Prince Sports

Prince Sports is an American sporting-goods brand focused primarily on tennis and other racquet sports. The business was established in 1970 by Robert Hirt McClure in Princeton, New Jersey, and initially manufactured tennis-ball machines. The connection with Princeton supplied the basis for the Prince name. The company soon expanded into tennis racquets and developed a reputation for applying engineering and design changes to equipment used by recreational and competitive players. One of Prince's most important early developments came through Howard Head, the founder of Head sporting goods. After retiring, Head used a Prince ball machine while taking tennis lessons and became interested in improving racquet design. In the early 1970s he helped develop the oversized tennis racquet associated with Prince. The Prince Classic aluminum racquet became the first oversized racquet to receive a patent, although an earlier Bentley Fortissimo design contributed to the invalidation of that patent in Germany. Oversized frames nevertheless became a major equipment category and helped establish Prince as an innovation-led tennis brand. Over time, Prince broadened its portfolio beyond racquets. Its products have included tennis strings, footwear, apparel, balls, bags, hats, stringing machines, and accessories. The business has also been associated with equipment for squash, badminton, racquetball, and platform or paddle tennis. Brand lines and related businesses have included Ektelon for racquetball, Viking for platform or paddle tennis, and Battle. Prince's tennis portfolio has included racquet families such as the O3 and Tour ranges, although product availability and ownership arrangements have changed over time. The company's corporate history has involved several changes in ownership. Prince was previously owned by the Italian Benetton Group and was acquired from Benetton by Lincolnshire Management in 2003. Nautic Partners later became involved in the business. In 2012, the Prince brand name and associated intellectual property were acquired by Authentic Brands Group during a restructuring process that included a voluntary Chapter 11 filing by Prince Sports in the United States. The company's tennis unit reported $59 million in sales for 2011, a historical figure associated with the restructuring period rather than a current financial disclosure. In September 2012, the Waitt Company agreed to a long-term license to operate the Prince brand. Prince Global Sports subsequently operated as a subsidiary of Athletic Brands Holding Company, which is majority-owned by the Waitt Company. This arrangement separated the continuing operation of the sporting-goods brand from the earlier operating company's bankruptcy process while preserving Prince's position in racquet sports. In March 2014, Prince announced that it would move its headquarters from Bordentown, New Jersey, to Atlanta, Georgia. Company chief executive Mike Ballardie cited Atlanta's strong tennis community as a reason for the relocation, including the scale of local participation and the Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association. Prince remains associated with tennis equipment and related racquet-sports products, with its market identity centered on technical racquet design, performance equipment, and a broad heritage in tennis innovation. Prince Tennis is an American tennis equipment brand established in 1970. The brand presents itself as a long-standing name in tennis, with an identity built around equipment innovation, on-court performance, and a broader tennis lifestyle. Its principal category is racquet sports equipment, especially tennis racquets, while its product range has also included strings, bags, grips, apparel, and other accessories. Prince is particularly associated with the development and popularization of oversized racquet designs. Larger head sizes offered players a greater hitting area and a more forgiving response than many traditional racquets, helping make performance-oriented equipment more accessible to a wider group of players. This innovation became an important part of the brand’s historical reputation and helped distinguish Prince in a competitive market dominated by specialist tennis and sporting-goods companies. Over time, Prince’s racquet portfolio has covered products aimed at different playing styles, technical preferences, and experience levels. Its range has included control-focused frames, power-oriented models, lighter recreational racquets, and performance products incorporating contemporary frame and material technologies. The brand has also maintained visibility through product families such as the Classic Graphite and Textreme Tour lines, although product availability and model specifications can vary by market and by generation. Prince operates in an international tennis-equipment market that includes specialist sporting-goods retailers, tennis clubs, online sellers, and direct brand channels. Its positioning combines heritage with technical experimentation: the brand draws on its long history in racquet design while continuing to market equipment intended for modern players. The official brand site describes Prince as having been active since 1970 and emphasizes its continuing role both on and off the court. Publicly available reference material supplied for this entry does not establish a current parent company, owner, headquarters, executive roster, financial profile, or detailed corporate history. Accordingly, those fields are left unconfirmed rather than inferred. Prince Tennis should be understood here as the tennis equipment brand represented by the supplied official website, not as an unrelated company or namesake using the word Prince. In March 2014, Prince announced that it would move its headquarters from Bordentown, New Jersey, to Atlanta, Georgia. Chief executive Mike Ballardie cited Atlanta's strong tennis community as a reason for the move, including the scale of local participation and the Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association. Prince remains associated with tennis equipment and related racquet-sports products, with its market positioning centered on technical racquet design, performance gear, and a broader heritage of tennis innovation. The brand operates in an international tennis-equipment market that includes specialist sporting-goods retailers, tennis clubs, online sellers, and direct brand channels, and its official site describes Prince as having been active since 1970 and emphasizes its continuing role both on and off the court.

Prince Sports began in 1970 in Princeton, New Jersey, where Robert Hirt McClure established a business producing tennis-ball machines. The company's name reflects its Princeton origins. The business soon moved into tennis racquets, creating a foundation for the product category with which the brand is most closely identified. A decisive stage in Prince's early development involved Howard Head. Head had founded the Head sporting-goods company and, after retirement, took tennis lessons using a Prince ball machine. His dissatisfaction with the pace of his improvement led him to take an interest in racquet design. In the early 1970s, he helped Prince develop an oversized tennis racquet. Prince's Classic aluminum racquet became the first oversized racquet to be patented. The patent's status was later undermined in Germany because the Bentley Fortissimo design preceded it by two years, but the oversized-racquet concept became an important part of Prince's historical influence on tennis equipment. Prince later developed a wider racquet-sports portfolio. In addition to tennis racquets, the company produced or marketed strings, balls, footwear, apparel, bags, hats, accessories, and stringing machines. It also participated in squash and badminton and was connected with racquetball and platform or paddle tennis through brands including Ektelon and Viking. The broader portfolio reflected an effort to use Prince's equipment expertise across adjacent racquet-sports categories. The company passed through several ownership structures. The Benetton Group of Italy was among its owners. Lincolnshire Management acquired Prince from Benetton in 2003, and Nautic Partners later became associated with the business. These ownership changes occurred as the sporting-goods company operated in a competitive market for tennis equipment and maintained a portfolio that included both the Prince name and related racquet-sports brands. In July 2012, Authentic Brands Group acquired the Prince brand name from Nautic Partners. The transaction occurred alongside a voluntary Chapter 11 reorganization petition in a United States bankruptcy court. The tennis unit had recorded $59 million in sales during 2011, a figure reported in connection with the period immediately preceding the restructuring. The reorganization marked a separation between the operating company's financial difficulties and the continuing commercial value of the Prince brand and its intellectual property. In September 2012, the Waitt Company agreed to a 40-year license for operation of the Prince brand. Prince Global Sports subsequently operated under Athletic Brands Holding Company, which is majority-owned by the Waitt Company. The portfolio under this operating structure included Prince as well as Ektelon, Viking, and Battle. This licensing and holding-company arrangement became the principal corporate framework for the brand after the 2012 restructuring. In March 2014, Prince announced a headquarters move from Bordentown, New Jersey, to Atlanta, Georgia. Chief executive Mike Ballardie presented Atlanta's tennis infrastructure and participation base as important reasons for the decision. The city was described as having a substantial tennis community, including the large Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association. The move placed the company's headquarters in Atlanta, where Prince Global Sports has been based. Prince's historical identity therefore rests on two connected elements: early innovation in tennis-ball machines and racquet construction, and continued participation in a broad racquet-sports market. The brand's oversized-racquet heritage, later O3 technology, and Tour-oriented product families have supported its performance positioning, while changes in ownership, licensing, and corporate structure have shaped how the brand has been operated. Prince Tennis traces its brand history to 1970 in the United States. The available reference material does not document every stage of its corporate development, but the brand’s public identity is centered on tennis equipment and, above all, racquet design. Its early and enduring significance comes from the use of innovative racquet formats that challenged conventional assumptions about frame size and playability. The brand became closely associated with oversized racquets. Compared with traditional smaller-headed frames, oversized designs could provide a larger effective hitting area and greater forgiveness. That concept appealed to recreational players while also influencing the wider development of modern tennis racquet design. Prince’s reputation consequently developed not only from individual products but also from its role in making alternative frame geometries and specifications visible to the broader tennis market. As the tennis equipment category matured, Prince expanded beyond a single racquet concept into a broader portfolio. The brand has offered racquets for different combinations of power, control, comfort, maneuverability, and player experience. It has also participated in adjacent categories such as strings, bags, grips, apparel, and accessories. Product families including the Classic Graphite and Textreme Tour lines represent different periods and approaches within the brand’s racquet heritage, although the supplied sources do not provide a complete chronology of launches or current model availability. Prince’s identity combines technical performance with a recognizable lifestyle component. The official website describes the brand as having been active since 1970 and frames its role as extending beyond competition to a broader tennis culture. This positioning allows Prince to address committed players and tennis enthusiasts while retaining the heritage value associated with its earlier racquet innovations. The currently available materials do not reliably establish the company’s legal ownership, corporate structure, principal headquarters, executive leadership, manufacturing footprint, sales figures, or relationships with particular professional players. They also do not provide a sufficiently documented account of acquisitions, restructurings, sponsorship agreements, or specific product-generation dates. Those aspects therefore remain unconfirmed in this dossier. The brand is treated as active because its official website is available and continues to present Prince Tennis as an operating tennis brand.

• 2014

  Headquarters move to Atlanta

  [1]Prince Sportsen.wikipedia.org

  Prince announces the relocation of its headquarters from Bordentown, New Jersey, to Atlanta, Georgia.

• 2012

  Authentic Brands Group acquires the Prince brand

  [1]Prince Sportsen.wikipedia.org

  Authentic Brands Group acquires the brand name from Nautic Partners during a process involving Prince Sports' Chapter 11 reorganization.

• 2012

  Prince receives a long-term operating license

  [1]Prince Sportsen.wikipedia.org

  The Waitt Company agrees to operate Prince under a 40-year license.

• 2003

  Lincolnshire Management acquires Prince from Benetton

  [1]Prince Sportsen.wikipedia.org

  The ownership of Prince changes from the Benetton Group to Lincolnshire Management.

• 1970

  Prince is founded in Princeton, New Jersey

  [1]Prince Sportsen.wikipedia.org

  Robert Hirt McClure establishes the business as a manufacturer of tennis-ball machines.

• 1970

  The company expands into tennis racquets

  [1]Prince Sportsen.wikipedia.org

  Prince soon adds racquets to its product range, beginning its long-term focus on tennis equipment.

• 1970

  Oversized-racquet development begins

  [1]Prince Sportsen.wikipedia.org

  Howard Head joins Prince in the early 1970s and helps develop the oversized racquet concept associated with the brand.

• 1970

  Prince Tennis is established

  [3]Prince Tennis official websiteprincetennis.com

  The official Prince Tennis website identifies 1970 as the beginning of the brand’s tennis history.

A heritage American tennis brand positioned around racquet innovation, player performance, and tennis lifestyle products, with offerings spanning recreational and performance-oriented use.

• Tennis racquets

  Prince Classic Graphite

  The Prince Classic aluminum racquet is historically associated with the development of oversized tennis racquets. It became the first oversized racquet to be patented, although an earlier Bentley Fortissimo design later affected the patent's validity in Germany. The model represents Prince's early emphasis on changing racquet geometry and increasing the playable hitting area. A heritage-associated Prince racquet line linked to the brand’s traditional graphite-frame identity. The line is recognized as part of Prince’s historical performance-racquet portfolio, although the supplied references do not document a complete list of models, original launch dates, or current market availability.

• Tennis racquet series

  Prince O3

  The O3 series is one of Prince's best-known modern racquet families. It is associated with the brand's use of distinctive frame openings and aerodynamic design to differentiate its racquets from conventional solid-beam constructions. The range helped reinforce Prince's positioning as a company that used visible structural technology as a product feature.

• Tennis racquet series

  Prince Tour

  The Tour family is a performance-oriented Prince racquet line intended for players seeking control and competitive specifications. It sits within the brand's core tennis portfolio and complements more technology-led or player-segmented racquet families. A performance-oriented racquet family associated with Prince’s use of Textreme material technology and its effort to combine modern frame construction with a tour-inspired playing profile. Specific specifications and model availability vary by generation and market.

• Tennis equipment

  Prince tennis strings

  Prince has marketed tennis strings alongside its racquets, allowing the brand to participate in equipment customization and replacement-consumables categories. The string offering supports players who tune feel, power, durability, or control through equipment selection. The supplied sources do not identify a definitive current string catalogue. Tennis balls form part of Prince's broader tennis portfolio. Their inclusion extends the brand beyond durable equipment such as racquets and strings into frequently replaced playing products used in training, recreational play, and organized tennis. Prince-branded strings form part of the brand’s supporting equipment range, serving players who want to customize racquet response, comfort, durability, or spin characteristics. The supplied sources do not identify a definitive current string catalogue.

• Tennis apparel and footwear

  Prince apparel and footwear

  The brand's apparel and footwear range broadens Prince's presence from racquet hardware into on-court clothing and shoes. These products support a complete tennis identity while complementing the company's equipment, bag, and accessory categories.

• Tennis service equipment

  Prince stringing machines

  Prince has included stringing machines in its equipment range. These products serve racquet technicians, clubs, retailers, and serious players who need to install or replace strings and maintain racquet performance.

• Pickleball equipment

  Prince pickleball paddles

  Pickleball paddles represent Prince's extension into a growing paddle-sports category. The products apply the brand's racquet-sports positioning to a sport adjacent to tennis and other paddle disciplines.

• Racquetball brand

  Ektelon

  Ektelon is a related racquetball brand included in Prince's wider brand portfolio during the post-restructuring operating period. It gives the group a distinct identity in racquetball rather than treating the sport solely as a Prince product extension.

• Platform and paddle tennis brand

  Viking

  Viking is a related brand associated with platform or paddle tennis equipment. Its inclusion reflects Prince Global Sports' strategy of maintaining specialist names across different racquet and paddle sports.

• Tennis accessories

  Prince tennis bags and accessories

  The brand's accessory categories include tennis bags and related items used to carry, maintain, and personalize equipment. Product selection and availability may differ across distributors and regions.

• 2014

  Relocation of headquarters to AtlantaStrategy

  Background

  Prince sought a base connected to a substantial tennis-playing community and organized tennis infrastructure.

  Action taken

  The company announced that it would move its headquarters from Bordentown, New Jersey, to Atlanta, Georgia.

  Aftermath

  The relocation established Atlanta as the company's headquarters and aligned the business with the city's extensive tennis ecosystem.

  Source

• 2012

  Transfer of the Prince brand to Authentic Brands GroupM&A

  Background

  Prince Sports was undergoing a financial restructuring process that included a voluntary Chapter 11 petition, while Nautic Partners held the brand.

  Action taken

  Authentic Brands Group acquired the Prince brand name and related brand rights from Nautic Partners.

  Aftermath

  The Waitt Company subsequently obtained a long-term license to operate Prince, and the brand continued through the Prince Global Sports and Athletic Brands Holding Company structure.

  Source

• 2012

  Long-term licensing arrangement with the Waitt CompanyStrategy

  Background

  Following the acquisition of the brand name and the operating company's reorganization, Prince required a continuing commercial operating structure.

  Action taken

  The Waitt Company agreed to a 40-year license to operate the Prince brand.

  Aftermath

  Prince Global Sports operated as a subsidiary of Athletic Brands Holding Company, majority-owned by the Waitt Company.

  Source

1. 1Prince Sportsen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Prince Tennis official websiteprincetennis.com
3. 3Prince Tennis official websiteprincetennis.com