type subsidiary industry sports equipment founded 1913 ; 103 years ago 1913 as ashland manufacturing company founder ford wilson headquarters chicago united states products footwear sportswear accessories net income 930 million 2010 1 number of employees 1 600 2 parent amer sports subsidiaries demarini website www.wilson.com the wilson sporting goods company is an american sports equipment manufacturer based in chicago illinois . since 1989 it has been a foreign subsidiary of the finnish group amer sports . 3 wilson makes equipment for many sports among them badminton baseball basketball softball canadian football american football golf racquetball soccer padel squash tennis and volleyball . contents 1 history 2 products and sponsorship 2.1 american football 2.1.1 associations 2.1.2 former teams 2.2 baseball 2.2.1 players 2.3 basketball 2.3.1 club teams 2.3.2 colleges 2.4 soccer 2.4.1 teams 2.4.2 associations 2.5 golf 2.6 tennis 2.6.1 male players 2.6.2 female players 2.6.3 former players 2.7 squash 2.7.1 active players 2.7.2 former players 2.8 volleyball 2.8.1 associations 3 in popular culture 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit the company traces its roots to the les and john company later changed to les & son s based in south shields north east england that operated meat packing plants in tyne dock . 4 les founded the ashland manufacturing company in 1913 to use animal by products from its slaughterhouses . it started out 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 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 1966 when it was sold to ltv . 1 a wilson basketball . under new president l. b. 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 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 the best leather ends that were hand sewn lock stitch seams and triple lining which was adopted as the official ball of the national football league . 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 . 5 6 after the war wilson focused on tennis and signed jack kramer who developed its line of jack kramer signed tennis rackets . icley died in 1950 but the company continued to expand with many who believing that icely s introduction of a computer to monitor inventory had been a huge help . in 1955 it acquired ohio kentucky manufacturing for making footballs . in 1964 it acquired wonder products company which made toys and custom molded items . it transformed the custom mold section to make protective equipment in football and baseball such as face masks for football helmets and leg guards for baseball catchers . in 1967 it was acquired by ling temco vought ltv corporation . in 1970 it was acquired by pepsico . it sold the official balls of the national basketball association and national football league and provided most of the uniforms of teams in major league baseball united states summer olympics teams . in 1971 the grandson of thomas wilson rejoined the executive team for wilson operating as director of north american operations . justin wilson s corporate office is based in the cincinnati area . the family business reaffirmed its regional presence from 1994 2001 during which time mick wilson the current beneficiary of the wilson franchise made himself prominently known throughout the ohio river valley region . the wilson family s active involvement continues to leave its legacy to this day . citation needed in 1979 wilson tennis balls were first used in the us open 7 and still are used to this day . in 2006 the australian open began using wilson tennis balls . 8 in 1985 it 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 products and sponsorship edit american football edit associations edit nfl official ball ufl official ball cfl official ball former teams edit many teams of the nfl have worn uniforms provided by wilson such as chicago bears cincinnati bengals buffalo bills denver broncos cleveland browns tampa bay buccaneers arizona cardinals los angeles raiders los angeles rams minnesota vikings kansas city chiefs indianapolis colts dallas cowboys miami dolphins san francisco 49ers jacksonville jaguars seattle seahawks green bay packers carolina panthers new england patriots a wilson american football . baseball edit wilson makes a variety of baseball gloves for several different patterns pitcher catcher infield outfield and first base . wilson s best known baseball glove models include the a1k a2000 a2k a3000 and first base mitt 2800 . wilson also makes custom gloves players edit 9 melky cabrera pedro feliz jorge posada iv n rodr guez paul konerko zach britton elvis andrus marlon byrd ian kennedy evan longoria dustin pedroia hanley ram rez jos altuve rick porcello brandon phillips j. j. putz pl cido polanco david wright miguel cabrera elvis andrus lance lynn a. j. pierzynski allen craig carlos beltr n jhonny peralta basketball edit club teams edit anyang kgc changwon lg sakers colleges edit ncaa basketball official ball soccer edit teams edit club guaran universidad cat lica del ecuador duque de caxias futebol clube associations edit ncaa soccer official ball golf edit main article wilson staff 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 worlds 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 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 p draig harrington . tennis edit 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 . as of 2015 he uses 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 . 10 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 australian open and us open major championships shoes balls strings clothes and racket bags . 11 male players edit roger federer juan mart n del potro agust n velotti david goffin max mirnyi grigor dimitrov thomaz bellucci daniel nestor milos raonic vasek pospisil feliciano l pez jarkko nieminen micha l llodra michael berrer philipp kohlschreiber philipp petzschner andy ram kei nishikori aisam ul haq qureshi horia tec u adrian ungur ga l monfils alexandr dolgopolov mardy fish filip krajinovi mahesh bhupathi robert lindstedt ilija bozoljac frank dancevic marsel i lhan henri kontinen daniel berta paul henri mathieu female players edit serena williams venus williams anastasia rodionova victoria azarenka olga govortsova jarmila gajdo ov melanie oudin petra kvitov lucie af ov barbora z hlavov str cov simona halep ajla tomljanovi laura robson kristina mladenovic andrea petkovic kaia kanepi marina erakovic alexandra cadan u m d lina gojnea monica niculescu ekaterina makarova vera zvonareva polona hercog elina svitolina jamie hampton madison keys former players edit gast n gaudio justine henin steffi graf stefan edberg taylor dent jimmy connors chris evert pete sampras jack kramer jim courier guillermo ca as squash edit active players edit peter barker nicolas m ller tom richards campbell grayson former players edit anthony ricketts jaclyn hawkes isabelle stoehr volleyball edit associations edit avp official ball in popular culture edit a wilson volleyball co starred alongside tom hanks in the film cast away and hank s character named the ball wilson in the film . after the success of the film wilson sporting goods actually created and marketed volleyballs with wilson s face printed on it . see also edit companies portal ripper racquet references edit a b c d e f g h i history of wilson sporting goods company fundinguniverse . about wilson sporting goods and sports equipment . wilson.com . amer group to acquire wilson sporting goods new york times 1989 02 21 everybody s magazine . john schmid may 28 2008 . getting a grip . milwaukee journal sentinel . retrieved march 26 2013 . howard wolinksy may 16 2008 . horween leather faces an uncertain future . business week . retrieved march 26 2013 . wilson tennis balls . wilson.com . australian open sponsors 2007 06 23 wilson baseball player profiles . wilson.com . wilson 2010 line tennis and stuff wilson tennis rackets equipment and accessories . wilson.com . external links edit wilson sporting goods wilson golf amer sports parent company other wilson the volleyball at the internet movie database v t e amer sports oyj major brands arc teryx atomic mavic precor salomon suunto 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