A racket or racquet is an item of sporting equipment used to strike a ball or shuttlecock in a variety of sports. A racket consists of three major components: 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. The head of the racket forms a flattened firm surface, known as the face, which is used to strike the ball or shuttlecock.
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.
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.
A tennis ball is a small, hollow ball used in games of tennis and real tennis. Tennis balls are fluorescent yellow in professional competitions, but in recreational play other colors are also used. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous felt, which modifies their aerodynamic properties, and each has a white curvilinear oval covering it.
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.
Sports equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear, which varies in shapes, size, and usage in a particular sport. It includes balls, nets, rackets, protective gears like helmets, goggles, etc. Since the performer must use a sport equipment, it can also be serve for protection.
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!.
Slazenger is a British sports equipment brand owned by the Frasers Group. One of the world's oldest sport brands, the company was established as a sporting goods shop in 1881 by entrepreneurial brothers, 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.
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.
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.
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.
Amer Sports, Inc. is a Finnish multinational sporting equipment company based in Helsinki, Finland. Established in 1950 as an industrial conglomerate with interests as diverse as tobacco trading, ship owning and publishing, Amer has gradually evolved into a multinational firm devoted to the production and marketing of sporting goods. The company employs over 9,700 people.
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.
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 20th century it has been located in Chicago.
Football Thai Factory Sporting Goods Co, Ltd., also known as FBT, is a Thai sports equipment company that has the biggest sports store in Asia which is the FBT sport complex and also has over 300 stores nationwide. FBT exports to over 40 countries worldwide. In 2009 it had over 2,800 employees and an annual turnover of over US$50 million.
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.
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.
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.
