King(makers) of the Courts
“I think that started with John (McEnroe). When he (Phil Knight) went to Wimbledon that first year that he was looking around for tennis players, somebody came up to him and said, hey, there’s this this kid in the back court. He goes back to check it out and it’s John McEnroe. Somebody with talent, but also some style. I think that was the attraction and I think that attitude sort of lent itself to what we were trying to create with Nike tennis.”
In this episode of the SLN Podcast, our friend Dave Larson, the CMO of Sweet Onion Consulting, speaks with his former Nike colleague, Ian Hamilton. It will become clear as to why Dave has such admiration for Ian. Together, they built Nike Tennis with Phil Knight’s support. They signed and outfitted Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, and many other legends of the game. Ian would then lead Planet Hollywood’s All-Star Cafe, working with the likes of Tiger Woods and Shaq. After years in sports marketing, Ian was highly sought after to be the PBA Tour Commissioner. Today, Ian Chairs the Board of Nike’s U.S. and Canada Sports Camps while also serving on several other boards. Dave caught up with late last year while Ian was between playing tennis and drum lessons.
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