Sport BuSineSS - University of New Haven

New HaveN Sport BuSiNeSS Update
What do Shaquille O’Neal,
Evan Turner, and Professor Gil Fried
all have in common?
At 5 feet 6 and 145 pounds, sport management professor
Gil Fried may not appear to have much in common athletically
with Shaquille O’Neil and Evan Turner, the number
two pick in the 2010 NBA draft. But Fried’s recent sponsorship
deal with Li-Ning, the Chinese shoe company, puts
him in with the big boys like O’Neil and Turner, who are
also part of the Li-Ning stable.
Professor Fried has had an illustrious career as a competitive
badminton player. While playing in college and thereafter
he played in more than 140 open tournaments, both
in the U.S. and internationally. Such exposure was
not lost to Li-Ning, which is quickly becoming the top
sporting goods/apparel company in the world. The
number one company in its market in China, Li-Ning
is now undertaking aggressive marketing efforts to
grow in America. One of the company’s key product
lines is badminton gear and the company sponsors the
Chinese national badminton team. Through a former
student, James Du, Li-Ning contacted Professor Fried
and the two parties were able to reach an agreement in
which Fried would exclusively wear Li-Ning badminton
clothes and shoes, and use Li-Ning rackets.
While he does not play in open tournaments as much
as he used to, in his first high- level tournament in
more than 10 years he won some money at a tournament
in New York City. He plays several times a week in the
New Haven area, and trains some of the best players in
the state once a week in West Hartford. His coaching and
training partners help make him a local celebrity in the
badminton world and his contacts, especially with current
and former Olympians, help to increase his exposure.
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Key words: Sport Management Newsletters
6 | Sport Management Newsletter | Fall 2010