Afterpay’s Post

Pickleball is making waves—fast. With a market projected to hit $4.4B by 2033, the sport’s not just growing—it’s exploding. From 50% participation growth in the U.S. to 25,000 new courts needed, this isn’t a game, it’s a movement. 📈 Check out where the numbers are soaring and why pickleball is here to stay. #pickleball #sportsbusiness #marketgrowth

When combined with Padel you get an industry valuation exceeding $5B. The future is bright.

We often forget we are in business as stakeholders and club governors. We may hear the racquet or golf department head wanting more hours for their staff on the courts or course. But what we really should be measuring is the footfall into the club's front door, the club's restaurant, and the club's retail outlets. You may not be able to monetize pickleball or padel that easily for your racquets staff, but is that a concern for us as member-owners? No, the concern should be how do we improve footfall, add to membership initiations and annual dues, and revenue streams from other club outlets. #clubmanagement #governance #operations #retail #clubleadership #managementconsultancy #privatemembersclub #privatemembersclubs #foodandbeverage #golf #tennis #padel #pickleball #clubgovernance #membership #clubbusiness #privateclub

Racquet sports are booming these days. Currently, the total racquet sports industry is worth over $9B according to RacquetX, an all-racquet-sports festival. And that’s not including money spent building new courts, upgrading existing ones, sponsoring celebrity players, and tournament prize money. In case you don’t know, a racquet-based sport is any game where players use a racket or paddle to hit a ball or other object. This includes popular sports such as: • Tennis • Padel • Pickleball • Table Tennis aka Ping Pong • Badminton • Squash • Racquetball Racquet sports are some of the oldest sports out there. Some have been around since the 1500s, but we’ve only started to see this explosion in recent years. In the 1800s, galvanized rubber and improved manufacturing techniques came about, which were tipping points for the industry. A game similar to modern-day tennis and squash emerged from this innovation. The first Wimbledon game was then played in 1877 and table tennis was born around this time also. Pickleball and padel started to become popular around the 1960s. Over time, individuals and businesses started to see how big of an opportunity these sports were and constructed leagues, tournaments, and courts globally. All of this transformed into the racquet industry as we know it today. Here are some additional stats and facts about the growth of these sports: • Despite being worth $9B, the racquet sports market is forecasted to grow over $500M between 2016 and 2026 • Tennis, pickleball, and padel are the three most popular racquet-based sports • There are over 87M tennis players across the world • There are over 36M pickleball players throughout the US • There are over 25M padel players across 90 countries When you look at where these sports have come from and the upside, there’s still a lot of opportunity left. Technology is playing a massive role in the racquet sports boom and is expected to propel it to an $80B industry by 2032 across all sports. This is why we’re diving into some of the top startups around these sports and how they are using technology to revolutionize this industry. #sportstech #sportsbusiness #linkedinsports https://lnkd.in/dHbvPzje

Over 700 former Toys R Us stores in the U.S. have been backfilled by retailers or repurposed for other uses since the toy retailer’s 2017 #bankruptcy But the #adaptivereuse of Toys R Us sites is not limited to the U.S. — it is also happening across the pond Just last week a 43K sf former Toys R Us store in Gloucester, UK was repurposed by The Padel Club as an indoor center for #Padel, one of the fastest growing sports in the UK In the U.S., though, hundreds of #BigBox buildings are instead being repurposed for #Pickleball by franchisors including Ace Pickleball Club, The Picklr, Dill Dinkers , Pickleball Kingdom and even athletic club operator Life Time Inc. Is Padel likely to be the next major sport conversion of U.S. Big Box space? If so it may need to rely on the 2024 edition of Big Box store closures from the recent bankruptcies of Conn's HomePlus and Big Lots ⬇

Racquet sports are booming these days. Currently, the total racquet sports industry is worth over $9B according to RacquetX, an all-racquet-sports festival. And that’s not including money spent building new courts, upgrading existing ones, sponsoring celebrity players, and tournament prize money. In case you don’t know, a racquet-based sport is any game where players use a racket or paddle to hit a ball or other object. This includes popular sports such as: • Tennis • Padel • Pickleball • Table Tennis aka Ping Pong • Badminton • Squash • Racquetball Racquet sports are some of the oldest sports out there. Some have been around since the 1500s, but we’ve only started to see this explosion in recent years. In the 1800s, galvanized rubber and improved manufacturing techniques came about, which were tipping points for the industry. A game similar to modern-day tennis and squash emerged from this innovation. The first Wimbledon game was then played in 1877 and table tennis was born around this time also. Pickleball and padel started to become popular around the 1960s. Over time, individuals and businesses started to see how big of an opportunity these sports were and constructed leagues, tournaments, and courts globally. All of this transformed into the racquet industry as we know it today. Here are some additional stats and facts about the growth of these sports: • Despite being worth $9B, the racquet sports market is forecasted to grow over $500M between 2016 and 2026 • Tennis, pickleball, and padel are the three most popular racquet-based sports • There are over 87M tennis players across the world • There are over 36M pickleball players throughout the US • There are over 25M padel players across 90 countries When you look at where these sports have come from and the upside, there’s still a lot of opportunity left. Technology is playing a massive role in the racquet sports boom and is expected to propel it to an $80B industry by 2032 across all sports. This is why we’re diving into some of the top startups around these sports and how they are using technology to revolutionize this industry. https://lnkd.in/eCRzdPHU

You Ask, We Listen: B2B Skateboard Industry Discussion 🛹 Dear Skateboard Brands and B2B Professionals, As a leading skateboard manufacturer, we've noticed a gap in online discussions and resources specific to our industry. To better serve you and collectively advance our field, we're launching a survey to understand your needs and concerns about skateboard supply chains, production technology, quality control, and more. 📝 Survey Topic: B2B Skateboard Brand Discussion We're eager to hear from you about the following areas: 1️⃣Supply Chain Management: Have you encountered specific issues? Do you have suggestions for improvement? 2️⃣ Product Quality and Innovation: What are your primary concerns? 3️⃣ Cost Control: What challenges do you face or need assistance with? 4️⃣ Market Trends and Consumer Preferences: What should we be aware of? 5️⃣ Environmental Sustainability: What measures should suppliers take? Your feedback is invaluable and will directly influence our future production and service directions. Please leave a comment below or contact us directly through private message. 🎁 Leave a comment with the topic you're most interested in, or like and comment on the topics posted by others. The topic with the most likes by September 30th, 2024, will receive a custom skateboard sample from us! Thank you for your participation and support! Together, let's shape the future of skateboarding. 🌟 #Skateboarding #SupplyChain #ProductQuality #CostControl #MarketTrends #Sustainability #SkateboardIndustry

Wunderfan Launch for Week 1 of the CFB Season was a roaring success 🎉 From Mercedes Benz Stadium to Jordan Hare Stadium, and all the way to Rugby matches in South Africa fans were earning rewards simply by cheering for their favorite team. However, as most of us know, not everything with an initial product launch is all sunshine & rainbows. Users had some extremely raw + insightful feedback. The goods news is that we heard it all! Going into week 2, we've made the following updates to the app: - Drastically reduced friction with the onboarding experience. Now when users download the app, they'll simply need to create a password and can start earning ASAP. No more fancy wallet creation 📈 - For those fans that maybe are, let's say "reluctantly" attending the sporting event..not to worry. We've partnered with Lululemon & Athleta adding cash vouchers to our WunderShop 🤑 - For those UX sticklers, we're changing up some of the icons & motions to better match our "brand". Apologies to our sibling app Wunderpar for the icon theft 😜 - Finally, as Mark Dantonio once said, "It's not over, it'll never be over, and we're only getting started" - So yes, battery optimization is our highest priority each and every day 🔋 That's it for now. We have some exciting features on the roadmap + media & university partnerships we'll be announcing soon - but it's back to the grindstone for me to solidify those deals. If you haven't yet downloaded the app, please do. Just search, Wunderfan in the App Store. Reach out to me directly with any stadium/venue you'd like added and I'll get the Ops team right on that. Ticket raffles & rewards we'll have to wait a bit 😎

- The King is dead. Long live the King! A common expression throughout history and in those countries that still have a monarchy 🚲 I'm using it here to talk about the Wiggle situation - Wiggle went into administration and was bought out by the Frasers Group, so although the original 'king' is dead, the new 'king' will continue, albeit under different owners 🚴♂️ Frasers Group also owns Evans Cycles and the Sports Direct retail chain in the UK and has ambitions (according to a quote in the article) to become "the no.1 sporting goods retailer in Europe" - I'm not sure if they've heard of a French company called Decathlon, there just might be some competition there! - Anyway, they are ambitious, they want to successful and are aiming high, which are good things, right? Well, as with almost every aspect of life nowadays, it depends on your perspective! Many sports fans (cyclists and fans of Newcastle United football club) look down on the business model favoured by Mike Ashley (former CEO and director and founder of Frasers Group), seeing it as basically following a strategy which consists of high-volume of sales of lower-quality products 🚴♂️ Maybe the new version of Wiggle will not be the best place to pick up a new Pinarello or Colnago, and the new workers there will not have the same in-depth bike knowledge as before - but is that such a bad thing? - Do we want the bicycle to become a part of the everday life of more and more people or not? Maybe to make that happen we have to adapt and go where the customer is, rather than expecting the customer to adapt and change for us 🚴♂️ I reckon most people want to buy a decent, working bike that's in good condition, at an affordable price. If you want to buy and obsess over the new $10,000+ superbike, then that's okay, I'm happy for you. But to take that obsession industry-wide and apply it to new entrants to the activity will only serve to alienate those people who are looking for something serviceable - What do you think? Will this Wiggle takeover mean more people take up cycling, or will it just mean more inferior products? DM or let us know in the comments below #cycling #businessenglishcoach #eslteacher ================================================ I'm a Business English coach and Bike fan. I often post on both topics, follow or connect if you want updates. DM to find out how my BeSpoke Business English courses can get you results fast https://lnkd.in/d3_YNU5X

Wunderfan Launch for Week 1 of the CFB Season was a roaring success 🎉 From Mercedes Benz Stadium to Jordan Hare Stadium, and all the way to Rugby matches in South Africa fans were earning rewards simply by cheering for their favorite team. However, as most of us know, not everything with an initial product launch is all sunshine & rainbows. Users had some extremely raw + insightful feedback. The goods news is that we heard it all! Going into week 2, we've made the following updates to the app: - Drastically reduced friction with the onboarding experience. Now when users download the app, they'll simply need to create a password and can start earning ASAP. No more fancy wallet creation 📈 - For those fans that maybe are, let's say "reluctantly" attending the sporting event..not to worry. We've partnered with Lululemon & Athleta adding cash vouchers to our WunderShop 🤑 - For those UX sticklers, we're changing up some of the icons & motions to better match our "brand". Apologies to our sibling app Wunderpar for the icon theft 😜 - Finally, as Mark Dantonio once said, "It's not over, it'll never be over, and we're only getting started" - So yes, battery optimization is our highest priority each and every day 🔋 That's it for now. We have some exciting features on the roadmap + media & university partnerships we'll be announcing soon - but it's back to the grindstone for me to solidify those deals. If you haven't yet downloaded the app, please do. Just search, "Wunderfan" in the App Store. Reach out to me directly with any stadium/venue you'd like added and I'll get the Ops team right on that. Ticket raffles & rewards we'll have to wait a bit 😎