Spalding is an American sports equipment manufacturing company founded by

Albert Spalding Albert Goodwill Spalding (September 2, 1849 – September 9, 1915) was an American pitcher, manager, and executive in the early years of professional baseball, and the co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company. He was born and raise ...

in Chicago, in 1876, although it is now headquartered in

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Warren County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by pioneers in 1798, Bowling Green was the provisional capital of Confederate Kentucky during the American Civil War. As of the ...

. Spalding currently primarily focuses on

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, mainly producing balls but also commercializing hoops, rims, nets and

ball pump needle A ball pump needle is a metal device through which air passes from a pump into an inflatable sports ball, such as the balls used in soccer, volleyball, basketball, rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league ...

s. Softballs are commercialized through its subsidiary Dudley Sports. In the past, Spalding has manufactured balls for other sports, such as

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, soccer, volleyball, tennis and golf. For a brief period in the 1980s, Spalding was also a designer of aftermarket automotive wheels.

History

The company was founded in 1876 when

was a pitcher and manager of a baseball team in Chicago, the Chicago White Stockings. The company standardized early baseballs and developed the modern

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although histori ...

with the bulge at its apex. In 1892, Spalding acquired Wright & Ditson and A. J. Reach, both rival sporting goods companies. In 1893, A.G. Spalding & Brothers purchased the Lamb Knitting Machine Company located in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts and renamed it the Lamb Manufacturing Company. It used this purchase to consolidate its skate manufactory from Newark and its gymnasium goods manufactory from Philadelphia to the Chicopee plant. Lamb, primarily engaged in manufacturing knitting machines, rifles, and egg-beaters, had been fulfilling a contract since 1890 to produce the Credenda bicycle wheel for Spalding. Spalding chose Chicopee because it was the home of the

Overman Wheel Company Overman Wheel Company was an early bicycle manufacturing company in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts from 1882 to 1900. It was known for bicycles of higher quality and lower weight than other bicycles of its time. Despite a nationwide bicycle craze in ...

since he acted as their distributor in the Western USA, and Overman contracted with Lamb to make wheels for its lower-end products. The Spalding "League Ball" was adopted by the National League and used by the league since 1880 as well as 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 New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

& Philadelphia and sold for $1.50 in 1896. 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 American Bicycle Company (1899-1903) was an American bicycle company (Trust) led by Albert Augustus Pope. The company was formed to consolidate the manufacturers of bicycles and bicycle parts. In the 1890s the advancements in bicycle design le ...

which controlled 65% of the bicycle business in the US. By 1900, Spalding was selling dumb bells, Indian clubs, and punch bags (boxing). During 1916, Spalding was selling a wide variety of sports-related items, such as clothing (athletic shirts, belts, pads, sports hats, sports jackets, sports jerseys, sports pants, sports shoes, and swimming suits), bar bells, fencing blades and foils, golf clubs, guy robes, measuring tapes, pulleys and weights, rowing machines, track equipment (discus, hurdles, hammers, javelins, poles for vaulting, shot puts, and stop watches), and whistles. 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 th
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 A Spalding Hi-Bounce Ball, often called a Spaldeen or a Pensie Pinkie, is a rubber ball, described as a tennis ball core without the felt. These balls are commonly used in street games developed in the mid-20th century, such as Chinese handball ( ...

" 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 National League balls. Since 1977 the official ball 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. Spalding became a division of the

Russell Corporation Russell Brands, LLC was an American corporation that manufactured sports equipment, marketing its products under many brands and subsidiaries, such as Russell Athletic (its flagship brand) and Spalding. Formerly a publicly traded company, Rus ...

in 2003. However, that deal did not encompass Spalding's golf operations, which included the Top-Flite, Ben Hogan and Strata

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

s, which were eventually bought by Callaway later the same year.

Products

Spalding developed its first basketball in 1894 based on the design of a baseball, and is currently a leading producer. Spalding was the official ball supplier to the National Basketball Association (NBA) from

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, when the league reunited with

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People *Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson R ...

after 37 years away by signing a new contract with that company.NBA drops Spalding as maker of official basketball after more than 30 years
by Jabari Young on CNBC, May 13, 2020 Prior to the merger, Spalding produced the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

's ball, the J5V (or J5-V), which was narrower and longer than the NFL football, "The Duke" by

. The company provided the official ball of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

, an indoor American football league until its 2019 shutdown; the

Horween Leather Company Horween Leather Company is an American company specializing in the manufacturing and refining of leather and related products. It is one of the oldest continuously running tanneries in the United States of America. Since its founding in the early ...

supplied leather to Spalding those balls. The company was one of the first to use high-profile athletes to endorse its products when tennis player

Pancho Gonzales Ricardo Alonso "Pancho" González (May 9, 1928 – July 3, 1995), known sometimes as Richard Gonzales, was an American tennis player. He won 15 major singles titles, including two U.S. National Singles Championships in 1948 and 1949, and 13 P ...

was signed to an exclusive endorsement contract in 1951. 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 material instead of leather. However, many NBA players complained that the new composite ball became extremely slick after use, wouldn't bounce as high and bounced awkwardly off the rim and backboard and cut their fingers. As a result, the NBA reverted to the old leather balls (with the old eight-panel pattern) on January 1, 2007.

Spalding Athletic Library

The Spalding Athletic Library sold sports and exercise books through the American Sports Publishing Company from 1892 to 1941. Both companies were owned and founded by Spalding. Spalding created the Spalding Athletic Library in 1892. Spalding also founded the American Sports Publishing Company, and it was incorporated in New Jersey in 1892. American Sports Publishing Company used a New York address from 1892 to 1941. 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, Ty Cobb wrote "Strategy in the Outfield." In the self defense series, Jiu Jitsui with poses 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". An article by the

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New Y ...

(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 Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

, athletics (track and field; all around;

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...

; and marathon),

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

, bicycling,

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), thoug ...

, boxing,

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the Worl ...

, curling, fencing, (American) football,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping w ...

, gymnast, handball, hockey,

jujutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

, lawn sports, polo,

pushball Pushball is a game played by two sides on a field usually long and wide, with a ball in diameter and in weight. Occasionally, much heavier balls were used. The sides usually number eleven each, there being five forwards, two left-wings, two rig ...

, quoits, racquetball,

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically att ...

, rugby, skating, soccer,

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

, swimming, tennis, tumbling, volleyball, and wrestling.

Bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...

books included the dumbbell, Indian club, medicine ball, and pulley weights. Sporting books for organizations included

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU),

IC4A IC4A Championships (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) is an annual men's competition held at different colleges every year. Association was established in 1875, the competition (started in 1876) served as the top level col ...

, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Olympics, public schools, and the YMCA. and 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 Alfred James Reach (May 25, 1840 – January 14, 1928) was an Anglo-American sportsman who, after becoming one of the early stars of baseball in the National Association, went on to become an influential executive, publisher, sporting goods manuf ...

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). 1911 spalding baseball guide

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

China Arena Football League The China Arena Football League (), often abbreviated as the CAFL, was a professional arena football league that played its games in the People's Republic of China. It featured players from the now-defunct Arena Football League (AFL) and other ...

(CAFL)

Basketball

Leagues & Associations

* Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) * Liga Nacional de Basketball (LNB) * EuroLeague * EuroCup *

Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB) The Ligue nationale de basket (LNB; English: National Basketball League) is the governing body of men's professional club basketball in France. The LNB organises the first-tier Pro A and the second-tier Pro B. Additionally, the federation annua ...

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) ( English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL seas ...

(BBL) *

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

(GBL) * Kosovo Basketball Superleague * Mongolian National Association (MNBA) * ABA * NAIA *

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

KHSAA The Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) has been the governing body of the U.S. state of Kentucky high-school athletics since 1917. It is located in Lexington. Sports The organization sanctions competition in the following sports ...

USCAA The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 nationa ...

* National Basketball League (NBL) * Vietnam Basketball Association (VBA)

National teams

Club teams

KK Sutjeska Nikšić KK Sutjeska is a men's professional basketball club based in Nikšić, Montenegro. The team currently competes in Montenegrin Basketball League and regional ABA League. The club won the Montenegrin Cup in 2014. History KK Sutjeska was establish ...

Boules

* Federazione Italiana Bocce

Other teams

* Harlem Globetrotters (until they Split to Baden)

Volleyball

* Cuneo Volley * Wealth Planet Perugia Volley * Sandbox Volleyball

Testimonials

* Karch Kiraly

References

External links

*
Papers of Edwin L. Parker
former president of A.G. Spalding & Co., Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library {{Sports equipment brands Sportswear brands Berkshire Hathaway Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1876 Companies based in Alexander City, Alabama History of Chicago 1876 establishments in Illinois Sporting goods brands American companies established in 1876