About Sports Roses

When you meet Mark, you would never guess him to be the successful entrepreneur and businessman that he is today.

That’s because his quiet and unassuming demeanor is rooted in humble beginnings.

Mark’s parents value education. And they imparted that value to him. He practically became a professional student. Not wanting to accrue a large debt with student loans, Mark would take 1-2 courses each semester, attending classes...after he got off work.

His “academic career” encompassed a 10 year span. It first began at a community college in Arizona, migrated to a community college in San Diego before landing at the University of California, San Diego.

Throughout his educational trek, Mark discovered that he had a strong entrepreneurial spirit. He knew he would one day be his own boss. But the question was…doing what?

Life presents us all with a series of unique twists and turns. For Mark, it was a simple gesture of kindness combined with the beginning of the 2007 baseball season that revealed a “home-run” of an idea.

To celebrate the opening game of the 2007 season, Mark wanted to give a gift to his friends.  He pondered what unique, baseball themed gift he could give to these ladies to commemorate this special occasion. And then the idea struck him.  Why not pull the leather off of a baseball, cut the leather into “petals” and form them into a “rose”? After all, what could be more perfect than a Baseball Rose?

April 10, 2007: Mark with the 3 special friends that he gave his first Baseball Roses to during a Padres game at Petco Park.

This was the ideal union of Mark’s passion for the game of baseball and his dream of creating his own business.

To understand Mark’s love affair with baseball, rewind the pages of time to see a 10 year old boy, going to baseball games with his dad. Throughout the years, father and son bonded over season after season of baseball.

Now, fast forward to 2007. Mark presented his first Baseball Rose bouquet to his mother for Mother’s Day. This hand-crafted gift was a real winner with his mom (and dad). Both parents were genuinely impressed. With their encouragement to pursue his entrepreneurial dream, Mark hung up his academic backpack and launched his company, L.O.V.E.nterprises, and began making Sports Roses.

With a self-designed website and a bucket full of hand-crafted Baseball Roses, Mark set out to sell his unique product – on the street – before and after baseball games. Some nights, they were a hit, while other nights they were more of a strike-out.

Yet he persevered. Mark took a total of 300 baseball roses to the 2007 All-Star Break in San Francisco. They quickly sold out! It was then that Mark realized his Baseball Rose had a grand-slam future.

Drea and Mark selling Baseball Roses outside AT&T Park during the 2007 All-Star Game.

Following the All-Star break, orders began to pour in. The challenge to keep up with production led Mark to take the leap to go full time with Sports Roses.

Today, with ever increasing orders and a growing staff of employees, L.O.V.E.nterprises operates out their workshop in San Diego, California. All Sports Roses are still handmade in the USA. Mark has now added five more varieties to the Sports Roses collection - Softball Rose, Football Rose, Volleyball Rose, Basketball Rose and Soccer Rose.