industry sports equipment founded 1876 139 or 140 years ago founder albert spalding jr. headquarters bowling green kentucky usa area served north america australia products sports equipment parent berkshire hathaway via russell brands website www.spalding.com spalding is an american sporting goods company founded by albert spalding in chicago illinois in 1876 . it is now headquartered in bowling green kentucky . the company specializes in the production of balls for many sports but is best known for its basketballs . spalding also makes a range of other products for baseball soccer softball volleyball and football . contents 1 history 2 products 3 sponsorships 3.1 australian rules football 3.2 american football 3.3 basketball 3.3.1 leagues & associations 3.3.2 national teams 3.3.3 club teams 3.3.4 other teams 3.3.5 players 3.4 volleyball 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit albert spalding the company was founded in 1876 when albert spalding was a pitcher and the manager of a baseball team in chicago the chicago white stockings . the company standardized early baseballs and developed the modern baseball bat with the bulge at its apex . in 1892 spalding acquired wright & ditson and a. j. reach both rival sporting goods companies . 1 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 spalding acted as their distributor in the western usa and overman contracted with lamb to make wheels for its lower end products . 2 the spalding league ball was adopted by the national league and american association of professional base ball clubs for the seasons of 1892 1896 and used by the national league since 1880 . it was manufactured by a. g. spalding & bros. chicago new york & philadelphia and sold for 1.50 in 1896 . 3 production of bicycles continued at the chicopee plant through the latter part of the 19th century but in 1899 a.g. spalding sold its bicycle division to a massive trust called the american bicycle company which controlled 65 % of the bicycle business in the us . 4 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 . 5 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 national league balls . since 1977 the official ball has been made by rawlings . spalding became a division of the russell corporation in 2003 . 6 however that deal did not encompass spalding s golf operations which included the top flite ben hogan and strata brands which were eventually bought by callaway later the same year . 7 horween leather company supplies leather to spalding for indoor arena football league footballs . 8 products edit spalding manufactures sherrin footballs for australian rules football . sherrin balls are the official ball of the australian football league afl . spalding developed its first basketball in 1894 9 and is currently a leading producer . since 1983 it has been the official ball supplier to the nba . the company also provides the official ball of the arena football league an indoor american football league . the company was also 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 . in 2006 spalding and the nba announced that they would create a new nba official game ball with interlocking segments and made with a synthetic material instead of leather . 10 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 effective january 1 2007 . 11 sponsorships edit 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 12 australian rules football edit australian football league afl american football edit arena football league afl china arena football league cafl former american football league afl basketball edit leagues & associations edit liga nacional de basketball lnb euroleague eurocup greek basket league heba kosovo basketball superleague mongolian national basketball association mnba national basketball association nba women s national basketball association wnba american basketball association aba ligue nationale de basket lnb basketball bundesliga bbl national teams edit austria congo 13 denmark georgia 14 gibraltar greece macedonia netherlands slovakia slovenia club teams edit telekom baskets bonn 15 pms torino trento basket femminile le mura lucca asesoft ploie ti joventut badalona cb gran canaria baloncesto m laga real betis energ a plus other teams edit harlem globetrotters players edit demar derozan damian lillard matthew dellevedova volleyball edit karch kiraly sandbox volleyball fl gallery an advertisement from 1888 a spalding basketball a spalding football advertisement from 1896 advertising from 1903 how to play base ball by tim murnane see also edit robert hathaway chief of the firm s london branch who became ruler of sark references edit business spalding . time . time.com . february 18 1929 . retrieved may 23 2011 . springfield republican october 10 1893 p. 6 spalding s 1896 official bicycle guide volume 4 no. 45 page 85 published december 1895 by american sports publishing co. 241 broadway new york . see advertisement below https en.wikipedia.org wiki file 1896 spalding league baseball advertisement.jpg springfield republican september 3 2008 written by stephen jendrysik bruce n. canfield march 2008 . american rifleman . pp. 35 36 . missing or empty title help russell is buying most of spalding sporting goods unit . new york times . nytimes.com . april 18 2003 . retrieved may 23 2011 . callaway golf beats out adidas to buy top flite . new york times . nytimes.com . september 5 2003 . retrieved may 23 2011 . horween leather company . encyclopedia.com . retrieved march 26 2013 . history of the basketball . nba.com . june 28 2006 . retrieved may 23 2011 . richard sandomir june 29 2006 . n.b.a. is getting a grip on a new synthetic game ball . new york times . nytimes.com . retrieved may 23 2011 . liz robbins december 12 2006 . n.b.a. says new ball is not worth the pain . new york times . nytimes.com . retrieved may 23 2011 . 2011 spalding premiums catalog pdf . spalding.com . afrobasket day 8 cape verde v republic of congo highlights youtube video retrieved 6 aug 2016 . georgia eurobasket 2015 photo gallery eurobasket2015.org retrieved 22 oct 2015 . team 15 16 telekom baskets bonn telekom baskets bonn.de retrieved 30 september 2015 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to spalding sports equipment . official website papers of edwin l. parker former president of a.g. spalding & co. dwight d. eisenhower presidential library v t e berkshire hathaway board of directors warren buffett chairman and ceo charlie munger howard graham buffett susan decker bill gates david gottesman charlotte guyman donald keough thomas murphy ronald olson walter scott jr. insurance applied underwriters berkshire hathaway assurance 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