Wilson Sporting Goods

Last updated
Wilson Sporting Goods Company
FormerlyAshland Manufacturing Company
(1913–31)
Company type Private (1913–67)
Subsidiary (1967–present)
Industry Sports equipment
Founded1913;111 years ago (1913)
Founder Thomas E. Wilson
FateAcquired by Ling-Temco-Vought in 1967, then other owners
Headquarters
Chicago, Illinois
,
U.S.
Products Balls, rackets, shuttlecock,uniforms, apparel
Brands Wilson Staff
$930 million (2010) [1]
Number of employees
1,600 [2]
Parent Amer Sports
Subsidiaries
Website wilson.com

The Wilson Sporting Goods Company is an American sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois. Wilson makes equipment for many sports, among them baseball, badminton, American football, basketball, fastpitch softball, golf, racquetball, soccer, squash, tennis, pickleball and volleyball.

Contents

The company owns the brands Atec, DeMarini, EvoShield, Louisville Slugger, and Luxilon to provide sports equipment and protective gear for baseball, lacrosse, softball, and tennis. The company has been a subsidiary of Finnish retailer Amer Sports since 1989. [3] [4]

History

Thomas Wilson founded the company, also serving as its president and chairman for 35 years. Thomas E. Wilson.jpg
Thomas Wilson founded the company, also serving as its president and chairman for 35 years.

The company traces its roots to the "Schwarzschild & Sulzberger" meatpacking company (later changed to "Sulzberger & Son's") based in New York, that operated meat packing slaughterhouses. [5]

Sulzberger & Son's founded the "Ashland Manufacturing Company" in 1913 to use animal by-products from its slaughterhouses. It started out in 1914, making tennis racket strings, violin strings, and surgical sutures, but soon expanded into baseball shoes and tennis racquets. [1]

In 1915, Thomas E. Wilson, former president of meatpacker Morris & Company, was appointed president by the controlling banks and renamed the company "Thomas E. Wilson Company". The company acquired the Hetzinger Knitting Mills to produce athletic uniforms and a caddie bag company which produced golf balls but soon expanded into footballs and basketballs. [1]

In 1918, Wilson left to concentrate on the beef-packing business, changing the Sulzberger company to Wilson & Co. (which would ultimately become Iowa Beef Packers and then be taken over by Tyson Foods). The packing company continued to have control in the company until 1967 when it was sold to Ling-Temco-Vought. [1]

Under new president Lawrence Blaine Icely, it acquired the "Chicago Sporting Goods Company" and struck a deal to supply the Chicago Cubs. It also hired Arch Turner, a leather designer who would design the leather football. [1]

In 1922, it introduced the Ray Schalk catcher's mitt which later became the standard. It worked with Knute Rockne to introduce the double-lined leather football and first valve football and the first waist-line football pants with pads. [1] In 1925, it was renamed "Wilson-Western Sporting Goods" following a distribution agreement with "Western Sporting Goods".

After Rockne's death, the company focused on golf, introducing the R-90, a sand wedge golf club inspired by Gene Sarazen's victory in the 1932 British Open. [1]

In 1931, it renamed itself "Wilson Sporting Goods Company". During World War II it introduced the Wilson Duke football, featuring high-quality leather, ends that were hand-sewn, lock-stitch seams, and triple lining, which was adopted as the official ball of the National Football League in 1941; this partnership between Wilson and NFL has continued since. [6] [1]

Horween Leather Company has supplied Wilson with pebbled cowhide since 1941 for use in the manufacture of footballs and basketballs. Wilson is Horween Leather Company's largest customer. [7] [8]

Wilson American football signed by the Green Bay Packers in 1975. Wilson became official supplier of the NFL in 1941 Signed Green Bay Packers Football (1987.246.2).jpg
Wilson American football signed by the Green Bay Packers in 1975. Wilson became official supplier of the NFL in 1941

Wilson became the official game ball supplier of the newly-formed Basketball Association of America (BAA; the forerunner league of what would eventually become today's NBA) in 1946, this partnership would last 37 years until 1983. [9]

After World War II, Wilson focused on tennis and signed Jack Kramer, who developed its line of Jack Kramer signed tennis rackets. L. B. Icely died in 1950, but the company continued to expand. In 1955, it acquired Ohio-Kentucky Manufacturing for making footballs.

Wilson steel racquet T2000, used by Jimmy Connors Seles outfit and racket.jpg
Wilson steel racquet T2000, used by Jimmy Connors

In 1964, Wilson acquired "Wonder Products Company", which made toys and custom-molded items. The company transformed the custom-mold section to make protective equipment for American football and baseball, such as face masks for football helmets and leg guards for baseball catchers.

In 1967, the company was acquired by Ling-Temco-Vought. Only three years later, PepsiCo became Wilson's new owner. In those days, the company manufactured and commercialized the official balls of both the NBA and NFL, and provided most of the uniforms of teams in Major League Baseball (MLB) and the United States Summer Olympics teams.

In 1979, Wilson tennis balls were first used in the US Open, [10] and still are used to this day. In 2006, the Australian Open began using Wilson tennis balls. [11] In 1985, Wilson was acquired by Westray Capital Corporation, through subsidiary WSGC Holdings. In 1989, WSGC merged with Bogey Acquisitions Company, which is affiliated with the Finnish group Amer Sports. [1]

In May 2020, it was announced that Wilson became the NBA and WNBA's official game ball supplier, starting with the 2021 season; Wilson replaced Spalding, after the latter company's 37-year partnership with the league ended, thus returning Wilson as the game ball supplier to the NBA. [9]

Products

Wilson manufactures and commercializes a variety of products for several sports. The following chart contains all the product lines by the company. [12]

Wilson American football.jpg
Wilson Solution.jpg
Wilson Tennis Racquet.jpg
Davies Stadium Ball.jpg
Baseball bat 1.jpg
Wilson baseball bag.jpg
Some of the Wilson products: American football, basketball, tennis racquet, volleyball, baseball bats and baseball glove
SportRange of products
American football Balls
Badminton Rackets
Baseball Balls, bats, [note 1] batting gloves, uniforms, protective gear (Batting helmet, shin guards, shoulder pads)
Basketball Balls
Fastpitch softball Balls, protective gear
Golf Clubs, balls, bags, apparel
Paddle tennis Paddles
Pickleball Paddles
Platform tennis Paddles
Racquetball Rackets, balls, shoes
Soccer Balls
Squash Rackets
Tennis Rackets & strings, grips, balls, shoes, apparel, bags
Volleyball Balls
General accessoriesBags, gloves, shin guards
Notes
  1. ↑ Some manufactured and commercialized through Wilson's subsidiary brand DeMarini, some (Louisville Slugger) manufacture under contract by Hillerich & Bradsby for Wilson.

Louisville Slugger

The Louisville Slugger brand baseball bat has been manufactured since 1884, and has been very popular in professional baseball for many decades. The bat was endorsed by Honus Wagner in 1905 (likely the first endorsement of a product by an American professional athlete), [13] and was used by Babe Ruth along with many other baseball stars through history.

The Louisville Slugger brand was controlled and manufactured by Hillerich & Bradsby from 1884 until 2015, when the brand was bought by Wilson. [14] [15] The brand complements Wilson's existing DeMarini subsidiary which also produces bats. Hillerich & Bradsby remains an independent business and continues to manufacture bats as an exclusive supplier for Wilson. The company also operates Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, an attraction in downtown Louisville, Kentucky which showcases the story of Louisville Slugger baseball bats in baseball and in American history.

P72 baseball bat

The P72 model Louisville Slugger bat was created in 1954 (while the brand was still under the ownership of Hillerich & Bradsby) for career minor leaguer Les Pinkham, and became one of baseball's most popular bats. Baseball Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr. and Robin Yount are among the players who used the P72 over the years. New York Yankee star Derek Jeter used the P72 for every at bat in his 20 MLB seasons, with over 12,500 plate appearances and 3,749 P72 models ordered.

On September 25, 2014, in honor of Jeter's impending retirement, the P72 designation was retired, and the bat was renamed the DJ2 (Jeter wore #2). [16] Descendants of Les Pinkam will still be allowed to get the bat with its P72 designation. In addition to retiring the P72 model number, Louisville Slugger also promised to give the final 72 P72 bats produced to Jeter to raise funds for his Turn 2 Foundation.

Sponsorships

American football

Wilson has been the official game ball supplier of the NFL and CFL since 1941 and 1995, respectively, [17] and the now defunct UFL and AAF; in addition, the company also makes footballs for college and high school levels of play.

Baseball

Wilson makes a variety of baseball gloves for several different patterns. Wilson has three main series of baseball gloves, the A2K, the A2000, and the A1000, as well as many other models for younger children. The A2K is made from Wilson's Pro Stock Select leather, which is made from triple sorting their famous pro stock leather. A stock A2K (Pro Stock select leather) retails for US$399. The A2000, made from Wilson's Pro Stock leather, is the oldest glove series Wilson offers. The A2000 retails for US$299. The A1000 is made from Wilson's top-shelf leather and retails US$149. Some of Wilson's most famous patterns include the datdude, 1786, Dp15, 1787, 1776, 1788, 1799, 2800, M1, 1791 Pudge, and many others.

Basketball

Wilson has been the official ball supplier for many FIBA competitions, [18] the NBA, the WNBA, the NCAA basketball championship tournaments [19] the BAL, and many others.

Golf

Wilson Staff is the golf division of Wilson Sporting Goods. The company designs and manufactures a full range of golf equipment, accessories and clothing using the Wilson Staff, ProStaff and Ultra brands.

Many of the world's top professional golfers have used Wilson equipment including Nick Faldo, Arnold Palmer and Ben Crenshaw; the latter two of whom used Wilson 8802 putters. Crenshaw's even received the moniker Little Ben due to his proficiency with it[ citation needed ]. Current Wilson Staff players include British Open and PGA Championship champion Pádraig Harrington.

Soccer

Wilson has been the official ball supplier for NCAA soccer. [20]

Tennis

Roger Federer used Wilson racquets in the 2009 Wimbledon Championship Roger Federer (26 June 2009, Wimbledon) 2 (crop-2).jpg
Roger Federer used Wilson racquets in the 2009 Wimbledon Championship

Wilson is a major manufacturer of tennis rackets. The original kevlar Pro Staff model racket, known for its use by Pete Sampras, was heavy (more than 350g strung) and small-headed (85 sq. in.); Roger Federer also used the same racket model. In 2015, he used the Pro Staff RF97 Autograph model that is heavy (340 g/12 oz unstrung) and larger (97 sq. in.). Jim Courier and Stefan Edberg also used the Pro Staff Original, Edberg later switching to the Pro Staff Classic in 1991, which was the same racket (85 sq. in. with slightly rounded frame edges) but with different paint work. In late 2009, Wilson unveiled their latest line of rackets, codenamed 20x, which they would later rename BLX. This line directly replaces their previous K-Factor series with all new technologies. [21] Also, many pros use custom-made rackets that perform differently from the mass-produced versions.

Aside from tennis rackets, the Wilson sporting goods company also makes tennis balls (including the official balls of the US Open and starting in 2020, the French Open major championships), shoes, balls, strings, clothes, and racquet bags. [22]

Volleyball

Wilson is the official ball supplier of the AVP. In 2021, Wilson developed a brand partnership with Crossnet.[ citation needed ]

A Wilson volleyball "co-starred" alongside Tom Hanks in the film Cast Away . Hanks' character named the ball, with a smiling face drawn from a bloody handprint, which he became deeply attached to, "Wilson" in the film. After the success of the film, Wilson Sporting Goods actually created and marketed special edition volleyballs with Wilson's "face" printed on. [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racket (sports equipment)</span> Sports equipment

A racket or racquet is a sporting equipment used to strike a ball or shuttlecock back-and-forth in games such as tennis, badminton, squash, racquetball and padel. The typical basic structure of a racket consists of a widened distal end known as the head, an elongated handle known as the grip, and a reinforced connection between the head and handle known as the throat or heart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baseball glove</span> Large leather glove worn by baseball players

A baseball glove or mitt is a large glove worn by baseball players of the defending team, which assists players in catching and fielding balls hit by a batter or thrown by a teammate. Gloves are traditionally made of leather; but today other options exist, such as PVC and synthetic leather.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillerich & Bradsby</span> Baseball equipment manufacturer

Hillerich & Bradsby Company (H&B) is an American manufacturing company located in Louisville, Kentucky that produces baseball bats for Wilson Sporting Goods, which commercializes them under the "Louisville Slugger" brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisville Slugger Field</span> Baseball stadium in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville Slugger Field is a baseball stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. The baseball-specific stadium opened in 2000 with a seating capacity of 13,131. It is currently home to the professional baseball team, the Louisville Bats, Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. From 2015 to 2019, it was also home to Louisville City FC, a professional soccer team in the USL Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports equipment</span> Object used for sport or exercise

Sports equipment, sporting equipment, also called as sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear used to compete in a sport and varies depending on the sport. The equipment ranges from balls, nets, and protective gear like helmets. Sporting equipment can be used as protective gear or a tool used to help the athletes play the sport. Over time, sporting equipment has evolved because sports have started to require more protective gear to prevent injuries. Sporting equipment may be found in any department store or specific sporting equipment shops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory</span> Attraction in Kentucky, US

The Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, is a museum and factory tour attraction located in Louisville, Kentucky's "Museum Row", part of the West Main District of downtown. The museum showcases the story of Louisville Slugger baseball bats in baseball and in American history. The museum also creates temporary exhibits with more of a pop culture focus, including collaborations with the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, Coca-Cola, LEGO artists Sean Kenney and Jason Burik, Topps Trading Cards, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and Ripley's Believe It or Not!.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slazenger</span> British sports equipment brand

Slazenger is a British sports equipment brand owned by the Frasers Group. The company was established as a sporting goods shop in 1881 by Ralph and Albert Slazenger on Cannon Street, London. Slazenger was acquired by Dunlop Rubber in 1959. Dunlop was acquired by BTR in 1985. Sports Direct acquired the business in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Sports</span> American Sports Equipment company

Prince Global Sports, LLC is an American sporting goods manufacturing company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1970, Prince's range of products includes rackets, footwear, apparel, tennis balls, pickleball paddles, stringing machines, hats and bags.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rawlings (company)</span> American sports equipment company

Rawlings Sporting Goods is an American sports equipment manufacturing company based in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Founded in 1887, Rawlings currently specializes in baseball and softball clothing and equipment, producing gloves, bats, balls, protective gear, batting helmets, uniforms, bags. Footwear includes sneakers, and sandals. The company also sells other accessories such as belts, wallets, and sunglasses. Former products manufactured by Rawlings included American football, basketball, soccer, and volleyball balls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spalding (company)</span> Sporting goods company

Spalding is an American sports equipment manufacturing company. It was founded by Albert Spalding in Chicago in 1876 as a baseball manufacturer, and is today headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It sells softballs through its subsidiary Dudley Sports. In the past, Spalding has manufactured balls for other sports, including American football, soccer, volleyball, tennis, and golf.

Steeden Sports is an Australian sports equipment manufacturing company, mainly focused on rugby league. The company is mostly known for its rugby league footballs. Steeden was established in Queensland in 1958, when twins Eric and Raymond Steeden opened a factory in Brisbane, Australia, producing leather cricket balls, rugby league balls and boxing bags. The company moved to New South Wales in the 1960s, and was acquired by British sporting goods corporation Grays International in 1995.

Head Sport GmbH is an American-Austrian manufacturing company headquartered in Kennelbach. It owns the American tennis racket brand Head. Head GmbH is a group that includes several previously independent companies, including the original "Head Ski Company" ; Tyrolia, an Austrian ski-equipment manufacturer; and Mares, an Italian manufacturer of diving equipment.

Dunlop Sport is a British sports equipment manufacturing company established in 1910 that focuses on racquets and water sports, more specifically tennis, swimming, squash, padel and badminton. Products by Dunlop Sport include racquets, strings, balls, shuttlecocks, and bags. Sportswear and clothing line includes t-shirts, shorts, skirts, jackets, pants, socks, caps, sneakers, and wristbands.

Since the sport's inception, the design and manufacture of tennis equipment has been affected by technological advances and regulations. As is common in major sports, regulations became more exacting over time, with improvements affecting the qualities of the tennis racket and the tennis ball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Betsy</span>

Black Betsy was the primary baseball bat of Shoeless Joe Jackson. It was hand made by a fan of his in 1903 when Jackson was still only 15. It broke the record for the highest sold baseball bat in history, when it was sold for $577,610 in 2001. By then it was considered one of baseball's most fabled artifacts. The record was broken in 2004 when a 1923 Babe Ruth bat sold for $1.2 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EvoShield</span> American sports gear brand

EvoShield is an American brand that specializes in protective gear. Some of EvoShield products are wrist guards, elbow guards, as well as rib and heart protectors for the sports of baseball, gridiron football, lacrosse and softball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donnay</span> Belgian sports equipment brand

Donnay Sports is a sports equipment brand currently owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1910 by Emile Donnay and was based in Couvin, Belgium. Donnay manufactured wooden tennis rackets from 1934, and by the 1970s was the largest manufacturer of tennis rackets in the world. However, the company failed to adapt to the new market for graphite rackets, and entered administration in 1988. After a succession of owners, the brand was eventually sold to Sports Direct International, who continue to license the use of the brand worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ProKennex</span> Taiwanese manufacturer of tennis racquets

ProKennex is a Taiwanese manufacturer of racquet sports equipment for tennis, squash, badminton, racquetball, and pickleball. The company enjoyed wide global distribution in the 1980s, when manufacturing in Taiwan was booming due to domestic economic conditions. Parent company Kunnan Enterprise Ltd. has faced financial difficulties since the mid 1990s, leading to a contraction of the ProKennex name globally. Today, the company focuses on a niche set of consumers interested in technology advancements in racquet sports. The company focuses on this aspect of its products by promoting itself as a "science and design company", rather than a standard racket manufacturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nivia Sports</span> Indian sports equipment manufacturing company

Nivia Sports is an Indian sports equipment manufacturing industry founded in 1934 at Sialkot. It was named Freewill Sports Pvt Ltd. Later the company shifted to Mumbai and finally headquartered in Jalandhar, Punjab, India which designs and manufactures sports equipment, accessories, and sportswear including athletic clothes, and footwear. It has been the official ball partner for many national and international leagues and tournaments including Indian Super League, The Basketball Federation of India, All India Football Federation, Volleyball Federation of India, Sri Lanka Super League. Nivia's basketball has received certification from FIBA, the International Basketball Federation.

George G. Bussey & Co., founded 1864 by George Gibson Bussey, was a manufacturer of hunting, cricket, tennis, polo, croquet, football, and rugby equipment.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "History of Wilson Sporting Goods Company". Funding Universe.
  2. ↑ "About Wilson Sporting Goods and Sports Equipment". Wilson.
  3. ↑ Freudenheim, Milt. Amer Group to Acquire Wilson Sporting Goods, The New York Times, February 21, 1989
  4. ↑ "Wilson tennis racket maker Amer Sports files for US IPO, Bloomberg reports". Reuters. 2023-09-06. Retrieved 2023-10-14.
  5. ↑ Norris, Frank; Henry, O (1905). Everybody's Magazine.
  6. ↑ Wilson & the NFL since 1941 on Wilson website, 13 Mar 2019
  7. ↑ Schmid, John (May 28, 2008). "Getting a grip". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  8. ↑ Wolinsky, Howard (May 16, 2008). "Horween Leather Faces an Uncertain Future". Bloomberg Business Week . Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  9. 1 2 NBA drops Spalding as maker of official basketball after more than 30 years by Jabari Young on CNBC, 13 May 2020
  10. ↑ "Wilson Tennis Balls". Wilson.
  11. ↑ Australian Open Sponsors, 2007-06-23
  12. ↑ Company products Wilson, 13 Mar 2019
  13. ↑ Surowiecki, James (December 21, 2009). "Branded a Cheat". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  14. ↑ Marty Finley (April 22, 2015). "Wilson Sporting Goods completes acquisition of Louisville Slugger brand". Louisville Business First. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  15. ↑ Darren Rovell (March 23, 2015). "Wilson buys Louisville Slugger". ESPN. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Louisville Slugger® retires P72 bat model in honor of Derek Jeter". MLB.com .
  17. ↑ "CFL To Roll Out New Ball For 2018 Season" (Press release). Canadian Football League. March 19, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Wilson to provide the Official Game Ball for FIBA" (Press release). Amer Sports. June 9, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  19. ↑ Wilson, NCAA extend basketball partnership through 2020-21 on NCAA, Apr 23, 2018
  20. ↑ NCAA, Wilson extend soccer partnership through 2021 NCAA, February 21, 2018
  21. ↑ Latest Wilson Rackets - CuzGeek
  22. ↑ "Wilson Tennis Rackets, Equipment and Accessories". Wilson.
  23. ↑ Price, Annie. Tom Hanks is emotionally reunited with his beloved Wilson from Castaway Daily Express , London, 6 February 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.