Franklin Sports is an American sporting-goods manufacturer and brand that produces equipment, apparel, accessories, and recreational products across a wide variety of sports. Established in 1946, the company remains family-owned and family-led, with its headquarters located in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Its corporate philosophy is encapsulated by the slogan “Sports Make Life Better.”[1]

The company describes itself as a multigenerational sporting-goods business serving a diverse clientele ranging from recreational players and children to professional athletes. Franklin states that its catalogue encompasses more than 10,000 products across numerous sporting categories.[2]

Founding — 1946

Franklin Sports traces its origins to 1946, when brothers Sydney and Irving Franklin established the company in Brockton, Massachusetts.

The business emerged from an environment closely tied to the local footwear industry. According to company history, the founders utilised discarded scrap leather from local shoe factories to manufacture their initial sporting equipment. Early products included footballs, boxing gloves, basketballs, and baseball gloves.

This early commitment to making sports equipment accessible to ordinary athletes became a foundational element of the Franklin identity.

Expansion into sporting goods

Over subsequent decades, Franklin expanded beyond its original offerings to develop a broad sporting-goods portfolio. Rather than focusing exclusively on a single sport, the company developed equipment for multiple sports and recreational activities.

This diversification eventually became one of Franklin’s defining characteristics, enabling the brand to serve a child purchasing their first baseball glove, a family buying outdoor games, a recreational pickleball player, or a professional athlete.

Franklin remains family-owned, and the company states it is currently under third-generation family leadership.[1]

A pivotal moment in the history of Franklin Sports occurred in 1984 with the introduction of the Pro Classic batting glove.

Franklin developed this glove with assistance from Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt. The company describes the Pro Classic as the first-ever baseball batting glove, a product that helped establish batting gloves as essential baseball equipment.[1]

This innovation was particularly significant because Franklin’s subsequent relationship with professional baseball became one of the company’s most recognisable assets.

Relationship with Major League Baseball

Franklin’s association with Major League Baseball (MLB) spans approximately four decades. In 2024, MLB and Franklin announced an extension of their partnership into its 40th year.[3]

Franklin has served as MLB’s Official Batting Glove partner and has expanded the collaboration to include products such as sliding gloves. The partnership also supports youth participation through MLB’s PLAY BALL initiative.[3]

Consequently, Franklin batting gloves have become strongly associated with professional baseball.

Franklin is notable for its unusually broad scope within the sporting-goods sector. Rather than operating primarily as a baseball, football, or pickleball company, it maintains a presence across numerous categories.

⚾ Baseball

Baseball is arguably Franklin’s most historically significant category.

Its baseball range includes:

• Batting gloves
• Baseball gloves
• Batting equipment
• Protective equipment
• Sliding gloves
• Baseballs
• Training equipment
• Youth baseball products
• Bags and accessories

Batting gloves are especially important to the brand due to the legacy of the Pro Classic and Franklin’s long-standing MLB relationship.[2]

🏓 Pickleball

Pickleball has emerged as one of Franklin’s major growth areas.

The company produces:

• Pickleball paddles
• Pickleballs
• Bags
• Apparel
• Accessories
• Signature products associated with professional players

Franklin is also an official partner of USA Pickleball, positioning the company within both the recreational and competitive segments of the sport.[1]

The X-40 pickleball is among Franklin’s prominent products, and the company continues to release signature collections endorsed by professional players.[1]

🏈 Football

Franklin manufactures football-related equipment and fan merchandise, including footballs and youth-oriented products.

Its relationship with the NFL also enables Franklin to sell officially licensed NFL merchandise and equipment.[2]

🏀 Basketball

Franklin’s basketball range comprises basketballs and related recreational equipment. The brand has also maintained relationships with major professional sports organisations, including the NBA.[4]

🏒 Hockey

Franklin has a substantial history in hockey and street-hockey equipment, with products aimed particularly at youth and recreational players.

The company lists the NHL among its professional sports partnerships.[1]

🏐 Volleyball

Volleyball is another increasingly visible component of Franklin’s portfolio.

The company has collaborated with three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings on volleyball equipment and apparel. In 2024, Franklin volleyballs developed with Walsh Jennings became the official ball of the Pro Volleyball Federation.[2]

🎯 Games and recreation

Franklin also sells products outside conventional competitive sports, including:

• Cornhole
• Outdoor games
• Indoor games
• Game-room equipment
• Youth recreation products
• Fitness products
• Toys and sports-related activities

This breadth helps explain why Franklin’s target market extends beyond serious athletes.

A central component of Franklin’s brand strategy is its association with professional leagues and athletes.

The company identifies partnerships with organisations including:

• Major League Baseball (MLB)
• National Football League (NFL)
• National Basketball Association (NBA)
• National Hockey League (NHL)
• Major League Soccer (MLS)
• National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
• Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)
• USA Pickleball
• Pro Volleyball Federation
• Hasbro’s Nerf brand

Franklin also collaborates with professional athletes on signature equipment and apparel.[2]

Historically, its athlete roster has included prominent figures such as Terry Bradshaw, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bo Jackson, and David Robinson.[1]

Franklin’s market positioning differs from that of highly specialised sporting-goods companies.

Its central concept is accessibility.

The company explicitly describes its mission as bringing sports to athletes of all ages, from children experiencing sports for the first time to professional athletes competing at the highest level.[2]

This approach results in a brand architecture comprising three overlapping markets:

1. Professional sports

Franklin leverages relationships with major leagues and professional athletes to establish credibility.

2. Serious recreational athletes

Products such as performance batting gloves and pickleball equipment target players seeking higher-performance gear.

3. Families and youth

A significant portion of Franklin’s business consists of affordable and accessible sports equipment intended for children, families, schools, and recreational players.

This combination is fundamental to the company’s identity.

Unlike many large sporting-goods brands that operate as subsidiaries of multinational corporations or publicly traded entities, Franklin describes itself as a family-owned business.

The company is currently in its third generation of Franklin family leadership.[1]

This multigenerational structure is deeply integrated into Franklin’s branding. The company frequently refers to its customers, employees, and partners collectively as the “Franklin Family.”

Although Franklin originated in Massachusetts, it now operates internationally.

The company states it maintains:

• A primary shipping centre in Memphis, Tennessee
• A Franklin Sports Asia office
• Vendor and retail relationships in numerous countries

These operations allow products developed under the Franklin brand to be distributed beyond the United States.[1]

Franklin Sports’ corporate headquarters are located at:

17 Campanelli Parkway
Stoughton, Massachusetts 02072
United States

The company identifies Stoughton as its headquarters and continues to operate there today.[4][2]

Franklin’s current identity revolves around the phrase:

“Sports Make Life Better.”

The company connects this slogan with several broader concepts, including family, participation, competition, accessibility, and enjoyment.

Rather than presenting sports solely as elite competition, Franklin’s messaging emphasises sport as a means for people to play, move, compete, and spend time together.[2]

[2][3]

Today, Franklin Sports is best understood as a large, privately held, family-owned American sporting-goods brand with a particularly broad product portfolio.

Its strongest historical association is likely baseball, specifically batting gloves and its enduring MLB partnership. However, the modern Franklin portfolio is considerably broader, with pickleball, football, hockey, volleyball, basketball, youth sports, games, and recreational products all playing important roles.[2]

The company’s current strategy combines three elements:

• Professional credibility through major league and athlete partnerships.
• Product innovation in categories such as batting gloves, protective equipment, and pickleball.
• Mass-market accessibility through products aimed at families, children, and recreational athletes.

In this respect, Franklin occupies a distinctive position in the sporting-goods industry: a multigenerational American family business that uses professional sports partnerships to support a much broader consumer-oriented sports portfolio.

In one sentence

Franklin Sports is a Massachusetts-based, family-owned sporting-goods company founded in 1946, best known for pioneering baseball batting gloves and its long-standing MLB relationship, but now operating as a broad global sports brand spanning baseball, pickleball, football, hockey, volleyball, basketball, youth sports and recreational games.[2]

1. Franklin Sports: Professional Major League Sporting Goods Brand | Franklin Sports
2. Made for Wow. by Franklin Sports
3. MLB, Franklin Sports extend partnership for 40th year
4. Franklin Sports | LinkedIn