You’ve heard of bikes from a Detroit-based company. And watches. And surely, potato chips. But did you know about football helmets? It seems appropriate considering how big of a sports town Detroit is that sports equipment would be from a company here in the city.
A company doing just that – making sports equipment – announced a deal that will mean the Rivals Professional Football League (RPFL), an adult professional development league that serves the NFL, the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League, will have all of their helmet provided by Detroit-based Xenith.
Xenith focuses on high-quality helmets. They say they only produce 5-Star helmets under the Virginia Tech star system. They also sell shoulder pads, accessories and apparel.
You’ll even be able to see some of the action yourself. Four RFPL four teams that play at Pontiac’s Wisner Stadium. They are the Detroit Cougars, Oakland County Racers, Michigan Bearcats and Pontiac Generals. It’s an eight game season, culminating in a championship game. Their regular season ends April 29, and there’s a championship game May 6.
The point of the league, founded in 2014, is to provide adult football players an opportunity to gain more experience while attaining quality game film that can be used to market themselves to the NFL, CFL and AFL.
“As a Detroit-based company, we’re passionate about supporting other Detroit organizations and the Rivals Professional Football League presents a great opportunity to partner with a homegrown professional development league that’s making big moves on a national stage,” said Ryan Sullivan, President of Xenith. “We look forward to providing industry-leading helmet technology to the elite athletes of the RPFL for years to come.”
Xenith was founded in 2006. Their headquarters are in downtown Detroit and a 66,000-square-foot facility with an impact testing lab, custom paint booth, reconditioning operation, showroom and warehouse is in the West Side Industrial neighborhood.