Leading Racquet Sports Brand and Technology Company Team Up to Leverage Data and Lifestyle to Advance Tennis Worldwide
San Francisco, CA (August 14, 2018) — HEAD USA (HEAD Penn Racquet Sports) and Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) Powered by Oracle today announced a strategic partnership joining their technology and tennis expertise to drive engagement and growth among tennis players worldwide.
HEAD USA’s partnership with UTR Powered by Oracle is the first of its kind for the racquet sports brand, which has been marking a worldwide force in tennis innovation since its launch in the late 1960s, when founder Howard Head introduced the first aluminum tennis racquet, and is currently the US leader in the tennis ball market with the Penn brand.
UTR Powered by Oracle has experienced rapid growth among players, clubs, federations, coaches and tennis professionals who are using UTR’s rating, tournament management system and community platform to register and communicate with players, manage tournaments and events, post and submit scores, and compare players from around the world. Unlike any other system, UTR Powered by Oracle provides players and coaches with a dynamic, objective measurement of tennis skill that is based purely on results and takes every game played into account.
Today, UTR Powered by Oracle has over 8M results from 700,000 players worldwide and is the official rating system for a number of elite tennis tournaments, clubs and academies, including IMG Academies, Saddlebrook Resort & Spa, Cliff Drysdale Management, Citi Open and the International Tennis Hall of Fame. UTR also has strategic partnerships with Oracle and Tennis Channel, amongst several others.
“UTR Powered by Oracle is the talk of the tennis industry and for the first time delivers a true rating system that is an outstanding tool for the entire tennis community. It was a natural to team up with their team as HEAD continues to take new and innovative approaches to engage with players. It’s going to be a great partnership!” said Greg Mason, President HEAD USA Racquet Sports.
“We are excited to partner with HEAD USA to further advance UTR Powered by Oracle’s mission,” said Mark Leschly, Universal Tennis Chairman and CEO. “HEAD USA was founded on innovation and we look forward to working with them to provide more opportunities for all players to find fun, competitive level-based tennis wherever they are.”
As part of the partnership, UTR Powered by Oracle and HEAD USA will work on a variety of marketing initiatives, starting with HEAD USA’s “Speed Wins – You Win” campaign, celebrating the launch of the new Graphene 360 Speed tennis racquet. The promotion is offering the first 1000 consumers who purchase a Graphene 360 Speed racquet by August 20th to register their racquet (via head.com/speedwins) by August 24th for a chance to get their racquet for free. If HEAD sponsored athletes Novak Djokovic (UTR 16.07) or Alexander Zverev (UTR 15.88) win the final in New York on September 9th, all registered consumers will receive a check from HEAD reimbursing the cost of their Graphene 360 Speed racquet.
Later this fall, HEAD USA and UTR Powered by Oracle will begin a dedicated calendar of year-round programming and initiatives, which will include activations on UTR’s digital community and club platform, Penn tennis ball-related promotions, HEAD racquet offers and special promotions, custom content, and behind the scenes access.
