Ashley Portero, Reporter – South Florida Business Journal
Feb 4, 2019, 2:58pm EST
Florida-based Gladiator Lacrosse LLC has acquired All Ball Pro, a sports ball manufacturer that supplies equipment to collegiate and professional lacrosse programs across the U.S.
The acquisition will allow Gladiator Lacrosse, led by 18-year-old entrepreneur Rachel Zietz, to extend the company’s reach into other sports outside of lacrosse. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“The more I learned about All Ball Pro, the more I felt like our companies had a synergistic relationship,” Zeitz told the South Florida Business Journal.”Gladiator has been successful in manufacturing practice equipment, but All Ball Pro is already a major supplier to the commercial market. The partnership almost fell onto our laps in terms of finding a great compliment to our existing product.”
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All Ball Pro, based in St. Louis, Missouri, currently manufactures and distributes professional-grade balls and rebounders for lacrosse and variety of other sports. All Ball’s exclusive patented technology allows for the highest velocity return rate for balls on the market, said Zeitz, who added the company supplies equipment to Division I collegiate lacrosse teams, including nearly the entire Ivy League.
Zietz founded Gladiator Lacrosse in 2012, when she was 13 years old, and at 15 appeared on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” In 2016, Zietz inked a deal with Dick’s Sporting Goods, which carries her entire line of products.
Zietz, currently a freshman at Princeton University, doesn’t intend on allowing her studies to keep her from finding new markets for her company.
“I want to continue to expand our practice equipment and commercial use line,” Zietz said. “For a while now I’ve wanted to produce more gear like helmets, goggles and sticks. I’m thrilled to make new partnerships and keep growing.”
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