More than 400% growth in just five years. So how did a backyard game become one of the biggest business stories in sports?
This week on Skin In The Game, John Cimperman and Tim O'Shei welcome Rusty Howes, founder of Pickleball Channel, for an inside look at the explosive growth of America's fastest-growing sport.
From producing some of the sport’s earliest media coverage to documenting pickleball’s remarkable growth, Howes gives us the inside story of the game’s popularity and rapid expansion. They talk about private equity, media, professional tours, equipment manufacturers, and the role youth sports play in opening up new opportunities and growing pains for the sport.
The conversation wraps with a look at the future of pickleball and what comes next for an industry centered around a multigenerational model with building community as its north star.
