Newport resident Jeff Spelman had a goal: create a fun card game that would help his sons improve their math skills.
Quick Count, a strategic football themed card game for two players, is the result.
After spending 20 years working in sports and media, it is natural that Spelman would incorporate sports into his creation.
His positions have ranged from working as a Floor Manager for ESPN’s Top Rank Boxing, to statistician and researcher for NBC and ESPN, among others; to working with three legendary college coaches at the Unviersities of Louisville, Notre Dame and Virginia.
As if this wasn’t enough, Spelman also founded Team One Baseball, a multi-million dollar high school baseball scouting firm. After selling Team One Baseball in 2004, he founded Spelman Media, Inc. in 2006, and subsequently created Quick Count.
After creating the original Quick Count cards on his computer, Spelman began playing and refining the game with the help of his son. After ironing out the kinks, he then began testing it with friends and relatives. The feedback was very positive. He knew he was on to something.
Yet, Spelman knew marketing it successfully would be the biggest challenge. As he pondered where to begin, he remembered the story of another one-time Reading resident who created a little card game, started marketing it, first from his barber shop, and then from a local store.
This card game created by a barber from Reading is now the international hit, Uno. In fact, Spelman got early dibs on this universally recognized game, having played on one of the first decks ever printed.
Spelman was inspired by this dazzling local success story and began marketing Quick Count locally. He has since expanded Quick Count’s reach to over 60 stories in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Washington.
United States Playing Cards, of Cincinnati, maker of several lines of the world’s major playing cards, manufactures Quick Count today.
The business continues to grow and gain recognition from some of the best toy and product evaulators, including a 2008 Dr. Toy's Best Picks - New Products Award.