Intersport and the Association of Pickleball Professionals Tour, USA Pickleball and Major League Pickleball Enter into Multi-Year Agreements with Skechers

Global lifestyle brand to become "Official Footwear Company" of the prominent pickleball organizations

NEW YORK, May 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Intersport and the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) Tour, USA Pickleball and Major League Pickleball (MLP), the nation's elite professional pickleball circuits, have entered into multi-year agreements with Skechers that makes the global lifestyle brand the Official Footwear Company of each pickleball organization.

A formal announcement was made Thursday at the Franklin New York City Open, the APP Tour event that is taking place this weekend at the historic Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, home of the legendary US Open tennis tournament.

"We are very excited to welcome Skechers into the APP Tour, USA Pickleball and MLP families, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership," said Drew Russell, executive vice president of Intersport, an equity partner of the APP Tour and collaborative partner of USA Pickleball and MLP. "Their commitment to pickleball is another demonstration of the sport's incredible power and growth. We are excited to align with a fantastic brand that will drive new audiences to our wonderful game."

"We introduced Skechers Pickleball footwear just last month in Florida and received an overwhelmingly positive response with our first pairs quickly selling out at the event," said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. "People are clearly excited to play in our new Skechers Viper Court with the signature comfort, performance and innovation that they know and love from Skechers. That's why we're fully committed to this fun and exciting sport and driving that point home through an expansive triple partnership with the APP Tour, MLP and USA Pickleball. We look forward to helping promote and grow the sport together, and along with it this new pillar in our business." 

About SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Skechers USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX), The Comfort Technology Company™ based in Southern California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. The Company's collections are available in over 180 countries and territories through department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through digital stores and 4,308 Company- and third-party-owned physical retail stores. The Company manages its international business through a network of wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint venture partners, and distributors. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.

About Intersport
Since 1985, Intersport has been an award-winning innovator and leader in the creation of sports, lifestyle, culinary and entertainment-based marketing platforms. With expertise in Sponsorship Consulting, Experiential Marketing, Hospitality, Customer Engagement, Content Marketing, Productions and Sports Properties, this Chicago-based Marketing & Media Solutions Company helps their clients to create ideas, content and experiences that attract and engage passionate audiences. To learn more about Intersport, visit www.intersport.global, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

About the APP Tour
Founded in 2019, the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) serves amateurs, professionals, and senior professionals in one of the fastest growing sports in the country. It is the first and only officially sanctioned tour of USA Pickleball. The APP also prides itself on developing the next generation of champions through its Next Gen Series and other youth initiatives. For more information on the APP Tour, visit www.apptour.org.

About USA Pickleball
USA Pickleball is a non-profit organization established in 2005 to further the sport's advancement in critical areas. As the National Governing Body, USA Pickleball promotes the growth of pickleball by maintaining playing rules, sanctioning tournaments, setting player ratings and providing grassroots support through a network of 2,000 ambassadors. Since 2013, USA Pickleball membership has grown 1,350% to nearly 60,000. For more information, visit www.usapickleball.org.

About Major League Pickleball
Major League Pickleball (MLP) is the elite professional pickleball competition that sees teams of two women and two men compete in a unique format that set new standards in the fastest growing sport in America. MLP's first-ever event, which took place in November 2021, raised the bar for pro pickleball, introducing broadcast and event production innovations that earned MLP the title "Event of the Year" by The Dink. In addition to MLP's goal to create engaging new platforms to showcase the best professional female and male pickleball players worldwide, MLP is also focused on helping build the grassroots of the sport, attracting both new participants and fans to pickleball in the USA and worldwide. For more information on Major League Pickleball, go to www.MajorLeaguePickleball.net and follow Major League Pickleball on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and YouTube.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, Skechers' future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "project," "will," "could," "may," "might," or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include the disruption of business and operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic; delays or disruptions in our supply chain; international economic, political and market conditions including the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States and the impact of Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in Skechers' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2022. Taking these and other risk factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration, the dynamic nature of these circumstances means that what is stated in this press release could change at any time, and as a result, actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and we cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.

SOURCE Intersport