Sociogenesis of Slamball

Slamball is a sport that many people may have never heard of.  Oftentimes viewed as a combination of basketball, football and gymnastics, the game involves two teams who play full contact basketball in a walled court which replaced its wood floors with high intensity trampolines.  Mason Gordon, the man responsible for creating Slamball in ~2001, was recorded saying he "wanted to create a combination of sports that approximated a real-life video game".  The next step for Gordon was finding players.  He wanted to find players that were proficient in basketball, athletic enough to use the trampolines to their advantage, and tough enough to play in a full contact environment where crashing into other players in mid-air was part of the game.  He decided to turn to the sport called "Street Basketball" to recruit players.  Gordon recruited 6 Street Basketball players, taught them the game, and created its first two teams: the Los Angeles Rumble, and the Chicago Mob.  The first exhibition game between these two teams took place in 2001, with the Chicago Mob winning.  Soon after this game, Gordon was able to recruit more players for more teams. Within a year, over 400 players had been enlisted as potential Slamball players.
Rules have not changed drastically since its genesis in 2001, yet the games marketing has.  Early on, Gordon connected with Mike Tollin, a TV and film producer; his goal was to showcase the new sport on channels similar to Spike and Versus.
The uniforms for the sport really evolved quickly.  The picture at the top of the page shows a training session in 2002.  At the time, there were no official uniforms, but only colored pennies and some pads.  Looking at the sport in the next few years, you can see the uniforms have evolved into eye-catching spectacles.
Since its genesis, the sport has hit some rough patches.  Since the 2008 season, Slamball has been on a moratorium.  The sport is hoping to make an official comeback in the next few years.