Pickleball Draws Big Money
Did you know pickleball is currently the fastest-growing sport in America? As more and more players become interested in the game, pickleball is quickly becoming a big business. You may even have noticed a large number of new pickleball courts in your own neighborhood.
With a silly-looking racket and an even goofier name, the game's founders were met with quite a bit of skepticism. They were often laughed out of meetings when looking for funding from early investors.
Now, pickleball has become a household name, and most people have at least seen the game or tried it for themselves. This cross between tennis, badminton, and table tennis is now attracting significant interest and financial investments as it soars in popularity. While initially considered a game you might see at a Florida retirement home…
Investor Growth
Eight years ago, the first pickleball paddle-making company was formed. Just recently, they launched a partnership with Costco (making Costco one of the most accessible places to purchase a pickleball racket).
Financially, the industry continues to boom as expansion grows across the country. Major broadcast networks such as CBS, Fox Sports, and the Tennis Channel now air pickleball matches. Shoemakers like Skechers have also begun signing athletes to represent their brands.
Co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks Marc Larry and Tom Dundon, owner of the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team, are just some of the newest investors who have purchased professional pickleball teams. Larry said, "I think you're all going to be very shocked by where pickleball is in five years."
Pickleball made headlines last week when sports legends Tom Brady AND Lebron James both became owners of pickleball teams. With huge names like that involved, this will only fuel further growth.
The Who's Who of Pickleball
And what about the players themselves? Pickleball continues to get a boost, as celebrities like Ellen Degeneres, Leonardo Dicaprio, Andre Agassi, the Kardashians, and many others openly post about their love for pickleball.
Right now, it's estimated about 65% of pickleball players are men. But women are joining the game at an increasingly high rate. Some of the early founders credit the effects of the pandemic as fueling some of the initial growth. With people stuck inside, we were all looking for new ways to kill time.
What it Means: Pickleball has exploded over the last few years. So many tennis players have complained about how difficult it can be to find a court to play on. You can expect more dollars to flow into the sport as the game garners new interest. We've already seen significant TV deals, and tons of celebrities are looking to acquire their teams. It'll be interesting to see what the sport looks like in five to ten years.
Delta Invests in Flying Taxis
Delta is betting big on flying taxi rides to and from airports. They announced a $60 million investment in Joby Aviation this week while planning to offer services in New York to Los Angeles. Delta will now be 2% owners of Joby, which Uber also backs.
When announcing the new deal, Delta's CEO noted he believes there are more sustainable ways to get to and from these popular airports without sitting in traffic for one to two hours. While these new services are being launched exclusively in LA and NYC, the plan will expand into other markets, especially those with busy airport hubs.
Joby expects to begin offering flying taxi services beginning in 2024.
What it Means: Delta and Joby Aviation want to make it easier for you to get to and from the airport. They have big ideas for revolutionizing how we travel without explaining their plans. Building out their networks will be a challenge, but this has the opportunity to be one of the most significant disruptors to the airline industry in years.
AI Bots in the NFT Space
CoinShares, a digital asset management platform, just rolled out a bot that will be used to identify the actual value of NFTs. CoinShares hopes traders will utilize artificial intelligence to help determine an asset's expected value.
Pricing NFTs is no easy task. They said their bots run an algorithm weekly to calculate the prices of "the freshest collections" and use that data to estimate. NFTs remain highly volatile, and millions of options are on the market. Don't forget NFTs are still a brand-new asset class, so there's no historical data associated with them.
What it Means: NFTs are still very new, and there's not much data on their price and value. As crypto continues to expand, we will see many new services offered within the industry. CoinShares looks to utilize AI as a way to calculate the actual value of an NFT. They claim their tools will allow a trader to use complex equations and the best data available to provide you with price estimates.