Not many dealers remember that when Bison was founded in 1983, we were a single product company selling a product designed originally to be used by our company softball team, a transport caddy to store and carry baseball and softball bats, balls, scorebooks, and miscellaneous equipment to and from the ballpark. While this was an upgrade from traditional dirty army duffle bags it was well before the time when each player carried their own equipment bag. We called this product the Fielder’s Choice Equipment Caddy and it was the launching pad for today’s Bison, Inc.
Today a single startup product would likely be sold online but 1983 was 12 years before Jeff Bezos launched Amazon, 15 years before PayPal, and 25 years before the first iPhone.
Selling a single product directly to consumers without the internet was a daunting task so Bison determined early on that selling through team dealers using regional independent reps was the way to go. Cole Harrell Group in the southeast U.S. liked our product, became our first rep group, and now 40 years later Derreck Cole, whose father co-founded the group, and 20 other independent reps across the U.S. continue to successfully represent Bison’s extensive product line.
While Fielder’s Choice was only modestly successful and was discontinued in 1990 it can be credited with setting Bison on the pathway to success.
Today, based in large part on requests from Bison dealers, sales reps, schools, and others, we are pleased to announce that, beginning with our January 2025 catalog, we will be returning to our roots by launching an initial lineup of baseball and softball equipment including foul poles, premium movable outfield fencing, batting cages, mesh ball capture nets, dugout padding, outfield and foul line player protective padding, and related items. We welcome your continued input and encourage you to take our short dealer survey using the QR code below.
While you know us for basketball, volleyball, soccer, and other gymnasium and field sports equipment you can now trust Bison to deliver quality, safe, durable, and affordable products to satisfy the needs of schools, city recreation fields, and other facilities wherever baseball and softball are played. Products will be available in January 2025 and more introductory information will be available in the fourth quarter, 2024.
We hope you are as excited as we are in this new (and also old) development at Bison.