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Pickleball, Flag, Wrestling and the Sports on the Rise
For decades, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association has been polling Americans about their participation levels in more than 100 sports and activities. The data, released annually in their Topline Participation Report, breaks those numbers down by individual sports and activities, types of sports like water sports, winter sports or racquet sports, and also by gender, age and income levels. The result is an incredibly comprehensive look at who is playing what and what the barriers might be for others based on their gender, age and income levels among other factors. Their latest report, whose research was led by senior director and head of research Alex Kerman — our guest on this episode — is filled with interesting data. [article_sidebar]As far as the headlines go, the great news is that people are moving more. For the first time, the report concluded that over 80 percent of Americans are active in something, which means they participate in one of those sports or activities at least once last year. And what are they playing? Well, once again pickleball is by far the fastest-growing sport, at least by percentage of new people reporting that they play. Pickleball, however, isn’t the only success story. Team sports in general are trending upward, including many that were on the program at the last Olympic Games or that will make their debut at the 2028 Olympic Games, like flag football, which was another winner. In this conversation, we break down the numbers from this fascinating report, talk about why the growth sports are growing and what the next big thing may be in the years to come. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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28:38
Laura Gainor: The Power of Pickleball Marketing
Laura Gainor’s background in pickleball is significant, as she was around the sport in some of its earlier days before it became a national phenomenon. During her time in marketing at USA Pickleball, she witnessed first-hand how the sport was taking off. Today, of course, the numbers speak for themselves. In last year’s Topline Participation Report produced by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, the group’s researchers reported that pickleball grew 58 percent in participation in the previous year. And over the past three years, that participation has grown by some 223 percent. As a result, brands are looking to get involved with the sport any way they can and event organizers are searching for ways to activate a pickleball experience around their events as well. And development is coming in, too. Entire communities around the country are being planned with pickleball courts in mind to allow people more access to play. Gainor saw the writing on the wall for all these trends and launched Pickleball in the Sun as a way to help brands, event organizers and others navigate the fast-evolving world of pickleball. In this conversation, we discuss how those brands look different today, what you should know about including pickleball as a component of your event, where the sport is going and what, if anything, may slow its momentum.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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29:38
Travis Murphy: The Need for Sports Diplomacy
Travis Murphy’s work background is a fascinating one, and one that you may not realize is a key component of the sports industry behind the scenes. Before starting his company Jetr Global Sport + Entertainment, he previously served as the senior director of international government affairs for the National Basketball Association. In that role, he helped thousands of NBA, WNBA, 2K, G League, and Basketball Africa League teams, players, staff and their families navigate the complicated world of global travel. He also managed the NBA’s relationships with the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, and other government institutions, working with those government partners to create sustainable basketball initiatives both domestically and abroad. In that regard, he also played a key role in the release of Brittney Griner from her detainment in Russia in 2022. Murphy has extensive international experience, having served as a diplomat in the United States Foreign Service, working at embassies in Ecuador, Suriname and Cote d’Ivoire to name a few. And he also served in Washington, D.C., in the Sports Diplomacy Division of the Department of State. All of that background puts him in a unique position to advocate for policy changes in Washington around issues of immigration that stand to have large impacts on some of the largest events headed to the United States. In just one area — but one with outsized importance — the issue of wait times for visitors to get an appointment for a visa to visit the United States is raising some serious alarms. In Colombia, for example, there is nearly a two-year wait time to get one of those appointments, meaning if you are a traveler hoping to watch the Colombian team at the 2026 World Cup, you’re already too late. In this conversation, we talk about why those waits are so long in so many countries around the world and what our industry can be doing to help reduce those times. We also talk about the impact a new administration in Washington will have on the ability for spectators to easily come for international events and how the broader national discussion on immigration policy in general could impact that ability as well. It’s a deep dive into some serious but important topics that will have lasting implications on the willingness of event organizers overseas to consider the United States as a host to their events in the years to come.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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37:40
Sports-Event Industry Trends in 2025
The team at SportsTravel has racked up thousands of miles this past year in the name of sports-related travel, attending sporting events at all levels from youth tournaments to the Olympic Games and the Super Bowl. Along the way, we’ve assembled some observations of those events and the logistics behind them. In this conversation, Executive Editor and Publisher Jason Gewirtz, Managing Editor Matt Traub and Associate Editor Justin Shaw recap some of what stood out to them and stories in the industry that resonated as well. And they’ll take out the crystal ball for some thoughts on trends they’re watching in 2025, events they’re looking forward to as well as some bold predictions for the industry and some teams they think might win it all in the year ahead. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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34:19
Leonard Hoops and Patrick Talty: Reviewing Indianapolis' Successful 2024 and Future Major Events Ahead
At this year’s TEAMS Conference, Indianapolis was announced as the winner of Best Host City at the SportsTravel Awards. Since July of 2023, Indianapolis has hosted events that total an estimated $500 million in economic impact, including the 2023 Big Ten Football Championship, the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend, the 2024 NFL Combine, 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball First and Second Rounds, and the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming. And there’s plenty more still to come the rest of this year and in the future. Leonard Hoops and Patrick Talty join the podcast to discuss the Big Ten Conference, look back at some of 2023’s biggest events and look ahead to 2025 while also talking about how Visit Indy and the Indiana Sports Corp work together on events. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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33:05