Munich, Germany (October 29, 2001) – The Sanex WTA Tour announced today that it has selected Kevin Wulff to succeed Bart McGuire as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2002. Wulff will begin work with the Tour immediately, serving as President until McGuire leaves his post on December 31, 2001.
Wulff comes to the Tour from Nike, Inc., where he was a Nike, Inc. officer and served in a number of senior posts including a successful tour as Vice President and General Manager for the United States, Nike’s largest market. Most recently, he served as Global Vice President/General Manager of Emerging Businesses and Subsidiaries, Nike’s growth accelerators, including the Jordan and Tiger Woods brands, Nike ACG and Savier brands, Nike Golf, Bauer Nike Hockey, Nike.com and Internet and Nike’s e-commerce business.
‘The Sanex WTA Tour is pleased to have attracted such an accomplished business executive to lead women’s professional tennis,’ said outgoing CEO Bart McGuire, who led the search for his successor. ‘Kevin has a terrific track record as a manager of people and businesses, and his career has been marked by repeated successes in marketing and sales. His skill set and expertise are perfect matches for the Sanex WTA Tour,’ according to McGuire.
‘The Tour’s Board of Directors is extremely pleased with the appointment of Kevin Wulff as CEO,’ said Board member Adam Barrett. ‘He will bring to the Tour very practical experience in brand management, sports and entertainment marketing, and sales and operations management.’
According to Wulff, ‘women’s tennis has been one of the hottest professional sports in recent years. It has enjoyed tremendous growth under Bart’s leadership and I am very excited about its prospects in the future. I am very eager to get down to business to push the Sanex WTA Tour to new heights and am also grateful to have the guidance of Bart McGuire in the coming months.’
Wulff spent more than eight years at Nike Inc., during which time he served in a number of high profile roles including Global Vice President, Emerging Businesses and Subsidiaries (2000-2001), Senior Vice President, General Manager-Nike USA (1998-2000); Vice President, General Manager-Americas (1997-1998); President-Nike Canada (1994-1997); and General Manager-Nike Inc. (1993-1994).
As Senior Vice President and General Manager of Nike USA, Wulff was able to reverse brand and sales erosions in North America resulting in strong bottom line improvements over previous years. He also successfully reorganized Nike USA’s apparel, retail and footwear divisions and oversaw the development of a series of award-winning advertising campaigns designed to re-energize the Nike brand.
As Vice President of the Americas and President of Nike Canada, Wulff was able to implement new revenue building strategies to halt four years of sales and profit erosion for Nike in Canada and sluggish market share growth in Latin America. Nike Canada’s revenue increased 360% over his three-year tenure to lead all Nike international countries in revenue increases.
Prior to joining Nike Inc., Wulff spent 18 years (1978-1993) with the Miller Brewing Company (Milwaukee, Wisconsin). During his time at Miller Brewing, Wulff held positions including President, General Manager-Miller Brands of the East Bay; and Director of Marketing & Promotions-Miller Brewing.
As Miller Brewing Company’s Director of Marketing & Promotions, Wulff was responsible for consumer sales promotions, event marketing programs, sports assets, direct marketing and merchandising and licensing programs for the Miller brands. He developed successful, long-term sponsorship relationships with high profile sports and entertainment properties including the NBA, NFL, AVP, motorsports and top music acts and venues. His work in sponsorship includes the establishment of industry standards for vertical integration of sponsorships.
Wulff is a 1973 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls, Iowa) where he earned a B.S. in Social Science, Business and Physical Education. He also captained the Northern Iowa basketball team from 1972-1973. He currently resides in Lake Oswego, Oregon but will be relocating to the Tampa-St. Petersburg area when the Sanex WTA Tour offices relocate there in December 2001.
The Sanex WTA Tour is the world’s premier professional sport for women with more than 1,000 players representing 76 nations competing for more than $50 million in prize money at 63 events in 33 countries worldwide in 2001. The Tour’s season concludes with the Tour Championships of the Sanex WTA Tour at the Olympia Halle in Munich, Germany October 30-November 4, 2001.
Sanex WTA Tour events are viewed across the globe, reaching hundreds of millions of households, and are immensely popular in person, attracting more than four million spectators in 2000. Further information on the Tour can be found on the Internet at www.sanexwta.com.
For more details contact:
Sanex WTA Tour
Joe Favorito
Tel:+ 1 727 895 5000
Fax: + 1 727 894 1982
E mail: jfavorito@sanexwta.com