Spikeball Inc. is an American sports equipment company that chiefly produces equipment for the game of

roundnet Roundnet (also known as Spikeball) is a ball game created in 1989 by Jeff Knurek, inspired primarily by concepts from volleyball. The game is played between two teams, usually with two players each. Players initially line up around a small tramp ...

. The company is the largest provider of roundnet equipment and sponsors tournaments in several countries including Belgium, Canada, Colombia, and the United States. The company was founded in 2007 by Chris Ruder and is based in Chicago, Illinois — with employees all over the country. Spikeball Roundnet Association tournaments began airing on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

in May 2018.

History

The company was incorporated in 2007 and in 2008 began selling equipment for roundnet, a

net sport Net and wall games are court games where either a net separates the opponents or a wall serves to reflect the ball to the opponent. The object of these games is to hit or throw the ball or bird over the net or against the wall back to the opponent ...

that had been invented in the 1980s by

Jeff Knurek Jeff Knurek is an American cartoonist, industrial designer, and toymaker. He is the current cartoonist for the syndicated Jumble puzzle, working with David L. Hoyt. Personal life Knurek was born in 1966 Wyandotte, Michigan. In 2007, Knurek b ...

, an American toymaker who did not patent it.

Roundnet Roundnet (also known as Spikeball) is a ball game created in 1989 by Jeff Knurek, inspired primarily by concepts from volleyball. The game is played between two teams, usually with two players each. Players initially line up around a small tramp ...

, as the game is now known, is played with a small

trampoline A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame often using many coiled spring (device), springs. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes. The fabric that use ...

-like net placed on the ground between two teams with two players each who bounce a ball back and forth on the net, in a gameplay that has been compared to volleyball. Ruder had purchased a set when it was originally marketed, briefly in the 1980s. He and five of his friends raised a total of $100,000 as

seed money Seed money, also known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor puts capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' suggest ...

for the company which Ruder started in his basement. He purchased the rights to the product and contracted a manufacturer in China to produce the equipment. When he started the company, Ruder was employed at

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

and

Monster.com Monster.com is a global employment website headquartered in Weston, Massachusetts. Along with its sister site, CareerBuilder, it is majority owned by funds managed by Apollo Global Management and is minority owned by Randstad NV. History In ...

, while working in his free time to develop the company. He later worked for

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational Entertainment industry, entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of Live Nation (events promoter), Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It ...

in the ad sales department while continuing to build the company he founded. Ruder left his career in corporate sales in 2013 to work full time on his business. By then, the company was earning more than $1 million in annual revenue.

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized in all caps as DICK'S Sporting Goods) is an American chain of sporting goods stores founded in 1948 by Richard "Dick" Stack. It is the largest sporting goods retailer in the United States and is listed ...

contacted him to become a retailer of Spikeball equipment in early 2013, followed by Big 5 and

Modell's Sporting Goods Modell's Sporting Goods Online, Inc. is an American online sporting goods and related apparel retailer. Modell's began with operating retail stores between the late 1880s and the late 2010s. In 2020, Modell's became a brand owned by the private ...

. The company was granted a US patent for the game in August 2014. In 2014, Ruder appeared on ABC's

Shark Tank ''Shark Tank'' is an American business Reality television#Investments, reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on American Broadcasting Company, ABC.Hibberd, James (May 10, 2012)Dancing,' 'Bachelor,' and a bigger 'Shark Tank ...

to offer 10% of the company for sale.

Daymond John Daymond Garfield John (born February 23, 1969) is an American businessman, investor, and television personality. He is an investor on the ABC reality television series '' Shark Tank''. He is the founder, president, and chief executive officer of ...

offered him $500,000 but wanted 20% of the company as well as control of licensing, manufacturing and retail. Ruder accepted, but the deal fell apart, before the episode aired, due to differences in strategy for the direction of the company. In fall 2017, the company said it had sold its one-millionth net and was generating $15 million in sales per year.

Tournaments and Spikeball Roundnet Association

In the early 2010s, the game began to gain a following among college-age enthusiasts in the Chicago area and then spread across the United States. Spikeball first sponsored a roundnet tournament in 2013 and founded the Spikeball Roundnet Association. A ranking system was introduced in 2016. The game has become popular among the

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

community in

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. In 2013, Corey Heck attended

Creation Creation or The Creation or Creations, may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Creation'' (1922 film), a British silent drama * ''Creation'' (unfinished film), 1931 * ''Creation'' (2009 film), about Charles Darwin Literature * ''Creation ...

, a Christian music festival, where he played the game and brought it to his community in Lancaster. He and his brother Caleb started weekly games which turned into daily events. They also started a

Facebook group Facebook Platform, Facebook is a Social network, social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile ...

and eventually a local tournament. Initially, Ruder would write thank you notes to each customer who bought a set from his company and realized the popularity of the game in Lancaster. Spikeball brought its tournament tour to Lancaster in 2015 and 2016 before moving to a larger venue in Philadelphia in 2017. The move was unpopular, and the event garnered fewer participants prompting the company to go back to Lancaster. The first College Spikeball National Championship was held at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

on April 29, 2017. A Spikeball tournament held in Lancaster in May 2018 became the first to air on

. Another tournament in

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, named SummerSpike 2018, aired on the same television network on June 30, 2018. The Spikeball tournament tour has also included stops in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, at the

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore, commonly called the Shore by locals, is the coast, coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The term encompasses about of shore, oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy in the n ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and

Dewey Beach Dewey Beach is an incorporated coastal town in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the town is 341, an increase of 13.3% over the previous decade. It is part of the rapidly growing Cape ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, in

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, in

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

in California, and in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The first World Championship was scheduled to take place in Belgium in September 2020, before it was rescheduled for September 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://spikeball.com/
Spikeball Roundnet Association
2007 establishments in Illinois Sports equipment makers

History

Tournaments and Spikeball Roundnet Association

See also

References

External links