Taking On The Big Hitters In The Baseball Bat Industry
When it comes to making baseball bats, everyone knows the name Louisville Slugger. When David Chandler started making his own line of bats in 2010, he knew he had a target on his back. Seven years later, the Chandler bat is being used by some of professional baseball's top players.
David Chandler, Founder and President of RxSport Corp., shares how he made a pivot from making high-end furniture to designing baseball bats. He says that he saw a place in the market for a better-crafted product when the MLB was having problems with maple bats breaking. The League was considering outlawing maple as a material for crafting bats, but Chandler says it wasn't a material issue, but a manufacturing issue.
Now Chandler makes bats for MLB all-stars like Aaron Judge and Bryce Harper. He says that the players do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing. As more players see how the Chandler Bat performs on the field, the more bats Chandler sells.
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