number sequences distinguishing a certain product from another. Consequently, the overall feeling of the commercial team was that one would be fairly on the safe side and that any legal conflicts were very unlikely to occur.
Yet my clients had to find out pretty soon that their own subjective risk assessment proved to be wrong and that this turned out to be a quite costly experience for them.
In early 2023 they received a cease-and-desist letter from a major German law firm specialized in dealing with such kinds of scenarios, who was obviously systematically screening websites on behalf of its clients looking for the usage of TM-protected names by third parties not only in identical, but also in similar categories of goods.
In line with standard practices widely acknowledged by German courts, these lawyers requested not only the immediate removal of the disputed model name in dispute from the website of my client but also asked for the reimbursement of their legal fees just for the sending of this C&D letter, which already amounted at a very early stage to more than 3.500 EUR. In addition, they asked for damage compensation and requested, in this context, detailed information on the sales of the respective articles, including names and addresses of the manufacturers, suppliers, purchasers, buyers, and quantities of ordered and delivered goods same as on their pricing.
My clients decided to defend themselves and not give in also in view of the fact that the adverse German law firm was notorious for pursuing such kinds of legal actions as numerous comments of other German lawyers in Internet blogs and publications proved. They felt kind of harassed, and this is where I came into play.
First Attempt to Settle Failed
After I had been mandated by my clients to represent them, I had hoped that one could settle this matter very swiftly by convincing the other side that the usage of the respective challenged name, which was also part of the common German language, but at the very same time protected by a German national trademark in a related product class and a registered EU Mark, did not constitute a use in a trademark like fashion, but was just a temporary model name identification, which was not essential for my clients anyway and which they were prepared to give up on a relatively short notice by replacing it with another undisputed generic model name.
Yet, I also made clear in my very first detailed letter announcing my representation to the adverse lawyers that my clients were neither willing to sign the much too broad cease and desist declaration nor to pay any damage compensation in this specific case since they felt they were unfairly attacked by the other side and that the far-reaching claims of their client were basically without merits by explaining why this in our opinion was the case.
What I would have expected as a normal reaction to my letter was, that the colleague on the other side handling that case would have contacted me and would have discussed with me a kind of compromise settlement, yet this did not happen.
Only one week after receipt of my letter, the other law firm filed a motion to issue a preliminary injunction against my clients without any prior oral hearing. And – the competent court located in the city where such law firm had its headquarters granted such injunction right away, which was one hundred percent identical with the various claims the other party and its lawyers had raised in their previous C&D letter…
Next Evolvement
- Under German procedural laws, one is entitled to object to such kind of preliminary injunction and request an oral hearing with the motion to lift the injunction. This required of course a very detailed written brief outlining on the one hand the underlying facts and on the other hand dealing with all the technical legal issues surrounding such kind of case. The plaintiff had smashed us in its motion with tons of case law, which were mostly court verdicts issued already decades ago and which in my opinion were either totally outdated, since the customer journey ordering goods online today is certainly very much different than the one before the World Wide Web existed at all, or, had even nothing to do with the case matter as such, but looked of course at a very first glance impressive, until one undertook the effort to scrutinize and analyze the respective court decision in detail.
After we had forwarded a thirty-page written brief plus comprehensive attachments to the competent court, an oral hearing took place, which however proved to be very frustrating:
- The three professional judges took a highly abstract and formalistic view by just referring to judgments of the German Federal Court of Justice and verdicts of the European Court of Justice, which had been issued decades ago;
- they did not honor the fact that the respective disputed name never appeared visibly on the sports product itself, but just as a model name in my clients’ B2C web store;
- they also did not acknowledge that educated consumers purchasing online do not, or very little care about such model names, but just want to order a certain product bearing a well-known trademark they have confidence in;
- the fact that my clients had repeatedly expressed their willingness in writing to withdraw from using such a model name and to remove it from any marketing and sales materials offline and online during a certain reasonable transition period did also not help;
- further, for the Court, it all in all did not play a role that the products for which the adverse party’s trademarks were registered were by far not identical with those manufactured and distributed by my clients.
All in all, the court chamber indicated that it would uphold the interim injunction in all points and not grant any relief to my clients. After I had asked for an interruption of the hearing to be able to get in touch with the General Counsel of my client on the phone, who had been on standby, I returned to the courtroom, and I still managed finally to reach a fairly reasonable settlement with the plaintiff, which however involved a substantial additional financial commitment on part of my clients to be able to make an end to such dispute and to close swiftly the case out of primarily economic practical considerations.
Lesson Learned:
After the quite negative (and for my clients also very costly) experiences we had made in the course of these litigation proceedings, lessons learned are the following:
- A model names without conducting any trademark searches in advance and thus without caring about the risk of possible legal conflicts with third-party trademark owners. Such a gambling strategy might, to a certain extent, be successful over a certain period of time, in particular, if only generic model names are chosen, which, as such, cannot enjoy any trademark protection. Any usage of other distinctive denominations could, however, trigger costly lawsuits, which also bind substantial resources at a brand’s management level, as the above example demonstrates.
- The risk of clashing with third-party trademark rights in such kind of scenarios can nowadays be substantially reduced by conducting prior trademark searches at the national and EU levels (respectively also at the international level if required). This can be easily done online, does not consume much time and even if the results of such searches are frequently not providing the full picture, this kind of quick and dirty analysis does at least mitigate risks.
- In particular, SMEs should be aware of the fact that numerous service providers and law firms are systematically screening the World Wide Web to detect possible IP infringements, which per se is nothing negative, it only takes on a certain negative connotation, if the money- earning aspect is in the foreground and not the legitimate objective to efficiently fight illicit offerings on the internet.
- Company may still decide to pursue the strategy to use such kind of unregistered
Dr. Jochen M. Schaefer is a German practicing attorney based in the Munich area. For several years, he has been representing the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) and the European Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) as their legal counsel. He also chairs the WFSGI’s legal committee and is co-chair of the FESI’s digital working group. At the individual client level, he represents a significant number of well-known brands within and beyond the bicycle/sporting goods sector. He is a specialist in national and international distribution topics, intellectual property (IP) and risk management issues, and the drafting and negotiation of comprehensive contracts at the operational level; in particular in the area of European selective distribution schemes. In case of any questions about this article (or in general), he can be reached at [email protected] and at +49 151 1640 7932.
Durham, N.C. – (December 5, 2023) – RockTape, the leader in kinesiology tape and movement products, is announcing the launch of RockFlash Reflective Kinesiology Tape, a new product that combines the supportive and functional benefits of kinesiology tape with reflective properties for enhanced visibility for runners, cyclists and walkers.
RockFlash Reflective Kinesiology Tape is a pre-cut, easy-to-apply tape that may help reduce joint discomfort and expedite recovery. Unlike standard kinesiology tape, RockFlash is made from reflective materials that reflect light from any source, such as headlights, flashlights or streetlamps. The product is ideal for people who are active in low-light conditions, like early-morning or evening runners, cyclists, walkers or outdoor enthusiasts. RockFlash can be applied to various parts of the body for optimal movement and is both water-resistant and latex free.
“We are excited to add RockFlash to our assortment of premium movement products,” said Michael Polk, Chief Executive Officer of Implus. “RockTape is known for providing exceptional muscle support and relief and with this added reflective feature, our customers can stay supported and safe while performing their favorite activities anytime, anywhere.
RockFlash retails for $25.99 and can be purchased on the official RockTape website at www.rocktape.com, Amazon, and at other independent run retailers.
About RockTape: RockTape is a global leader in kinesiology tape and movement products. More than just a tape company, RockTape helps athletes of all levels go stronger, longer with the best kinesiology tape, cutting-edge education, and support products. RockTape is a trusted brand by athletes, coaches, and health professionals worldwide to get people to move more, and move better. Learn more at www.rocktape.com
About Implus: Implus is home to 18 brands in the footwear accessories, hosiery, specialty running, outdoor, fitness and movement categories. As an industry leader in active accessories, Implus is committed to enabling people to live active, healthy, and fulfilled lives, providing innovative products to more than 80,000 retail outlets worldwide. Distributing across more than 70 countries, Implus is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, with five international offices. Key brands within Implus’ portfolio include Balega®, SKLZ®, Yaktrax®, TriggerPoint™, Sof Sole®, RockTape® and Spenco®. To learn more, please visit www.Implus.com.
Durham, N.C. – (November 21, 2023) – Balega, a leading performance running sock brand, announces participation in The Running Event (TRE) 2023, North America’s premier run and outdoor specialty retail conference and tradeshow. Balega is a platinum sponsor and will be at Booth 1521 showcasing their latest product offerings, including the Balega Blister Resist Light in a new mini-crew silhouette.
“We look forward to once again being at TRE and connecting with our partners in the running community,” said Michael Polk, Chief Executive Officer of Implus. “Following the successful launch of our national Transform Your Run campaign, we are excited to share our latest consumer insights and new products with our retail partners. We will also present this year’s Ubuntu award recognizing a run specialty store that best excels in service and involvement in their local community.”
One of the highlights showcased in Balega’s booth will be the new Balega Blister Resist Light, which will be available in both no-show and mini-crew silhouettes. This sock is ideal for runners seeking protection from blisters and the elements, and features the same moisture-wicking and protective barrier technology as their other Blister Resist socks but with a more weightless feel.
Balega invites all TRE attendees to visit Booth 1521 to learn more about their products and initiatives for Spring 2024. Implus will also showcase RockTape, TriggerPoint, and Spenco across the aisle from Balega in Booth 1515.
TRE 2023 will take place from November 28 – 30 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.
About Balega: A leading performance running sock brand in the run specialty market, Balega is a designer and manufacturer of technical performance running socks and part of the Implus family of brands. With a proud American-South African initiative, the company develops its product in several countries, utilizing the best performance yarns produced across the globe. Crafted for a superior fit and unmatched comfort, Balega is committed to the technical excellence, quality, and performance. A brand with ‘sole,’ Balega prides itself on its commitment to the community with projects aimed at enriching those less fortunate than ourselves. In 2023, Balega became Climate Neutral Certified by committing to measure their climate impact, setting reduction targets, and offsetting their carbon emissions. For more information, please visit www.balega.com.
About Implus: Implus is home to 18 brands in the footwear accessories, hosiery, specialty running, outdoor, fitness and movement categories. As an industry leader in active accessories, Implus is committed to enabling people to live active, healthy, and fulfilled lives, providing innovative products to more than 80,000 retail outlets worldwide. Distributing across more than 70 countries, Implus is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, with five international offices. Key brands within Implus’ portfolio include Balega®, SKLZ®, Yaktrax®, TriggerPoint™, Sof Sole®, RockTape® and Spenco®. To learn more, please visit www.Implus.com.
The latest addition to its roster of Active Gaming experiences, Playfinity’s Gaming Soccerball will cost $129 and offers a groundbreaking fusion of physical and digital play, blending the excitement of gaming with real-world soccer
Oslo, Norway – (November 1, 2023) – Playfinity (www.playfinity.com), the Nordic sports-tech company committed to keeping kids active and engaged in sports through its range of tech-augmented sporting equipment, unveils its new Gaming Soccerball. With the addition of groundbreaking sensor technology and a corresponding gamified app, Playfinity has technologized the traditional soccer ball with the aim of making play, activity, and sports more enjoyable for youth by providing an immersive and engaging experience.
A study by the National Alliance of Youth Sports shows that 70% of children stop playing sports by age 13. Reasons for the declining interest include a lack of enjoyment and the often over-serious nature of competitive sports. Getting kids outside and active is really important; however, children are increasingly growing up in a tech-focused and sedentary world. To tackle this issue and appeal to the world’s most digital generation, Playfinity’s Gaming Soccerball blends screen-time with sports in a fun and engaging way.
The Gaming Soccerball detects and measures activity while transmitting the data via Bluetooth to Playfinity FC, a companion mobile app allowing users to build their team and play matches with and against other real players. Playfinity FC offers a variety of physical games based on skills and drills, developed with the expertise of coaches and professionals in the field. The leaderboards, customizable avatars, and news feeds are aimed at capturing children’s focus while encouraging their participation in physical activities. The Gaming Soccerball tracks metrics such as the number of kicks, distance, speed, airtime, height, and bounces around which the interactive physical soccer ball games have been designed. Playfinity’s range of gamified sporting equipment also includes SmartBall, JumpGames and the Gaming Baseball, which currently has thousands of players across 21 countries. The magic of Playfinity is that kids play more, play longer, and can play with others across the world. This enables kids to be connected via a love of sport, irrespective of location.
Games include:
● Kick-up – which challenges players to complete 20 consecutive kick-ups with three lives.
● Kick-About – where players kick the ball as many times as possible in order to gain ‘virtual energy’ for the game.
● Kick-Up Master – where kids complete as many kick ups as possible in a short window of time.
● Endless Kicker – where players kick the ball as many times as possible to get to the next level.
Conceived by a team of five fathers who recognized the importance of keeping children physically active and engaged in sports, all of Playfinity’s products emphasize durability and longevity. With backgrounds in IoT and Bluetooth, software and toy development, and industrial and creative design, Playfinity’s founders realized that, together, they had the skills and abilities necessary to facilitate tackling the issue of keeping kids active in sports. Their solution was to blend sport with digital gamified experiences, incorporating level progression and rewards to keep kids interested, ultimately improving their skills and fitness while still having fun.
Gaming Soccerball Features:
● Regulation size 4 soccer ball features a smart skin with a flexible form and integrated impact-resistant technology.
● Prioritizes privacy and security, ensuring a safe and engaging experience for children
● Powered by AI machine learning and gaming mechanics, and equipped with cutting-edge sensor technology, optimizing the entire gaming experience
● Fitted with a 110mAh Lithium-ion wireless charging battery, permitting up to 70 hours of play per charge
● Water-resistant and dustproof product
● Gaming progress is tracked and fed back through the app as measurable data.
● Agnostic: enjoy multiple players and profiles with one ball
Pippa Boothman, CEO at Playfinity comments: “Our aim has been and always will be to keep kids active whilst having fun. Our Gaming Soccerball is both a game-changer and a solution to an ongoing problem. Our team’s passion, creativity, and unwavering commitment to the health and wellbeing of kids have led to this creation. The success we have achieved is a reflection of our hard work and our shared vision. At Playfinity, we have poured our heart and soul into creating products that inspire kids to keep moving.”
ABOUT PLAYFINITY: Playfinity was founded in 2016 in Oslo, Norway by five fathers who recognized the urgency in keeping children active and engaged with outdoor sports. Playfinity currently has thousands of players across 21 countries, with a lineup of tech-enabled sporting equipment that aim to create a more active future for kids. Through combining digital gaming and active play, Playfinity keeps children engaged by ensuring that core skill training is fun and rewarding.
Peachtree Corners, GA – (September 25, 2023) – Mizuno, a renowned name in the world of golf equipment, is thrilled to announce the launch of its latest game-changing products, the Mizuno ST-G Driver and Titanium Fairway Woods. These cutting-edge metal woods represent the perfect blend of power and control, offering golfers unparalleled performance and versatility on the course.
The ST-G Driver – Low Spin Adjustability
The Mizuno ST-G Driver is a 440cc powerhouse featuring a newly optimized Fast Track design, allowing adjustability ranging from a low spin bomber to a fade or draw bias or simply a more stable compact driver. This driver is designed to optimize launch and spin while enhancing ball speed through the innovative CORTECH Chamber.
According to Mizuno’s Director of R&D, David Llewellyn, “The ST-G 440cc is very stable in the category of compact driver heads. The addition of Mizuno’s CORTECH Chamber greatly influenced our ability to create more consistent ball speeds across the face.”
Key Features of the Mizuno ST-G Driver:
- CORTECH Chamber: A stainless steel weight encased within elastomeric TPU, reducing stress on the clubface and providing an extra source of energy, resulting in a solid, powerful sensation at impact.
- Max Convergent Fast Track: Achieve ultra-low spin to mid-low spin settings.
- Compact 440cc Players Profile: A modern pear-shaped design that sits perfectly square in the neutral setting.
- New Beta Rich Ti LFS: A lighter, faster, stronger face material for improved ball speeds.
- Expanded Carbon Toe Wrap: Allows greater shot shape adjustability.
- Tour Tested For Sound: Provides a solid feel at impact across weight settings.
- Quick Switch Hosel: Offers 4 degrees of adjustability for fine-tuning address and trajectory.
Chris Voshall, Director of Product at Mizuno, noted, “We’ve had a significant surge in tour usage for Mizuno drivers over the last few years, and the addition of a more compact 440cc ultra-low spin option will only accelerate that trend.”
The Mizuno ST-G Driver is available in right-hand (9.5 & 10.5) and left-hand (9.5 only) options.
The ST-G Titanium Fairway Woods – Low Spin Meets Performance
Mizuno’s first ST-G fairway wood is a low-spinning, all-Titanium marvel designed to cater to faster-swinging tour staff and solid ball strikers who seek a penetrating ball flight. Like the driver, it is built on the CORTECH Chamber platform, providing golfers with exceptional control and performance.
Key Features of the Mizuno ST-G Titanium Fairway Woods:
- Full Body Ti Construction: Ti-811 body with high-strength multi-thickness Titanium Face for outstanding ball speeds.
- Ultra-low Spin Construction: Combines CORTECH Chamber, an 80g stainless steel sole plate, 8g stainless steel front screw, and a lightweight waffle crown.
- Modern Player’s Pear Shape: Inviting and compact, sits square at address.
- Tour Tested for Sound: Offers a solid feel at impact.
- Quick Switch Hosel: Provides 4 degrees of adjustability for precise tuning.
David Llewellyn, Director of R&D at Mizuno, emphasized the significance of introduction, stating, “The low spin fairway wood is a model that we’ve quietly been working on for several years – the CORTECH Chamber made it a lot easier to achieve.”
The Mizuno ST-G Titanium Fairway Woods are available in right-hand (3W & 5W) and left-hand (3W only) options.
Chris Voshall, Director of Product at Mizuno, stated, “There’s a significant number of our tour players, especially in the US, chasing lower spin with their fairway woods. There are some very good options already out there, so we took our time and ensured we put our time in testing on tour.”
As Mizuno continues to grow in all categories, including the Wood Market, the launch of the ST-G Driver and Titanium Fairway Woods further cements its position as a leader in golf equipment innovation. These remarkable additions provide high-swing speed players and experienced fitters with a remarkable low-spin option, ensuring Mizuno remains at the forefront of the wood-fitting world.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to elevate your game with the Mizuno ST-G Driver and Titanium Fairway Woods. For more information and to explore Mizuno’s full range of golf equipment, apparel, and accessories, visit mizunogolf.com
ABOUT MIZUNO USA: Mizuno USA, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mizuno Corporation, one of the world’s largest specialty sporting goods manufacturers. Mizuno USA, Inc. manufactures and distributes golf, baseball, softball, running, volleyball, swimming, and tennis equipment, apparel, and footwear for North America. Mizuno USA, Inc. is based in Peachtree Corners, GA
#MizunoSTG
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Hosted by SBRNet and First and Pen
Football, sports hospitality, retail, the baseball players’ players union, lifestyle footwear, golf, running, data analytics, television production, finance and working for a major brand will all be among the career options presented to students of color at the first ever Get in the Game Conference set to take place October 6-8, 2023 in Baltimore.
Get in the Game is a new event, created by SBRnet and First and Pen to connect sports companies sports with young men and women of color looking to break into the business. The three-day event will feature panel discussions, presentations, workshops, and experiential field trips all designed to educate students about the wide range of career options in the sports business.
“This event is all about the students and showcasing for them the many different jobs and career options available in the sports business,” said Yussuf Khan, president of First and Pen. Khan started his career at ESPN and since then has held a number of executive roles in the sports media business and also teaches at several colleges in the New York area. “My students are constantly asking about jobs in sports and those questions helped inspire us to create this event,” Khan said. “Any student attending Get in the Game will come away with new perspectives on how they can work in sports.”
Get in the Game’s original outreach was to students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, but it is open to students of color at any school. To date students from North Carolina A&T, Howard, Morgan State, Winston-Salem State, Towson, Fisk University, Lenoir Rhyne University, NYU, Drexel, George Washington and Long Island University have all registered to attend.
In addition to the panels and presentations, Get in the Game will include a career expo, where students can meet with sponsors to learn about specific jobs and internships available in the coming year. Dick’s Sporting Goods, one of the presenting sponsors for Get in the Game, plans to make several offers to students during the event. Executives at lifestyle footwear company Clarks say they will also have jobs and internships available to students who attend Get in the Game.
“I have been around the sports business for 25+ years and am seeing a genuine desire by companies to attract and retain more young men and women of color,” said Mark Sullivan, a managing partner at SBRnet, which distributes data and content to more than 260 colleges and universities across the United States.
The full agenda for Get in the Game can be seen here: https://getinthegameconference.net/GITG/agenda.aspx
Students can register by visiting: https://getinthegameconference.net/GITG/Register.aspx
In addition to Dick’s Sporting Goods and Clarks, sponsors include: On Running, ASICS, Under Armour, The Ad Council, The Baltimore Ravens, Morgan Stanley, The Detroit Tigers, The Detroit Red Ewings, Sodexo Live, the MLB Player’s Association, The American Junior Golf Association, Ohio University, The Footwear Retailers and Distributors of America and Program Productions.
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About First and Pen: First And Pen informs, inspires and connects through voices of color in sports. The publisher is the sports media vertical from The Khanate Group; a media, tech, and eCommerce company fully committed to supporting and investing in underserved and overlooked communities, individuals, and voices of color. Company CEO Yussuf Khan has over two decades of experience in sports and multicultural media. After beginning his career at ESPN, he invested the last 18 years of his career in start-up ventures, building a successful track record at companies such as CSTV (now CBS Sports Network), Interactive One (now Urban One), Big Lead Sports and The Shadow League. The media veteran has a unique and diverse career path with a long history in the fields of multimedia sales, marketing, communications, journalism, and content creation.
About SBRnet: SBRnet is a comprehensive online data platform of nationwide sports marketing analytics, using syndicated and custom proprietary sports fan information for the professional and college sports, consumer research, industry reports, and licensed industry articles. Since 2020, SBRnet has been owned by Neil Schwartz and Mark Sullivan. Schwartz is a 20-year veteran of sports data with stints at Nielsen and SportscanInfo.
Sullivan is an editor and publisher and one of the founders of The Running Event conference and trade show. The pair are also co-hosts of the “My First Job in Sports” web series.
For further information, please contact Yussuf Khan at [email protected] or Mark Sullivan at [email protected].