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Spalding WNBA INFUSION Will Be Official Gameball
The Spalding WNBA INFUSION basketball, which allows users to add or release air anytime, anywhere, will be played by all WNBA teams and will debut when the season tips off this coming Memorial Day weekend. The ball will maintain the traditional orange and oatmeal design and will now include a built-in Micro Pump, thus eliminating the need for a separate pump and needle.
This patented technology solves consumers' No. 1 complaint (under-inflation) with inflated sports equipment. With the WNBA INFUSION, just twist, pump, lock, and play! One minute of activation adds about one pound of air pressure to the ball.
"When the WNBA launched in 1997, we and Spalding broke new ground with our distinctively colored gameball, and we are now taking an important next step together by bringing INFUSION to the women's pro game," said Val Ackerman, WNBA President. "We look forward to pairing the game's best female players with this cutting-edge innovation beginning with the 2003 season."
"We're thrilled to expand our association with the WNBA and have the finest women athletes compete with INFUSION technology," stated Dan Touhey, director of marketing for Spalding Sports Worldwide. "It's a further testimony to the quality and innovation of INFUSION and further solidifies our long-standing position as the number one basketball brand."
The Spalding WNBA INFUSION basketball will be available at retail in Summer 2003 and be a part of the marketing and promotional plans for the INFUSION "family of brands."
In addition to the WNBA endorsing Infusion technology, the Spalding NBA Infusion basketball is the official gameball of the National Basketball Developmental League (NBDL). Spalding also produces and sells a full line of NBA product in addition to the official WNBA non-INFUSION composite leather and rubber basketballs, mini-sized basketballs, collectable and commemorative basketballs.
Spalding Sports Worldwide is the nation's first full-line sporting goods company. Its leadership and innovative products have led to revolutionary breakthroughs in virtually every major sporting goods product category. Since the launch of the SPALDING NBA INFUSION basketball in February 2001, its initial first year forecast was shattered by sales of more than one million units. Recognized by Popular Science among the top 100 innovations in 2001, INFUSION spurred a 50 percent sales leap in the company's product category, contributing to a 12 percent increase in a previously stagnant basketball sales market.
The INFUSION is the official gameball of the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) and is endorsed by NBA superstars Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce. Under the Spalding umbrella are the Strata, Top-Flite, Etonic, Ben Hogan and Dudley brands. To find more information on Spalding, visit http://www.spalding.com or call the Consumer Relations Department at 800-SPALDING (772-5346).
A record 2,362,430 fans attended WNBA games during the 2002 season, with an average attendance of 9,220 fans, up from 9,075 in 2001. The 2002 WNBA Finals concluded with the Los Angeles Sparks capturing their second consecutive WNBA title. The league enters its seventh season in 2003, with the WNBA All-Star Game marking its fifth anniversary with a return to Madison Square Garden on Saturday, July 12. The event will be held on the weekend for the first time and makes its network television debut on ABC.