JumpSport, Inc. is a manufacturer of recreational trampolines and accessories that are distributed worldwide. JumpSport markets and sells a patented trampoline safety net enclosure which was invented by one of the company's founders, Mark Publicover.
History
The company was founded in January 1997 by Mark Publicover, his wife, Valerie, and then board chairman Byron Lewis Bertsch[2][3][4][5] as a California limited liability company that was subsequently merged into the JumpSport California corporation created in May 1998.[6] Originally they created the company to market the safety net enclosure system which Publicover had patented.[7] JumpSport initially had its trampolines manufactured by Hedstrom out of Bedford, PA but, due to competitive pressures, they transitioned to overseas production in the 2000s. The company distributes to multiple retailers nationally.[8]
In 2007, JumpSport's 15 employee business had $13 million in sales and represented less than 1% of the market for safety net enclosures.[1][8][12]
JumpSport expanded their line to include fitness trampolines in 2008.[10] In 2011, they extended into the age 2–5 market with the introduction of the "iBounce" trampoline with integrated iPad/tablet holder.[13]
^ abMina Kimes (April 28, 2008). "Is your idea safe?". Fortune. Retrieved May 31, 2014. Publicover believes that copycats owe his business, which had sales of $13 million last year, $50 million. The CEO anticipates spending the next ten years cobbling together lawsuits and waiting for the courts to call up his case numbers.
^"The Mustang world has lost a Great Guy". Mustang Owner's Club. April 15, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2014. Byron Bertsch 11/9/48 - 14/4/10 ... was the driving force behind the creation of Total Control Products.
^J. Michael Kennedy (October 1, 2002). "Besides a Great Idea, an Inventor Can Use a Patent on Patience". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 2, 2014. Retrieved May 31, 2014. Five years after building his prototype that surrounds a trampoline with netting, Publicover finally turned a profit this year, but not before going through a series of setbacks and more than $1 million, much of that his own money. Now, he sells about 800 trampoline enclosures a day. They sell at various retailers and over the Internet at about $200 apiece. The downside is that he is now embroiled in a lawsuit against companies with similar products.
