The Paddle Market Barbell

The Quick Points

🎰 Gambling is coming very very soon (probably). As we discussed last week, the PPA Commissioner, Connor Pardoe, has vocally (and digitally) announced bringing gambling to pickleball. For better or worse, it may still be farther out on the horizon, as the PPA is now publicly hiring a gambling operations manager. It’s definitely a step in the right direction to bring this to fruition, but it would seem there is still a lot of work to do before the first bets are placed. Integrity training, finalizing real-time iPad scoring updates, having more consistent line call systems, ensuring compliance in the 15+ states events are held, etc. are just part of the laundry list of stuff that needs go be done and done right.

🏈 Sunday is for football AND pickle. The Jaguars are selling tickets with limited edition custom paddles to their October 15th home game against the Colts. Tickets with the Diadem paddle are going for $90. Feels like a no-brainer to us for pickle+football fans who were potentially thinking about a game this season. It’s a fun collaboration that will definitely become more common across professional franchises looking to meet fans where they are culturally and provide a nice little bonus for those on the edges.

🏙️ Now is this experiential pickleball. The Tower Club in Dallas now has an indoor court on the 48th floor currently making it the tallest court in the world. It is unknown how long it will be set up for, but it certainly is one of the more unique temporary installations we have come across. The Tower Club is an Invited Clubs property and Invited certainly is ‘all-in’ on pickleball for their 400,000 members. Their country club pros are all PPR certified, they inked a two-year merchandise deal with Selkirk last month, they host several PPA Tour events, and their renovated Brookhaven Country Club will host the USA National Championships later this year.

What’s on our mind 

🆕 Selkirk drops a much anticipated paddle. As always, our friends at the Pickleball Studio have a nuanced review up for the new 006.

The paddle landscape is shaping up like a barbell.

On one side, you have nimble and emerging companies producing very good paddles in the $90-130 range. They immediately appeal to beginners and intermediates given the price point. Advanced players who identify as paddle geeks or value-conscious are also drawn to these paddles. As a player, you understand wear and tear and plan to own multiple in a year (breaking, borrowing, backup). Vatic and Ronbus are currently leaders in this approach. For example, this $90 paddle from Vatic is a no-brainer for just about everyone.

On the other, you have premier brands like Selkirk and Joola. The higher-end paddles come at a premium. The 006 is $333 (USA made, 2-year warranty) and the new Joola Perseus (Ben John’s signature) is $250. Both brands have dozens of talented pros wearing their apparel and playing with a variety of paddles. They both have bigger name tour sponsorships and create, Selkirk in particular, a lot of performance-oriented content across YouTube and Instagram. Selkirk has a lot of distinct (love or hate ‘em) high-performance paddles (002, Air Power) but right now Joola has the best offering with the Scorpeus and Perseus for the general public who show no sign of underinvesting in their passion and sport.

The middle ground is becoming a scarier place for small- and medium-sized independent brands. If you are charging $170-$200 for a raw carbon fiber thermoformed paddle you ought to have a good reason why someone isn’t just going to get a $250 Perseus that plays very well and is used by the best player and best doubles team in the world. In a noisy marketplace with hundreds of options, that’s a feel-good decision that many will make. Two paddle companies stand out in this tier. ProXR with Zane’s Signature paddle is a good example of a distinct player brand (singles, instructional, familiar with podcast) and unique physical characteristics (long handle + reach, high spin rates). Julian Arnold’s energy and multiple high-pressure MLP successes gives Volair a lot of room to attract those recreational players who look to have fun as they compete with their Mach 1.

📺 A conversation with PCKL CEO Mike Gottfried. Brian over at Building Pickleball is our spiritual brother in content and his specialty is high-quality video podcasts. His interview series with founders in the industry is a must-watch. A few notes from listening to Mike.

• The ball business on Amazon is quite healthy for them. Low purchase consideration, at your door the next day.

• Creating a true brand has been a goal from Day 1. PCKL definitely has built a visually distinct brand. You can see them interacting every day with casual players on Twitter. They’re in it. That said, and maybe it’s a reluctance to strategically reveal a working core customer, we can’t quite describe who the PCKL customer is. It would certainly be someone on the newer side of playing that is price-conscious or just needs an above-average first paddle. They may even be younger than your historical 45-55yr old player. We just don’t know who it’s really sticky for. We can envision a Recess paddle owner but not a PCKL one.

• Awesome and interesting to learn they donate 1% of profits to communities and organizations making pickle more accessible. We always thought a Tom’s Shoes for pickleball paddles could make sense.

🔦 McEnroe (& Nike) slams pickleball into the spotlight, again. While having vocally chided pickleball in the past, John McEnroe’s latest Nike commercial in collaboration with Travis Scott once again helped give the sport more airtime, which we’re always in for. First, we think it’s noteworthy that the commercial features pickleball as the first sport that legendary rapper, Travis Scott, begins playing before moving over to play tennis against McEnroe. Humorously, Scott begins his pickleball game with a FaceTime call from Frances Tiafoe (recall the drama we covered over Tennis Channel airing MLP San Clemente over his finals match). Nike’s new commercial was designed as a reintroduction of the tennis icon’s Nike Mac Attack sneakers originally released in 1984, with the implicit messaging that these will be the premier shoes to be sported on both the tennis and pickleball court. Yet again, an example of large athletic apparel companies taking a shot at capturing the pickleball fervor.

Breaking Ground

The Reset is beginning to track publicly available court construction data to keep track of locations, costs, and development projects across the nation. Our tracker can be found here.

Featured Developments:

While still in the proposal phase, a new facility, Chip’s Pickleball Club, is currently evaluating a 46k sqft warehouse in Eagan, MN to build out a 13-court health and fitness club. The indoor venture would be focused primarily on the fitness market for high-performance pickleball players, while also reserving some space for events and lounging. The Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the plans, which are currently estimated to cost $700k for the renovation.

The Best of the Rest:

• The City of Springfield, OH has completed and reopened their conversion efforts, turning three tennis courts into eight pickleball courts (still has three tennis courts remaining). The project cost approx. $400k, and consisted largely of resurfacing, rather than a new build.

• The City of Placerville, CA, has approved a $340k budget to construct four new pickleball courts, alongside the resurfacing of two existing tennis courts.

• City of Adrian, MI has opened six pickleball courts at Heritage Park. The initial proposal estimated the construction of the new courts to run for $118k.

• The City of San Francisco is opening three free courts within the Palace of Fine Arts (great location), as they see it as a great way to bring entertainment and community to their residents. Nothing super fancy, but love to see these initiatives to utilize unused space!

• The City of Searcy, AK is cutting the ribbon on eight new pickleball courts and six tennis courts at Berryhill Park this Friday.

• The City of San Luis Obispo, CA has approved the final plans for a new 11-acre park, which will include tennis courts, soccer fields, bike tracks, and, of course, eight new pickleball courts. Estimated budget is still TBD, but will surely attract demand as local residents have cited long wait times at other public courts. The local SLO Pickleball Club currently operates runs three courts and has about 300 members paying ~$30/mo.