Mizuno Corp. has rolled out a caravan of royal blue-and-white vans to stadiums, amateur fields and sporting-goods stores in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and California to accelerate growth in its baseball gloves and bats business. According to Bloomberg News, Mizuno's baseball sales in the U.S. peaked at $75 million in 2008, nearly double from 2000. The company aims for sales of $100 million by 2015.
Hideki Tsuruoka, director of its baseball division, said Mizuno has pulled its resources in Europe and Latin America toward that effort.
“The company who rules the U.S. market can rule world markets,” said Tsuruoka, who played baseball at the University of Washington. “We will fight with gloves and spikes.”
He added that the company is willing to accept narrower profit margins because baseball is the “flesh and blood of our business.”
Mizuno's efforts in the U.S. will also rely on its MLB endorsements, Tsuruoka said. About 170 players – including Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners, Hideki Matsui of the Los Angeles Angels and last month's All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Brian McCann of the Atlanta Braves – have contracts to use Mizuno gear.
Mizuno USA also plans a new marketing plan for its website and social networking sites that will start in the fourth quarter of this year and extend into next year.
The article notes that Mizuno holds the sixth position in baseball in the U.S. market. The leaders are Easton-Bell, Rawlings, Wilson, Louisville Slugger and Nike. The article also noted that Spalding is returning to baseball after a ten-year absence.
