The first member of Slinger Bag’s new Advisory Board, Mr. Mackin will help to drive media strategy, technology partnerships and overall brand development
BALTIMORE, Nov. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Slinger Bag (OTC: SLBG), a sports brand focused on innovating game improvement equipment for all ball sports with an initial focus on the global tennis market, is pleased today to announce the appointment of George Mackin as Advisor to the company. Mr. Mackin is a well-respected media industry executive with deep connections throughout the sport of tennis. In his role on Slinger Bag’s new Advisory Board, he will help to guide company strategy as it relates to media, technology partnerships and overall brand development.
“We are thrilled to add a person of George’s caliber to our company,” said Mike Ballardie, CEO of Slinger Bag. “He is one of the most respected people in tennis and has created tremendous value in his career through his media and marketing companies, numerous tennis endeavours, and experience with leading successful strategic investments. Slinger Bag is at a momentous time right now as there are many people with a new or renewed interest in tennis, and the pandemic has also driven a tremendous increase in demand for innovative products that drive health and wellness. We are excited to continue improving the Slinger experience to best serve the tennis market, and George is the perfect person to help us do so.”
Mr. Mackin previously served as Chairman at PlaySight Interactive, a leading global sports video technology platform that first launched in tennis, the sports vertical he helped to build, market and brand as a leader in the space. In his role, he recruited the PlaySight Tennis Ambassador team and drove several key commercial partnerships for the company. Mr. Mackin is also the previous owner of the Tennis Media Company (TMC), including Tennis Magazine and Tennis.com.
“I look forward to working with Mike and his team to grow the Slinger Bag revenues, relevance and market leading brand, first in tennis globally, followed by other sports,” said Mr. Mackin. “The Slinger Bag is truly innovative and has already been embraced by many tennis enthusiasts, ranging from elite professional tennis players, to coaches and recreational players of all levels and has the potential for much more explosive growth in the months and years ahead. With the addition of smart technology, building a connected Slinger community and establishing a leading brand through global media partnerships, Slinger Bag is poised to become in tennis what so many other connected sports, fitness and wellness products and services are to those growing markets.”
About George Mackin:
Mr. Mackin built the largest and most successful media representation company in the world which he sold in 1998.
In 2000 he invested and became managing partner in the Tennis Media Company (TMC), named Chis Evert as his Publisher and brought in strategic investors across tennis, media and technology, before leading the sale of TMC to Sinclair Broadcast Group (NASDAQ: SBGI), owners of Tennis Channel, in 2017.
In 2004 he led his investor group to buy out IMG’s ownership in the Indian Wells Masters Series Tennis Tournament (now the BNP Paribas Open), helped to save the tournament from moving to Shanghai, the competitive bidder, turned it around with a recapitalization and leveraging of TMC media assets to grow revenues and strengthen the brand before selling it to Larry Ellison in 2009. This successful turnaround later became a published case study by the University of Oregon’s Warsaw Sports Marketing Graduate Program.
In 2015, Mr. Mackin also led his expanded investment group into PlaySight Interactive, where they are the majority owners alongside key groups such as Verizon Ventures, SoftBank Ventures Asia, the Great White Shark Opportunity Fund (GWSOF) and Unbound, among others. He served as Chairman from 2018-2020.
About Slinger Bag®:
Slinger Bag® is a new sports brand focused on delivering innovative, game improvement technologies and equipment across all Ball Sport categories. With the vision to become a next-generation sports consumer products company, Slinger Bag® enhances the skill and enjoyment levels of players of all ages and abilities. Slinger Bag® is initially focused on building its brand within the global Tennis market, through its Slinger Bag® Tennis Ball Launcher and Accessories. Slinger Bag® has underpinned its proof of concept with over $200M of retail value in global distribution agreements since the Spring of 2020. Led by CEO Mike Ballardie (former Prince CEO and Wilson EMEA racquet sports executive) Slinger Bag® is now primed to disrupt what are traditional global markets with its patent-pending, highly transportable and affordable Slinger Bag® Launcher.
ENDS
For Investor Relations inquiries contact investors@slingerbag.com or 443-407-7564
For U.K, Europe, South America, New Zealand and Australia contact the UK Press Office, Joe Murgatroyd, Press@slingerbag.com, at Brandnation, +44(0)207 940 7294
For U.S & CANADA., please contact the U.S. Press Office, Meryl Rader, meryl@cgprpublicrelations.com, at CGPR, 908-528-3826
Slinger Bag Legal Counsel: Kalfa Law. Contact: shira@kalfalaw.com
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