Rec Play Meltdown & PickleCon Takes Over | Kelsey Thompson w/ PickleCon

Speaker 2 (00:00)
It means your paddle doesn't feel like you grabbed a wet fish, which is always bad. This is Big Dink Energy, the pickleball podcast that's half insight, half nonsense, and all entertainment. If you love pickleball, don't take yourself too seriously and think a little trash talk makes the game better. Welcome home. This is the place where life and pickleball intersect. We celebrate the chaos, call out the nonsense, and put the fun back in dysfunction. You're either in or you're out.

And if you're still listening, you're in. So let's go. Big Dink Energy starts now. Like Uncle Ted told you, we've got you in a stranglehold, baby. This is the official podcast of Pickleball. Yeah. You guys are giving nothing, absolutely. All right, so we've got a sponsor. We've got a sponsor because we're semi-pro.

Speaker 3 (00:46)
Hahaha

Speaker 1 (00:48)
Hey!

Speaker 4 (00:48)
there was a

Speaker 2 (00:57)
Let me tell you about Dinkin' Dash. I am here to tell you about the greatest app that has ever launched ever. It's a pickleball app, but it's not a stats app. It's built for people who play for the fun of it. Who care more about the chaos of rec night than the duper rating? That's me. You log your games, tag your pickle pals, earn badges, stack dinks, and keep the memories you'd otherwise forget. It's free. That's F-R-E-E, free. No ads, no upsells, no weird pop-ups.

If you play pickleball and you've ever said, wait, who did I play with last week or where did I play with last week? This is for you. Search Dink and Dash in the App Store or Google Play. Go do it now. Pull over your car, if you're listening in your car, search Dink and Dash in the App Store or Google Play and download it now. Now listen, listen up. We have had some controversy. We have some controversy in the big Dink energy world.

Speaker 3 (01:48)
Yes, we

Speaker 2 (01:54)
First we had viral controversy and then we had micro controversy at our own little level here. ⁓ Let's just say it was a social media post that we made. We're ⁓ not going to tell you which one it was. It wasn't the one with the cat in the driver's seat, I'll tell you that. And it did not, it went well as far as I'm concerned.

Speaker 3 (02:13)
I mean the whole thing is you there's open play is so much fun. Okay, but then you can have one person that ruins it Yeah, okay, and that's what my post was about

Speaker 2 (02:23)
That's right. You're swimming in a pool with a bunch of people and then you poop in the pool. That ruins it for people.

Speaker 3 (02:27)
My post was about that. It was basically how I was treated. It was a video of me playing with a person and I didn't say his name mostly because I didn't know it at the time and it's just basically showing his behavior and like

Speaker 2 (02:43)
Nobody, I'm gonna just say, nobody was called out in the video. Nobody was said this, suck. Nobody was said, don't play with this guy ever again. It was literally you just saying, this is unacceptable behavior for rec play, for pickleball, for the sport that we love.

Speaker 3 (02:58)
And I have since been asked what my intention was with posting that. And my intention was to call out poor behavior. And I feel like we call out poor behavior in every other aspect of people's life on social media. Absolutely. You know, somebody can't stand in line at, you know, the grocery store and say something and somebody doesn't call them out. Right. So I didn't do it rude, you know, rudely. ⁓ pretty much just, you know, said

do you see how he's treating me? And I couldn't believe like somebody would do that. It did get, I don't know, 50,000, 60,000. I don't know what it is at now. I did turn off the comments, but the thing is, the comments were 99 % on our side.

Speaker 2 (03:38)
And if you would have seen the comments, I just want to.

Right supportive like like yeah, that's poor behavior not like that guy's a jerk or anything like that. That's just a that is poor

Speaker 3 (03:50)
That's poor behavior. A lot of people had said, you know, there were some in there saying that they'd experienced that with him as well. That's neither here nor there. But everybody else was pretty much like, yeah, I've been with somebody that was like that. I was treated like that. This isn't how we're supposed to be. You know, a lot of people, you know, got in there and said, we need to make sure this stops. And that was my whole intent. That was my point was bringing this to light. Like, you do not get to act like this and expect to not get...

Blasted. I don't think that that's fair. Yeah

Speaker 2 (04:23)
And to be clear also, you're not out there running your camera so you can hold people accountable. You're running your camera so you can improve yourself.

Speaker 3 (04:31)
Right, I always have my camera on and I've been told I can videotape. I always ask when I play with other people, do you mind if I videotape? And I've had several people say, you know, I'd prefer not. And I say, okay, not a problem.

Speaker 2 (04:43)
This guy agreed to it in his own little way.

Speaker 3 (04:45)
He didn't agree, disagree, say hi, nothing. So the camera was there and it's like, you know, that was your behavior on camera.

Speaker 4 (04:54)
Knowing that he was being recorded, he chose that behavior.

Speaker 3 (04:57)
And one of the things that I thought was funny, and this was a comparable I kind of made, was, you know, all the ring camera stuff people put out, like people being weird at their ring doorbell, you know, and people will put that out. And I don't ever see people like, well, maybe he had a bad day or maybe he's not a weirdo. No, people blast it because it's weird and it's rude behavior. And that's all I was doing. Just because it wasn't a ring doorbell doesn't make it any different. I was saying, here's a behavior. It sucked.

I've, it made me feel horrible. Like, I'm like, who does that? And if I was a brand new player, I would have been like, I don't ever want to be here again. Exactly. Right. And so that's why I posted it. So yes, some backlash, some not backlash, but one of the things I thought was great was an article that was actually posted today by at that pickleball gal. Yep. She wrote a sub stack and she's, she goes by the accidental pickleballer.

Speaker 4 (05:34)
and so

Speaker 2 (05:35)
fun.

Go find her at that pickleball.

Speaker 3 (05:54)
And that's cute. Her sub stack title for this article was called Don't Be a Dick. D-I-C-K acronym. I loved it because it was D, don't ice out your player or your partner. I, inappropriate outbursts, like stop doing that. Right. C, don't be the coaching mid game person. And K, kill the negativity, keep the encouragement. And I thought it was such a great article.

Speaker 2 (05:56)
So do I.

Speaker 4 (05:57)
That's really cool.

Speaker 3 (06:24)
And she had mentioned that she wrote it based off my post. And then, you know, she talked about Pickleball Silas in there. She talked about Pickleball Nikki in there. All people who are out there trying to build this game. And it just kind of pissed me off that people missed the forest for the trees. They're like, why'd you put his face out there? I'm like, why'd he put his behavior out there? That's where I felt like, are you serious? And that was only, like I said, that was only like four or five people out of the

Speaker 4 (06:44)
The blame.

The blame is on the wrong person in this.

Speaker 3 (06:53)
400 comments. for the sake of not having it go on any further and just keep going, I turned off the comments. But I do not feel bad about what I did. I do not take it back. I turned off the comments so it didn't continue to, I don't know, make this person feel bad or because of the venue that it was at, I didn't want them getting backlash for it. But as for me and my house, I stand on my ground for sure.

Speaker 2 (07:20)
You know, and it really rubbed me the wrong way because, you know, for y'all that know, I've led troops. I've been in the military. I've led troops. I've been in war. I've led troops in war. I've led people in war. I've been in law enforcement, still am, led SWAT teams, and I've worked for major Fortune 100 companies. And the thing that always rubbed me the wrong way is that's just the way they are. No, no, no, no, no.

You to be just the, if someone has to say that's just the way you are, they're excusing your poor behavior, not keeping you to a standard that everybody else has to hold. Everybody else has to have a certain standard. I'm not gonna dismiss your poor behavior, but oh, that's just the way he is. No, that's, you're a jerk is what you are. You're an a-hole is what you are. And everybody is tiptoeing around you. don't, I mean.

There was some talk, I'm not gonna get into it, but that's just the way he is. Now, don't play with me, buddy, I'll tell you that much. Don't play with me, because I'm gonna hold you accountable and hold you up to a standard of this is rec play and this is fun. And if you're not here to have fun and you're just gonna have a sour face, look like you were baptized in vinegar when you're playing, don't play with me.

Speaker 3 (08:24)
And

the other thought behind it was, and you know, I'm not like a huge feminist or anything like that, but I'm like, I wonder if a guy called him on the carpet, would it have been as bad? No, no. You know, it's like, was it because I was, it was me? 100%. You know, and then, you know, there were people out there saying like, well, you weren't trying to talk to him. I'm like, that was a 25 minute video. So, I mean, there was times where I tried to like push and do the, I mean, obviously.

Speaker 4 (08:44)
that you put into a social media clip.

There's so many attempts that you're gonna make. And it wasn't just him icing you out. It was the blatant disrespect of, go get the ball. Huge disrespect. That was just disgusting.

Speaker 3 (09:04)
I would do that to somebody. I would never tap my paddle and throw the ball at them and have them fetch it like Fido. And I was frustrated with it and I was pissed. And so I put it out on social media. Like, why can't I do that? Everybody else does that.

Speaker 4 (09:11)
But that's how he treated you.

You have every right to, just like you put everything out there that's positive. You put so much out there that we're laughing and having a good time.

Speaker 3 (09:29)
Literally the only post I think I've ever made that where it was kind of like this sucks

Speaker 4 (09:33)
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:34)
And it did. You were made to feel bad. That's like saying, you know, she got raped because you saw how she was dressed.

Speaker 3 (09:37)
And I was like, yeah.

Speaker 4 (09:41)
Exactly.

Speaker 3 (09:42)
That's not fair.

Speaker 2 (09:43)
Now, and I'll just put this out there right now, no animosity towards the dude. I don't know you, I don't know your name or anything like that, but if you ever want to come on the podcast, I'd love to have you, love to talk to you about it. And you know what? your side of the story for sure. mean, make you a fan or at least try to understand you a little bit better.

Speaker 3 (10:00)
And

even if he would have reached out and been like, you know, I really didn't like that you posted that of me. You know, I had about I would have taken that stuff down. I would have talked to him. I would have apologized. I would have said, no problem. I'm I don't hold grudges. Right. You know, but the thing is, is it's like I did get people around my current area messaging me. So I know he did see it, which was not my intent, really, because I don't we don't really have a whole lot of followers that are local. But, you know, so I'm like, I know he saw it. And if he would have said something.

Speaker 4 (10:25)
Exactly.

Speaker 3 (10:29)
reached out like, I'm truly sorry and I didn't mean to be like that. Whatever, like, let's do, let's do over. Mulligan.

Speaker 4 (10:37)
There's a difference between having a bad day and being just completely disrespectful and those were two different things and if you're having that bad of a day where you're gonna go into a public space with all of these other people and treat people that way, you need to stay home and you need to take a nap and you need to have a Snickers. Like it's time to do a reset buddy. Don't come out into the public and treat people like garbage because you're having a bad day. That's not a-

Speaker 3 (11:03)
Or it's like open play is social play. Exactly. That's what, I mean, I wish we would name it social play because especially the ones like we were at, it was a open play, all levels. Like if I would have been in the four five and got partnered with him, I could understand him being like, seriously, come on. But it wasn't. It was an all open play, all levels. I was by far not the worst person there. No, not at all. I could only imagine a newbie, you know, and it was just...

The part that you didn't see is when we took our paddles and I was walking over to the thing, he had kind of thrown his head back like, ugh, here we go. And so that's where it kind of started. I was like, okay, you know, whatever. But then it just slowly got worse and I was like, you know what, whatever, I'm over it. I had a great rest of the time because we had a friend that was visiting and playing for the first time and everybody else I played with was amazing. So I hate to make it all about him, but...

The rest of the time was great and, you I'm over it now, but I just had to that one.

Speaker 4 (12:05)
When one person is so negative to you can definitely put you in a different head space. For sure. And it can ruin your time. And like you said earlier, if he had been with the girl that came to play with us, if he had been with her and that was her first experience with playing pickleball.

Speaker 3 (12:21)
We were like, it's so much fun, you need to come to Openplay, it's the best.

Speaker 4 (12:24)
Talked it up and talked it up and talked it up and then if she were to have been partnered with him if I had ever been part I would never come back I'm done

Speaker 2 (12:32)
Yeah,

this is exactly what Pickleball Nikki is doing with the pledge. Keep fun in rec play. Keep fun in pickleball.

Speaker 3 (12:40)
And I think we all need to remember that that pickleball gal, like, don't be a DIC kid.

Speaker 4 (12:45)
Thanks for 100%.

Speaker 2 (12:47)
Go

find her at That Pickleball Gal, also by the Accidental Pickleballers, where Substack is. Go find that, shout her out, let her know that you heard it here on the Big Dink Energy Podcast.

Well, a sad day here at the Big Dink Energy podcast for fan mail, because there's nothing in our bag. Why not? Why not? Do you not know where we are? BDEpodcast.com, BDEpodcast.com, BDE on all the socials. Go send us some stuff. I'm sick and tired of you people getting this free podcast and not reaching out to us. Most of you like me anyhow, so send me something.

Speaker 4 (13:07)
Mm.

Speaker 3 (13:23)
Send us a love letter.

Just the two

Speaker 2 (13:33)
Just the tip, quick pickleball wisdom in and out before you know it. This one comes from my buddy, Randy Pickleball. Randy Pickleball out there, shout out to you. Change your over grip more often. Change your over grip more often. If you're wondering what that means, well, a fresh over grip gives you better control, more spin. It means your paddle doesn't feel like you grabbed a wet fish, which is always bad. Change it every few weeks or when it starts feeling slick or people don't wanna shake your hand anymore.

Speaker 3 (14:01)
Hahaha!

Speaker 1 (14:03)
Just

Speaker 2 (14:09)
It's time for Pickle Pals!

Well, guess what, dear listeners, Picklecon is almost here, July 24th to the 26th in Kansas City. And guess what? Big Dink Energy, we will be there.

So you may be asking, what is PickleCon? Well, it's kind of like Comic Con, but maybe less costumes, but definitely more superheroes like our guest today. PickleCon is transforming over 400,000 square feet of convention center into pickleball paradise. Over 65 courts, over 100 vendors, tournaments from juniors to seniors, glow in the dark matches, celebrity exhibitions, and bus tours at Kansas City's best pickleball restaurants. And today's PicklePal is organizing all of it. Kelsey, the pickleball director at Triple Crown Sports.

She's here to tell us what's new, what they've changed, and why PickleCon is the gathering place for every corner of the pickleball world. Kelsey, thanks for being on the Big Dink Energy podcast. Yeah, I'll just follow you around all throughout the con, and I'll just be announcing you everywhere you go. Is that okay? Love it, love it. So, okay, let's do the elevator pitch. People are gonna wanna know right away. I mean, there's some people, they've heard of cons before, Comic Con obviously being the biggest one.

Speaker 1 (14:59)
What an intro. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (15:15)
But PickleCon is right up there in the sports world of all the cons you gotta go to. What is PickleCon?

Speaker 1 (15:22)
It is an all-inclusive festival of pickleball. Like you were saying, we have a bunch of courts, we have a bunch of entertainment under one roof for three days. So it's anyone for fans, spectators, players, industry leaders, people just trying to get into the space to celebrate, you know, the joy of pickleball, what we all love. And we add all the fluff and entertainment into it. So you could just come and play unlimited pickleball for three days straight. my gosh. tournaments, you could go in a clinic and get

coached by a pro or a coach in the space. You could do entertainment tours. So a bus comes picks you up from the venue, brings you to the restaurants and bars that have, know, pickleball courts. You could drink, you could have fun. You could meet new people. Last year we had 37 states represented. So this is where you could literally meet anyone, get in good games, have some fun. And then we add in, know, puppy yoga, ⁓ pro celebrity showdowns. We have hourly programming on championship court. got

you know, you guys doing the dancing on Booty on the floor, yeah. Which is gonna be so fun. And so we're just adding so much entertainment under one roof for three days in about 275,000 square feet. So it's a one of a kind event you don't wanna miss. Wow.

Speaker 2 (16:36)
Yeah, I mean so much packed in there. It's probably going to be one of those things where you're like, I wish I had a chance to do that, but you're going to have the triage, all the fun that you're going to have there and there's going to be something for everybody. We're certainly looking forward to it, obviously. But I want to talk about Triple Crown a little bit too, because they're doing this. How did Triple Crown, you know basketball and stuff like that was their forte, how did they get into pickleball?

Speaker 1 (16:58)
Yeah, so actually slow pitch is what we started in. So Triple Crown Sports is obviously the company behind PickleCon. We've been around for over 40 years in different sports. So we're there on the youth level with baseball, softball, volleyball. We get into college basketball. So we're really a sports event organization. We also do things outside of sports as well. But we only got into the pickleball space about three years ago. And what I tell people is like, we're still learning the pickleball space. And obviously,

we're so involved with the sports, but we're also new to the convention side of things. So we don't like to say we're a convention, we are a festival, but we do have Vendor Village and we do have partners and sponsors that we work with that we want to make sure they feel included as well. And so it's really good kind of having Triple Crown as the one hosting this just because we've done this for so long and just having, you know, a full network of people to work with to make this about what it is, it's really great.

Speaker 2 (17:54)
I love that characterization of it's a festival. know, it's not just something you're gonna go and you're gonna hear polka music or something like that. This is a place to celebrate a sport that we all love. And when you put it in the atmosphere of festival, that really, really sells what this truly is and what people can expect. And talking about that, so...

You've done this for a couple years and it's going to be bigger than ever. You mentioned that there were 37 states, over 2,000 people there. So what's 2026 look like? What is, you guys got some projections already?

Speaker 1 (18:26)
Yeah, so we are ahead of pace on registrations. We went on sale three months earlier than we usually do. You know, our marketing campaigns have changed. We've listened to the players, to the people that have been there the past two years, to our partners. We're making those adjustments to the programming because we understand that people are making investment to come. People are traveling. People want to make this an experience and we want to make that for them. So we've done everything from, you know, in the past we held daily panel discussions.

This year we're doing daily networking events instead for our partners. They really want that connection. They want to turn that investment into something else, which we totally understand. We are bringing in bigger tournament providers. So US Senior Pickleball will be there. Minor League will be back. ⁓ National Junior Pickleball will be holding an adaptive tournament as well. we're hitting all the areas to make sure that everyone could be involved in this event.

Speaker 2 (19:17)
So you guys, last year I think was August and then you're doing July this year. Is that more weather related or just it feels like it's a better fit?

Speaker 1 (19:26)
Yeah, we actually heard feedback from a couple people that August is just a little too close to school and people wanted to bring their families. They want to make it a full full outing. like, you know, parents bring their kids, bring grandma, grandpa. As we all know, like pickleball is literally for everyone. And so just bumping it up a few weeks, you know, in the midst of summer where people are really doing their traveling and trying to get vacations in there. This we think is the time to do it.

Speaker 2 (19:50)
Yeah, that seems like a good idea because people do plan their travel around different events like that. I can imagine people are now planning their travel around PickleCon. Why wouldn't you? mean, pickleball is just one of those sports that's so easy to love. And we hear so many stories here on the podcast about, you know, I just tried it one day. And then the next thing you know, you've got a hundred dollar paddle, you've got the pickleball shoes, and you've joined a league or two and you've been in a tournament, you know, after a couple of days, it seems like.

And so I can just imagine the atmosphere is just gonna be this fun carnival, like festival thing that's just surrounded by the thing we love, pickleball. Was there any like piece of feedback that was like, my gosh, we didn't even think about that, where you're like, wow, yeah, we're gonna definitely bring that this year.

Speaker 1 (20:37)
Yeah, I think it's just amplifying the experience. And that's what we talk a lot about with Triple Crown Sports is we don't love to call these events, we want to call it an experience. We want people walking away saying, I want to come back. I'm already booking my flights for next year. And so this year we're really focusing on adding all that entertainment, all that fluff. And just, like you said, listening to that feedback. So what I was saying before, we moved those panel discussions out. They weren't in the best part of the layout. And so we think doing

networking events will really bring people together. Whether it's, you know, you're a new brand that's just trying to get in the space, whether you're a veteran and you're just trying to continue to showcase your product. We're just making those small changes. Even things like in the past, we haven't had music going all day long. Like when you go to a festival, that's what you're hearing. Yeah. So like small things like that, like continue that, glow in the dark pickleball, adding it for another night, just because that has been a huge hit.

I think those are like the main things that we're really focusing on is just making sure people really feel that vibe from the morning, you know, they walk in at 8 a.m. to when they're leaving at 8 p.m., 9 p.m. at night. Just wanting to come back that next day rolling out of bed saying, let's do it again.

Speaker 2 (21:49)
Yeah, like Disney for Pickleball, You know, where you just, can't see everything in one day. So definitely the three days and then let's, what are we, what, what did we miss yesterday and how are we going to put it in our schedule today? I just, I just love, I'm getting so excited about PickleCon, but so let's talk about the passes and the tickets and all that kind of stuff. I'm going to guess there's different tiers, right?

Speaker 1 (22:09)
So we actually switched a little bit this year. We backed up on the price a little bit. We decreased it and we're doing just a full weekend pass. Very nice. And it's super easy. We believe it's super affordable, especially from the feedback we've heard. So it's $50. It gets you an all weekend. Are you kidding? Yeah, and it gives you open play, access to Vendor Village, all that championship programming you could get involved with. So giveaways, playing against your favorite pickleball influencer.

Speaker 2 (22:28)
That's it.

Speaker 1 (22:39)
That's all included. And then if you want to do like add-ons like clinics, entertainment, tours, things like that, those are just add-ons to your ticket that you could purchase.

Speaker 2 (22:47)
So it's kind of ⁓ like a cruise, like a cruise line. You want to go on shore for some of the shore excursions, you're to pay a little bit extra, like the entertainment and stuff like that. I mean, one price to get in and enjoy all the things. I mean, that's fantastic. That's so affordable.

Speaker 1 (23:00)
And no, and that's what we think. We've definitely changed it year after year. And we think this is probably the best set option since year one. Obviously, everyone in this space is always changing their prices, but we want to make it affordable, especially when people are already investing that time and money to travel in.

Speaker 2 (23:18)
Yeah, way to honor the true people that are showing up. I just absolutely love that. So, bunch of panel discussions. You talked about that already with industry leaders. Any ideas of, obviously you've seen some of the proposals. What are some of the hot topics that people can expect with that?

Speaker 1 (23:34)
Yeah, so we could announce that Dylan with Bounce Back Pickleball, who's doing kind of sustainability on pickleball. So instead of throwing them out when they break, we're actually going to have bins out there where people can put their balls in. We ship them back to him and he's actually reusing them and making them into new balls, which is so awesome to hear. So we don't have plastic just kind of sitting in the atmosphere. And so he's going to be talking about sustainability.

We have Dr. Rami Maxey coming in. He's going to be talking about how to sustain a club and how to continue that growth and that momentum moving forward. We have a couple other speakers that are on the schedule that we haven't yet announced that are coming soon. But you could expect four to five, probably networking keynote speakers.

Speaker 2 (24:17)
And

I would imagine this draws some celebrities too, right? Some of the celebrities from last year, I'm guessing, are going to return. What can people expect from that side of things?

Speaker 1 (24:27)
Yeah, so on the celebrity side, you're going to see a lot more people this time around. You could actually go on our Faces of Picklecon right now and see some of the ones that will be in attendance. We have Garrick Dieter from the Kansas City Chiefs. He was a former wide receiver. We have Jack Juesberry, who was a formal MLS player with the Timberwolves. And then he was with the Kansas City Sport, I think Sporting KC for a little bit. He's going to be out. And then we have two celebrities that haven't been announced yet. Some big names that are going to be announced.

Probably, I would say, by the end of April.

Speaker 2 (24:58)
I gotta imagine with all the celebrity owners and players that they're gonna wanna come to this as well. you know, with July being a couple months away, I'm sure that you're gonna get some reach outs from their agents and stuff like that to say, hey, this person wants to attend. you know, that just another reason to go and you don't even know who's gonna show up there. I can only imagine.

Speaker 1 (25:19)
Yeah, no, it's gonna be a super fun event. I think what we're creating this year is one for the books. We invite everyone to come out. The Celebrity Pro event is for everyone. So if you have an access pass, you could just go ahead and watch it. Just come on over to the stands. We also have a VIP area that you could add on as an addition and be courtside with those pros and celebrities. So yeah, we invite everyone to come out. Anyone who is interested, yeah, it's gonna be one for the books for sure.

Speaker 2 (25:45)
⁓ Absolutely, it's going to be bigger and better than last year and that's just the way you guys do it over at Triple Crown. For you personally though, what is the thing like, you you're behind the scenes and you're going to be running like a chicken with its head cut off, but I imagine there's one thing that sticks out to your like, I'm definitely going to be down there for this. What is that?

Speaker 1 (26:03)
well, I am a sucker for puppy yoga. That is my thing. If that is going on, find me there. You know, it's not pickleball related, but it's also just nice to get off your feet and do something a little different, relax your body, especially if you're playing all those hours. That is definitely one of my favorite things. And yeah, who doesn't love puppies?

Speaker 2 (26:23)
Yeah,

no kidding. No kidding. That's the way to go right there. Okay, so it's July 24 to the 26th in Kansas City, and how can people get a lot more information about this?

Speaker 1 (26:33)
Yeah, so you could go to our Instagram at TC PickleCon. Super easy to follow and that's like where all our information kind of floods to. And then PickleCon.com. from our event itinerary is fully done already. So you could go and see what's going on each day that you want to be involved in. Our clinic schedule is already done. You could see the faces of PickleCon. So our influencers, our celebrities, our pros, everyone that's going to be involved.

And then like I said, the access passes are on there and then lodging. So we have discounted lodging partners that we work with. Just continuing to try and make it as affordable as possible for everyone that wants to join us.

Speaker 2 (27:06)
That is awesome. We're so looking forward to it. It's going to be the event. You're not going to want to miss it. And if you do miss it, you're going to hear about it from everybody in the pickleball community. So do not miss it. Go get the t-shirt, go do all the things. Kelsey, thank you so much for being on the Big Dink Energy podcast.

Speaker 1 (27:21)
You're

having me, so enjoy.

Speaker 2 (27:24)
It's time!

This is the time where we take one question and we each bring two answers and immediately regret to agree into this segment. And this is for you at home to play along as well. This is where you get all up in our comment section. So today's pick six, I'm gonna toss it around the room, unlikely brand sponsorships for pickleball. Unlikely brand sponsorships for pickleball.

Speaker 3 (27:51)
I would have to say Grand Theft Auto. GTA sponsoring PPA.

Speaker 2 (27:59)
I like it. like it. ⁓ God. Not till after. For me it was life alert. I hope I fall and can't get to the kitchen line.

Speaker 4 (28:05)
Not too bad.

Speaker 3 (28:11)
I would have to say ⁓ tennis.

Speaker 1 (28:15)
⁓

Speaker 3 (28:18)
Yeah. Sponsored by Wimbledon, is that how you say it?

Speaker 2 (28:21)
Wimble done. Wim- Grass quartz. ⁓

Speaker 1 (28:22)
Well

Speaker 4 (28:23)
be a whole thing. Miralax.

I don't see them sponsoring Pickle.

Speaker 2 (28:29)
Yeah. Someone who's probably about to go out of business, but Spirit Airlines, pay extra for your paddle, your water, your dignity, your court.

Speaker 3 (28:38)
Yeah, you can't, there's no way you wouldn't be able to take anything. No. ⁓

Speaker 2 (28:42)
Tell us what you think. Get all up in our comment section. Unlikely brand partnerships for Pickleball. Unlikely brand partnerships for Pickleball. BDPodcast.com.

Speaker 3 (28:55)
News you can use.

Speaker 2 (28:56)
Can you

stand by for news? What would you say if I said pickleball is eating the world eating it?

Speaker 3 (29:05)
Like

it ate?

Speaker 2 (29:07)
It's aiding, yeah. It's aiding and abetting. Pickleball just outperformed NBA on TV. What? Yes, yes. Really? 2026 PPA Masters on CBS pulled 1.05 million peak viewers, more than an NBA game and an NCAA game airing at the same time. Wow. I would have thought WNBA for sure. mean, even literally could pull better than that. The sport now has 22 plus, don't come for me WNBA people.

The sport now has 22 plus million players up from 4.8 million in 2022. The average player age drop from 41 to 34.8 right in my same age bracket. This is not your grandmother's sport anymore. Yeah, listen, 22 to 25 million Americans now play pickleball. You hear us, Asia? Don't come for us. 300 % plus growth since 2020, fastest growing sport in America over the fourth consecutive year. And we've talked about this before in the global market. We have 1.97.

billion in 2026 projected to hit 3.56 billion, just a little more than it's in my wallet, by 2030. Wow. Yeah. I love that. Obviously we know about the celebrities in it. I almost had a stroke, sounded like. Tom Brady, LeBron James, Kim Clisters, I don't know who that is, Kevin Durant, all own teams, Drew Brees, stuff like that. Bottom line, it's not slowing down. It's me picking up steam. So if you're listening to this,

Tell a friend or two and

Speaker 3 (30:34)
And

can you imagine if you get on Dinkin Dash app, you can message people and not have to give out your phone number to new people that you meet. Like imagine all the people you could have on that app and meet through Pickleball.

Speaker 2 (30:46)
yeah. I heard, now don't quote me on this and I have no way to prove it. I heard Tom Brady and LeBron James are getting on Dink and Dash. just So you may be able to hit them up over there. Just wait. You just wait. That's it for this episode. Unless you've got something to say, think we got it wrong? Have a better take? We want to hear it. Find us at bdepodcast.com or at bdepodcast on the socials. Drop us a message. We might just feature you in the next episode. If you had a good time, well, same z's.

If not, maybe try again. We grow on people. So you know the deal. Follow the show, tell a friend, and leave us a review. Or just pretend this never happened. Until next time, keep the dink soft and the energy big.