In 2008, Ruder, together with his friends and family, raised $100,000 and found a manufacturer in China — the same manufacturer who made the McDonald’s happy meal toys.

With a background in online ad sales for companies like Microsoft and LiveNation — a job he had little passion for — Ruder said, “I had never run a business before. I had no experience. I ran it as a night job, selling on Spikeball.com and Amazon.”

But, learning from how it performed decades ago, Ruder had two advantages over the originators. First, he knew what not do: market it as a kids game.

He said, “While young kids can have a great time with it — and we see P.E. teachers and 1st–3rd graders loving it — the 18–24 year old male demographic enjoys it most because they can play it as a competitive sport, which requires a certain level of coordination.”

Second, the ubiquity of the Internet and social media — both essentially nonexistent in the 80s — catalyzed Spikeball’s growth.

With high-intensity action photos and videos of people diving in their bathing suits, online content catapulted awareness. The game swept the nation, doubling in sales year over year since its re-inception in 2008.

Sounds like it could be taking off. But to be an American sport is takes time. America’s favorite sports have been around for decades, even centuries. What makes a sport successful?

Examples of How Other Sports Began