Spalding (company)

History

The Spalding "League Ball" was adopted by the National League and used by the league since 1880, as well as by the American Association of Professional Base Ball Clubs for the seasons of 1892–1896. It was manufactured by A. G. Spalding & Bros., Chicago, New York & Philadelphia and sold for $1.50 in 1896. In 1892, Spalding acquired rival sporting goods companies Wright & Ditson and A. J. Reach.

Production of bicycles continued at the Chicopee plant through the latter part of the 19th century, but in 1899 A.G. Ben Spalding sold its bicycle division to a massive trust called the American Bicycle Company which controlled 65% of the bicycle business in the US.

By 1900, Spalding was selling dumbbells, Indian clubs, and punching bags. During 1916, Spalding was selling a wide variety of sports-related items, including clothing (athletic shirts, belts, pads, hats, jackets, jerseys, pants, shoes, and swimming suits), barbells, fencing blades and foils, golf clubs, guy robes, measuring tapes, pulleys and weights, rowing machines, track equipment (discus, hurdles, hammers, javelins, poles for vaulting, shotputs, and stop watches), and whistles. By 1919, A.G. Spalding & Brothers had developed infantry and cavalry fencing masks for the U.S. Government.

During World War II the company joined five other firms to form the New England Small Arms Corporation for manufacture of M1918 Browning Automatic Rifles. A.G. Spalding, as a subcontractor to Sprague Electric Co., also produced parts for the "toothpick" capacitors that were used with the VT proximity fuse.

From the early 1930s through the mid-1940s Spalding produced the official game pucks for the National Hockey League. Spalding produced the well-known "Spaldeen" high-bounce rubber ball, said to be a re-use of defective tennis ball cores, that was sold to city children from 1949. In baseball, Spalding manufactured the official ball of the Major Leagues through the 1976 season, using the Reach brand on American League balls and the Spalding trademark on the National League's. Since 1977 the official ball for MLB has been made by Rawlings.

From 1981, in a partnership with the Toyo Rubber Company of Japan, Spalding designed a series of aftermarket automotive wheels known as the "Message" series. It was one of these wheels, the Message II, purportedly described by the company as like a "steam locomotive piston" which won awards from publications such as Motorfan Magazine as the best spoke type wheel and reader's overall choice. Wheels bearing the Spalding name are known to have been manufactured through to at least 1986.

In August 1996, Spalding was acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.

Spalding became a division of the Russell Corporation in 2003—exclusive of its golf operations (which included the Top-Flite, Ben Hogan and Strata brands), which were eventually bought by the Callaway Golf Company later the same year.

In April 2006, Berkshire Hathaway announced a merger with Russell Corporation (including Spalding), which was finalized in August 2006 for approximately $600 million.

Products

Basketball

Spalding developed its first basketball in 1894 based on the design of a baseball, and is currently a leading producer. Spalding was the official game ball supplier to the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1983 to 2021, when the league reunited with Wilson after 37 years.

In 2006, Spalding and the NBA announced that they would create a new NBA Official Game Ball for the 2006–07 NBA season, with interlocking segments and made with a synthetic leather instead of real animal leather. However, many NBA players complained that the new composite ball became extremely slick after use, wouldn't bounce as high, bounced awkwardly off the rim and backboard, and cut their fingers. In response, the NBA reverted to the old leather balls (with the old eight-panel pattern) on January 1, 2007.

American football

Prior to the AFL–NFL merger, Spalding produced the American Football League's game ball, the J5V (or J5-V), which was 1/4 in narrower and 1/4 in longer than the NFL football, "The Duke" by Wilson.

The XFL (2001) game balls were produced by Spalding. The ball was black with a red "X" going across the sides of the ball.

The company was the official game ball supplier of the first and second incarnations Arena Football League, an indoor American football league, from 2004 until its 2019 shutdown; the Horween Leather Company supplied leather to Spalding those balls.

Other sports

The company was one of the first to use high-profile athletes to endorse its products when tennis player Pancho Gonzales was signed to an exclusive endorsement contract in 1951.

Spalding sells softballs through its subsidiary Dudley Sports.

Spalding Athletic Library

Main article: Spalding Athletic Library

In 1892 Spalding created the Spalding Athletic Library, which sold sports and exercise books through its American Sports Publishing Company, also founded that year.

The first book published was Life and Battles of James J. Corbett, Volume 1, Number 1 in 1892. The book includes stories of Corbett's past opponents. The first book was published under: Spalding's Athletic Library, American Sports Publishing Company, New York. The editor of the first book was Richard K. Fox, and Corbett was referred to as the California Wonder.

In the baseball series, legend Ty Cobb wrote "Strategy in the Outfield." In the self defense series, Jiu Jitsu techniques are modeled by A. Minami and K. Koyama.

The Spalding Athletic Library covered a variety of sports, exercises, and organizations. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper stated regarding this collection, "devoted to all athletics pastimes, indoor and outdoor, and is the recognized American cyclopedia of sport". The company's last publication was in 1941.

An article by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) states, "It lasted for many years and enjoyed the greatest success of any publication of its kind."

Advertisements inside books available from Spalding included archery, athletics (track and field; all around; cross country running; and marathon), badminton, baseball, basketball, bicycling, bowling, boxing, canoeing, cricket, croquet, curling, fencing, (American) football, golf, gymnast, handball, hockey, jujutsu, lacrosse, lawn sports, polo, pushball, quoits, racquetball, rowing, rugby, skating, soccer, squash, swimming, tennis, tumbling, volleyball, and wrestling. Bodybuilding books included the dumbbell, Indian club, medicine ball, and pulley weights. Sporting books for organizations included Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), IC4A, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Olympics, public schools, and the YMCA.

Spalding produced a mail-order catalog that provided a description, price, and picture of their sports equipment, sports books, and exercise books. A couple of examples are "How to Play Golf" for 25 cents, "How to Play Basketball" at 10 cents, and "How to Train for Bicycling" at 10 cents.

Spalding Co. purchased Wright & Ditson Co. in 1892 and A.J. Reach Co. in 1889. For several years after the purchases, Wright & Ditson and A.J. Reach continued to publish sports books separately from the Spalding Athletic Library name. Professional baseball player George Wright co-founded Wright & Ditson Co.; and professional baseball player Al Reach founded A.J. Reach Co. The Spalding Baseball Guides were published under A.G. Spalding & Bros. until 1893–1894, and starting in 1894–1895 by American Sports Publishing Company (but not using the Spalding Athletic Library name).

Sponsorships

Spalding is the official ball provider of the following leagues and associations, as well as it has deals with exclusive agreements with some prominent athletes:

American football

• CHN China Arena Football League (CAFL)

Basketball

Leagues & Associations

• CAN Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL)
• CHL Liga Nacional de Basketball (LNB)
• Europe EuroLeague
• Europe EuroCup
• FRA Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB)
• GRC Greek Basket League (GBL)
• Kosovo Kosovo Basketball Superleague
• Mongolia Mongolian National Association (MNBA)
• USA ABA
• USA NAIA
• USA NJCAA
• USA KHSAA
• USA USCAA
• AUS National Basketball League (NBL)
• AUS Women's National Basketball League (WNBL)
• VNM Vietnam Basketball Association (VBA)

National teams

• AND Andorra
• AUT Austria
• CHI Chile
• CGO Congo
• CYP Cyprus
• DEN Denmark
• GAB Gabon (from 2022)
• Georgia Georgia
• GIB Gibraltar
• MEX Mexico
• NED Netherlands
• ROM Romania
• URU Uruguay

Club teams

• BEL Antwerp Giants
• CHL Club Deportivo Universidad Católica
• DNK Horsens IC
• DNK Svendborg Rabbits
• FRA Olympique Antibes
• FRA Cholet
• DEU ETB Essen
• DEU Oettinger Rockets
• DEU ratiopharm Ulm
• DEU Telekom Baskets Bonn
• DEU Würzburg Baskets
• HUN Falco KC
• HUN Szolnoki Olaj KK
• ITA Kleb Basket Ferrara
• ITA Magnolia Basket Campobasso
• ITA Ravenna
• ITA Pallacanestro Varese
• JPN SAN-EN NeoPhoenix
• MON Monaco
• MNE Budućnost
• MNE KK Sutjeska Nikšić
• POL Basket Zielona Góra
• POL Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski
• POL Turów Zgorzelec
• ROU Asesoft Ploiești
• ESP Joventut Badalona
• ESP CB Gran Canaria
• ESP Baloncesto Málaga
• ESP Real Betis Energía Plus

Boules

• Italy Federazione Italiana Bocce

Other teams

• USA Harlem Globetrotters (until they Split to Baden)

Volleyball

• ITA Cuneo Volley
• USA Sandbox Volleyball

Testimonials

• USA Karch Kiraly

References

References

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2. (February 18, 1929). "Business: Spalding". [[Time (magazine).
3. Springfield Republican, October 10, 1893, p. 6
4. Springfield Republican, September 3, 2008, written by Stephen Jendrysik
5. "The Honolulu Advertiser 15 Mar 1900, page 8".
6. Toombs, Frederick R.. (1913). "Jiu jitsu, the effective Japanese mode of self-defense". American Sports Publishing Company.
7. "Armor - Body and Helmets - Infantry Fencing Mask made by A.G. Spaulding & Bros. for the U.S. Government".
8. "Armor - Body and Helmets - Side view of Cavalry Fencing Mask by A.G. Spaulding & Bros. for the U.S. Government".
9. Bruce N. Canfield. (March 2008). "None available". [[American Rifleman]].
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13. "KKR buys Spalding & Evenflo".
14. Lipin, Steven. "KKR to Buy Control Of Spalding & Evenflo". The Wall Street Journal.
15. (April 18, 2003). "Russell Is Buying Most Of Spalding Sporting Goods Unit". New York Times.
16. (September 5, 2003). "Callaway Golf Beats Out Adidas To Buy Top-Flite". New York Times.
17. (April 17, 2006). "Buffett's Berkshire to buy Russell". cnn.com.
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22. Sandomir, Richard. (June 29, 2006). "N.B.A. Is Getting a Grip on a New Synthetic Game Ball". [[The New York Times]].
23. Robbins, Liz. (December 12, 2006). "N.B.A. Says New Ball Is Not Worth the Pain". The New York Times.
24. (June 17, 2014). "The AFL's Skinny Football".
25. (January 24, 2015). "Before the Bowl Was Super". New York Times.
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30. (October 30, 1892). "Buffalo Courier".
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32. Library, New York Public. (1922). "The Spalding Baseball Collection". New York public library.
33. Toombs, Frederick R.. (1913). "Jiu jitsu, the effective Japanese mode of self-defense". American Sports Publishing Company.
34. (August 20, 1905). "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle".
35. LinWeber, Ralph E.. "Baseball Guides Galore".
36. (1916). "Books Added: Five-year Cumulation of the Book Bulletin of the Chicago Public Library". Chicago Public Library.
37. (1922). "Bulletin of the New York Public Library". New York Public Library.
38. "Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library; Spalding Catalogue".
39. "Mysterious Partnership".
40. "REA History".
41. "Our Game".
42. "Arkansas Baseball".
43. (April 1, 2017). "Spalding partnerships".
44. "Spalding 2017 online catalog".
45. "Ball Adoptions for 2019-2020 and Beyond". Kentucky High School Athletic Association.
46. "FIBA EuroBasket 2017".
47. "#AfroBasket - Day 8: Cape Verde v Republic of Congo (highlights)".
48. "Georgia {{!}} EuroBasket 2015 – PHOTO GALLERY".
49. "Hungary {{!}} FIBA EuroBasket 2017".
50. "Uruguay - FIBA Americup 2017".
51. "Team 15/16 Telekom Baskets Bonn".