Playing For A Cause

The Quick Points

🎟️ W-2 is the new 0-0-2. Lots of opportunities to help out that friend who is continually saying “I really want to work in pickleball full time”. The PPA (hey nice website refresh) is on a hiring tear looking for a Director of Marketing, General Manager, and more. DUPR/MLP are looking for an events director to build their collegiate presence out, reach out directly to Ben. The APP knows amateurs are hungry for a higher quality tournament experience and is hiring a Director of Recreation to build a national 3.0-5.0 amateur league.

🏈 Brooklyn beefs up. Drake, Michael B. Jordan, and a slew of others (shoutout Darius + Jessie of ATX) are now part owners of the MLP team, the Brooklyn Aces. See original co-owner Rich Kleiman on the Squawk Box this morning. Pickleball is the sexy thing to be a part of these days and these two certainly fit the bill. We are one verse and one photoshoot away from even more insane cultural awareness of the sport.

MLP and their respective teams have done an A+ job of bringing stars around the sport. But to date, most of the teams have done a C+ job integrating those stars into the sport. The stars and their management teams could be helping behind closed doors with connections and creative perspectives. The team owners and their players are only going to succeed over the long term if pro pickleball is a thing. And for pro pickleball to a be thing you need consistent and growing viewership. A critical mass of people already know and play the sport. It’s time to convert those into more true fans. A few simple low-hanging fruit ideas.

• Attend MLP events in-person (shout out Drew Brees)

  • Or at least tweet about it

  • Or get into the booth with MLP commentators

• Share candid takes from celebrities that had their mind changed on the sport. Had misunderstood it until they played it, now they’re hooked.

• Host a charity tournament

• Do video content with their team’s players getting schooled lessons

Also random aside + Drew Brees…John McEnroe is playing against Drew Brees in the NOLA Pickle Fest (Brees’ charity tourney in August)…for a guy that bashes the sport (McEnroe), he’s really giving us Squidward energy with all the exhibition court time he’s getting…must be a tough economy.

☕️ Dunkin’ gets Dinkin’. Continuing on our coverage and validation of the thesis that every retailer will eventually make a foray into the pickleball market in order to capture a slice of the hype and stay relevant - the latest everyday brand is Dunkin’ releasing a $59 paddle set blazon with their logo. We’ve covered Subway, Walmart, NFL teams, Equinox, Staud, boutique clothing, big-name clothing, and everything in between. Brands see the value in connecting with a highly engaged consumer base of pickleball players, while getting them some on-court marketing. Especially if you’re pairing your offering (coffee) with an activity that takes place in the morning for many people (ask the ATX Pan Am Friday morning crew, who shows up religiously with their coffee & treats).

What’s on our mind

✨ Playing for a cause. We had the chance to speak with the Director of the Boomer Esiason Foundation (charitable organization for Cystic Fibrosis), about their pickleball event held at City Pickle in NYC last week. For an organization that’s heavily involved in physical activity-based events (NYC marathon, surfing events, etc.), they feel that pickleball is a highly unique activity for them to lean into more. So much so, they’re hosting another pickleball event at the end of September in Central Park. Some of the main points from our conversation:

• Charitable donations see higher participation rates and repeat donors when you pair an activity with the act of giving - as opposed to static events like silent auctions.

• Creates the opportunity to cross-sell higher-margin items like food, beverage, and apparel.

• Pickleball enables a much wider audience to participate and engages the players with the cause more directly.

• Corporate sponsors have the opportunity to make an impact with their giving, better connect their employees to the cause, and utilize pickleball events as company off-site / team building exercises.

• Charitable orgs have little problem getting participants and sponsors to sign up for large events - the massive hurdle is the logistics of running a 50/100/300 person tournament smoothly so that everyone has a pleasant experience and wants to play again the next year.

• To scale up these larger tournaments, charitable orgs will need to either in-house a dedicated person / team to organize, or outsource to a team that specializes in running these types of events smoothly.

• Pickleball enables charitable orgs easier access local celebrities and athletic talent to come out and engage with their community for a good cause.

• Expects multiple charities across the country to use pickleball tournaments as their marquee annual event.

Looking at two “larger” pickleball charity events (keep in mind this is before sponsorships, food, bev, retail, spectators, etc.):

1. Kate Amato Foundation (Childhood cancer research)
- Golf + pickleball tournament on Oct. 20th in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
- Pickleball registration cost: $300 per team (~$150 p.p.)
- Raised $30k in first 48 hours of opening (includes both golf & pickleball registrations)

2. Brees Dream Foundation Nola Picklefest 
- Tournament on Aug 10 in New Orleans
- 474 players registered; $90 for initial registration + $25 per event
- Assume everyone plays 1.5 events on avg. = approx. tournament registration revenue = ~$60k

We’re strong believers in the energy and excitement these events can create for charities, and expect more to follow suit in the coming year.

🌊 Mainstream momentum. LinkedIn inspo content…you know it when you see it. And it’s a real bull signal, we’re not joking. You know #pickleball is touching normal everyday folks when they feel compelled to bundle in life lessons or business advice with it.

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:

Fort Wayne is back on the map. Ace Pickleball has sold 10+ franchises to a local Indiana tech entrepreneur and former Skyzone operator, TK Herman. TK has embarked on an ambitious 21-court indoor facility that will be housed in the Spiece Fieldhouse. This transition is proving to be a tough one for basketball fans that have a bundle of childhood memories competing there. We have a bit more empathy for those impacted by these conversions than we do for those who complain about their unused tennis being utilized differently. Spiece is already set up well for tournament infrastructure and the local hotels and restaurants will certainly be happy in the coming months.

Best of the Rest:

• Bowers Harbor Park in Traverse City, MI is getting six new pickleball courts after residents pushed to remove the mixed-use tennis/pickleball lines and provide players with a dedicated facility. The project is estimated at ~$100k.

• Astoria, OR is getting new pickleball courts at Fred Lindstrom Park. Unclear how many they’re building, but the entire project was contracted for $62,650, and will also include some renovations to the existing basketball and tennis courts.

• Coachella (the city not the music festival) has built two pickleball courts as part of a broader sport court complex at Bagdouma Park. We’re a little concerned about the yellow kitchen if you play with some yellow duras 😳