Episode 88 - What Will Pickleball Look Like in 2030? Mike Predicts the Future of the Game

[00:00:00] Thank you for joining in. I'm Mike. I'm Kazeana. We're the Pickleballers Next Door. Want a pro-level pickleball court without pouring concrete? Discover rollout courts from Pickleball Management Group. They offer quick setup. The standard rollout court uses five textured polyvinyl rolls seamed together to make a 30x60 court, customizable. Or choose Pickle Deck, interlocking panels for any surface. Perfect for backyards, schools, events.

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[00:00:53] Just something that was kind of tossing around in my brain. Pickleball in 2030. You know, what do we think is going to come in four years from now? You know, it's just crazy to think that in four years it's 2030. Like, I don't know, I guess back in the day in the 80s and before that. I don't want to age myself, but just couldn't imagine 2030, you know? So anyway, you know, where is this crazy sport going?

[00:01:21] You know, I mean, that's the big question. You know, what do we think is going to happen to Pickleball today? Is it going to be the same? Is it going to change? You know, I don't know. You know, imagine in four years, you know, are we going to have smarter courts? AI, automatic line call, paddles that cost $500? You know, are our Pickleball facilities going to be entertainment centers and sport clubs?

[00:01:50] You know, that kind of just takes me back. You know, I'm going to talk about something to go back is I was a big bowler. I love bowling. My dad loved bowling when I was young. So bowling was a big deal. It was like Pickleball. I mean, it's hard to imagine, you know, today, bowling, you know, I even, you know, it's still around and it's still got its pros and stuff. But pickleball bowling has pretty much became a birthday party. You go out with some friends and throw and the cost of it, too. Oh, my gosh. But they've turned it into arcades.

[00:02:20] And and it's it's like I said, it's more for kids. I mean, honestly, I think most of the pickleball, not pickleball, sorry. Most of the bowling facilities have turned into just a fun place for families and kids. You know, there's a place I'm going to go way back. If people remember this celebrity sports centers. That's when pickleball, you know, back in a pickleball bowling had they had a swimming pool there. They had an arcade there. They had food there.

[00:02:48] I mean, I mean, I'm just wondering if the future will be where we're heading or, you know, like Dave and Busters. I'm just amazed that we you know, there's going to be Dave and like a Dave and Busters. That's going to have pickleball, you know, where they're bringing families and friends, even top golf. You know, when I stopped golf game, it was for golfers. I mean, it was it was towards families and you could bring your family.

[00:03:14] But you go there today and you're playing games like, you know, you know, angry bird and different games hitting the ball. I even asked him. I was there last week actually playing and I went with a friend and hit some golf balls. And I said, when's the pickleball courts coming? Throw a couple of pickleball courts in here because they probably do really well. So I just got off track here like I always do. But is that where our facility is going to go? You know, because it's tough, though, too.

[00:03:42] I mean, these pickleball companies that are opening and they don't really have a whole lot of food. You know, they are basically pickleball. They come from pickleball. They want to play pickleball and they want to find all the people that just want to play pickleball. But are these facilities, you know, is it going to have to change in the future just because the sports changed? Right. There's so many different people in it. And there's a lot of people like my wife. She doesn't play pickleball. It's just not her thing. She doesn't. It's not her thing.

[00:04:10] But she supports me in pickleball, but she just doesn't. It's not her thing. So anyway, that's kind of something that really kind of on my mind where this is going to go. I mean, I know we have chicken and pickles. We have like mood swings. And there's companies out here that are doing some more fitting for all people. You know, like you go to a chicken and pickle. You can take your family there and you can play pickleball while they're outside playing. You know, they're playing cornhole or they're playing, you know, different. They have different games for all ages.

[00:04:39] So I don't know. I just wondered if 2030, if we're going to see more entertaining pickleball facilities than just straight pickleball facilities or our pickleball company is going to adapt more. We'll have arcades in them so that the kids can be playing while we play pickleball. That's not a bad idea. Come on, guys. Or a daycare. I'm telling you, guys get a daycare and they're like the gym. Probably a good idea. I should probably look into that. That's my idea. Remember Mike at Pickballers Next Door.

[00:05:08] Anyway, you know, what's it look like? You know, what's the future going to be? You know, again, this is just a prediction. I don't know if any of this is going to be whatever. But I'm just curious what you guys think. You've got to be thinking it. You've got to be wondering it. You know, especially if you love pickleball. I mean, it's changed. You ask anybody in the last five years of how much it's changed. And it's really changing still. So let's see. Let's see what's going to happen. What's really going to.

[00:05:37] Let's hope for the good. You know, let's hope. I hope the community doesn't get lost. I hope meeting people and friends. It doesn't become so commercialized that we lose some of that. And I don't think we in four years. I don't think it will. I'm meeting great people every day. I'm going to a new court. You're guys going to hear about it. It's off. I don't know the name of it. I just got invited. Sixth Avenue and Sheridan here in Colorado. I think it's Lakewood area.

[00:06:06] But I don't know. Somebody opened up two courts. It's just two courts. But again, they're courts. Somebody owns courts. So anyway, any. But let's let's talk about the smart pickleball courts. You know, are these courts going to be, you know, basically you don't you don't have there's not going to be no arguing over the score. It's going to keep track of the score. You're not going to have to worry about that, you know, or you're going to wonder, you know,

[00:06:32] there's not going to be no more wondering if the ball's out or in or out. You know, you're going to it's going to have a camera or something or a line detector that just calls it out automatically. You know, you know, is it it's going to the score is automatically going to track, you know, the balls are going to bail balls land near the line. If it's in no arguments, you know, no replaying, you know, no replaying the point, no starting, you know, no start, you know,

[00:07:01] no starting over, you know, no this. But also, I mean, isn't that kind of like what we, you know, is it, you know, I know we argue over it and it gets you can get a little frustrating. But doesn't that isn't that kind of the fun of it? I mean, I'm not I'm not saying that we love that somebody is calling a ball out or in, but that kind of makes it the fun of the game. It was always part of it. I always thought, you know, I always thought it was a good rule when they put it in the rules that whatever sides it on, you get to call it and it lands in the middle of court and you call it out.

[00:07:31] That's your call. Now you're going to get some flack for it. I probably wouldn't do that, but it's tough sometimes. I mean, but that's kind of made pick a ball, though. So I don't know if all this new that kind of equipment is going to be. Now, I know there is a lot of AI stuff already at some of the more, you know, some like Pickler has a bunch because some of the other places have some AI cameras and stuff that help with what you're doing, you know. And that brings me into the next thing. You're, you know, you're AI pickleball coach.

[00:08:01] That's going to be crazy. Now, if none of us and I know some of us, AI is a voodoo. But if people really think about AI, AI has been around us a long time. We just didn't know what it really was. We just thought it was, you know, when your Apple phones and your phones and all these apps. I mean, they're not ran by people. We'd have to have a lot of people employed to do. When I ask Siri something or I ask, you know, Google or I ask any of them a question,

[00:08:29] that's not somebody getting on there typing that in. You know, I mean, it's AI. AI. So if you're not familiar or you don't like AI, I mean, you're going to have to. There's not going to be a choice. So but, you know, imagine, you know, playing for an hour and a camera recording your game and actually starts to tell you that you hit 62 percent of your third shots. You were missed. You know, you're standing too close to the baseline. You're attacking balls that shouldn't be attacked.

[00:08:58] And your backhand is off. Come on. And I mean, that's super cool. And I think I don't think it's up to that par yet. But I think that that's not even four years away. There's people working on technology with pickleball that I've already met. That's crazy stuff. And we'll get a little further down when I talk about the paddles. So I don't know. I mean, I would do it. I would use it. And I know there's stuff out there that are already starting to get like this, you know.

[00:09:26] But also takes away having I like to have a person like watching me. You know, I like the I like to film myself. But I really like when I'm working with a pro or a coach, you know, or when I'm helping somebody else that I can really see those little things that make a big difference. Not everybody in this game swings the same. The way people put topspin on back, you know, they talk, you know, they the different ways we strike the ball and hit the ball.

[00:09:57] Everybody has a little their own depend what's racket sport they came from. They came from tennis or if they came from, you know, like I'm a racquetball player or they can't, you know, their swing might be a little different. And some have never played any of these sports and have come up with their own crazy swings. I mean, I see people do stuff with this ball that I'm like, how did you do that? But they're consistent with it.

[00:10:19] They've learned when I first started and I still and they call me the spinner because when I started, the guy that taught me how to play pickleball, this big man, big man. And he was like he's I didn't ever knew what I was doing. I was just like I got on court. I said, please teach me. I love this game. But everything he did was a chop or a slice or a top spin, everything like there was no hit that he was hitting. That was just a flat shot, a top spin. I mean, they're always had a little extra.

[00:10:48] So guess what I learned? So when a lot of people play me, they get frustrated. They're like, oh, my gosh, his spin is spin. I don't know how to play any different. I've learned how to adapt to it. Now, I've learned also as you play the upper the four fives and fives above that, they don't care about your spin no more because they know how to read to give it back to you or hit it harder to you. So they don't care about all that stuff.

[00:11:12] So when I got better and I thought I was such a great player because I could beat people with all my little funny shots that would shoot away from you. Now they just give it back to me even worse. So anyway, you know, I don't know. Also, is technology, you know, our own game? You know, I guess that's what I was just talking about. Our serves, our dink, our footwork, shot selection. I don't know. You know, I mean, I still like both.

[00:11:38] I think I would like something AI that I could go practice and get through some, you know, some drills and have something kind of analyze me really fast. But I love when somebody is actually saying, you know, how to do, you know, how to stand and how to hold my paddle and get down and bend your knees. All these things that it's going to be hard for AI to kind of tell me that. It might help me, but I think it still takes, I like to have a real coach. So let me know what you think. If you think AI is going to be good or bad, you know, let me know.

[00:12:08] So, all right. So what's going to happen with paddles? So this is already crazy. And some of us don't know, like, I mean, we see the new, you know, boom sticks and we see all these foam paddles coming out. I mean, I play with it. I got to admit, I do like it. But there is going to be crazy stuff that's going to happen here. I mean, it's already happening.

[00:12:31] You know, I think they're going to have paddles that I know they're working on right now that are going to, you know, be like, know your heart rate. They're going to help you. You know, I think there's golf clubs like this that can help you practice, but it's going to help you, like, slow down. It's going to keep score for you. These are already here. They're just coming to the market. So I think this is where we're going to see paddles get crazy, you know, and different materials.

[00:13:00] I mean, I think, you know, you think you've seen it all? I know some people making some stuff out of paddles that's like you wouldn't even think you could use it for paddles. So I don't know, you know, the different cores. I mean, we are trying all types of stuff. You know, I think that there's a – I think also there's a lot of problems with this stuff that's out there too. And these paddles are not going to last as long. I mean, I'm telling you the basic paddles I had when I started, I think they would last you years.

[00:13:29] These paddles today, I'm going to tell you right now, if you play like I play five to seven days a week, and I play two to three hours a day, these paddles can't make it more than a few months. If they can make it a year, you're lucky. I'm going to tell you right now, my boomstick is not the boom that I got with it. I'm on my second boomstick already. So I'm really curious. The new boomstick's coming out here pretty quick, and I'm super curious on where that's going to go, you know? Hopefully they've changed some things because a lot of people are frustrated because they're just like me.

[00:13:59] The boomstick pretty much just turned into a normal paddle. So the boom was boom. Now it had too much. I think it had too much when you first started playing with it. Oh, my gosh. If you played with a banger, a really hard banger, it just touched your paddle, and it was out every direction. It was horrible. But, I mean, and I knew right away when people were trying to sell them, they'd take that out on the court, and I bet you they were playing with, you know, with bangers, and they just got killed. So I don't know. We'll see.

[00:14:30] I love, I do like my boomstick. It's okay. I mean, I'm frustrated because it's just, it's more of a normal paddle. It's got, I got control. I do have a little bit of power, but my form, the foam in it, I think it compresses, and once it compresses, it becomes the same as most paddles. So we'll see. And I'm trying out other paddles. I have companies that I'll be talking about that I'm going to be repping and helping with. I mean, I like to tell people about neat products.

[00:14:57] And I'm learning, you know, I didn't know that until I got into the sport long enough that I could play with different paddles and different shoes, different bags. I got a bag that I'm going to be talking about, Octo. Oh, my gosh. The lady that invented this bag, she has two different bags. She has a large bag and a small bag for traveling. I'm going to, you're going to see pictures of it, but I love this bag. I feel like, well, I go to pickleball. I have everything I need from band-aids to cleaners, to my glasses, to ball holder, but

[00:15:26] it's also organized. I have other bags. I've tried bags and I can't find nothing. So you'll hear me a lot with Octo. She's an incredible, incredible lady. And she's been on our podcast, but I'm going to have her on more. And I'm going to rep her product because I think it's a great bag and it's durable. I throw my bag around like I don't even care because you know what I'm thinking when I get to court? I want to go play pickleball. So I'm trying to get in that court as fast as possible.

[00:15:53] So my poor bag's being dragged and thrown and I'm not even paying attention to it. And this bag is holding up. I've had it over a year and it looks just as good as when I got it. So you'll hear me a little bit more about that. But sorry about that. I got off on, you know, you'll hear me talk about paddles and balls and different things because I can talk about them now. I'm at a level and I play with different people and different balls and different paddles and different grips and all these great things. Well, at first I just didn't, it didn't make any sense to me.

[00:16:21] And when you start pickleball, you're not going to make sense. All you want to do is play pickleball. You're not going to care about all that stuff. But if you get the urge, you get the craziness of pickleball, you'll see right away what happens. But anyway, you know, right now our paddles are $300. They're going to go to $400 and $500. But I think the paddles you see that go up to this $500 are going to hook to your watch. They're going to hook to your phone. They're going to, I mean, it's going to be the AI that we were just talking about. So I don't know.

[00:16:51] You know, some of us struggle with the new technology and sometimes it's too much, right? But I mean, you know, if you're a crazy pickleball player, I'll probably be one of those people that has that $500 paddle and I'll try it and I'll see if I like it. But I hope technology doesn't change our paddles into pretty soon it tells me not to hit a ball or it vibrates or does something crazy where it stops me being who I am.

[00:17:20] I play the way I want to play or it tries to change me or make us all the same. You know, I've talked about the paddle thing and I don't want to get crazy off of something. That's going to be my shirt crazy because that's all I say. But at the end of the day, sometimes, and I told you this, I'm actually going to go get some of the old paddles, the wood paddles, and we're going to have some challenges and prizes at different events and we're going to bring those out. So all of a sudden everybody's going to be like back to normal. Like there is no grip on it.

[00:17:48] You're going to have to hit the ball and use this wood paddle. And everybody's going to be at this, you know, hit this level of like, wow, you don't get all this advantage. You don't realize how you, if you, if you're really been in the sport a long time, you understand if you didn't look it up and you'll find out that they still sell the wood paddles. Like they think they still sell them on Amazon and stuff. And people, I see them come to the court and I, I hear them. They sell this new one. It's horrible. You can hear it. It almost hurts my ears.

[00:18:17] They hit it and it goes dunk, dink, dunk, dink, or dunk or something. It's terrible. You'll know what, you know what I'm talking about. If you're a player, I go give them a paddle. I take it away from them because I, it almost makes me, hurts me that they're playing with it. And they can't control or do anything because the ball has, it's just nothing. It's just two pieces of plastic put together and they called it a paddle and they probably got it for nine bucks or something. They were just happy to get a paddle. But you guys will see as the future comes paddles are going to be crazy.

[00:18:48] All right. So that takes me to the next thing. Our pickleball facilities, are they going to change? I mean, we were just kind of talking about that a little bit, you know, 2030. I mean, what are these courts going to get bigger? I mean, I can tell you right now, most are courts here in Colorado, but a few, they're anywhere from eight to 12 courts. We do have some 19, you know, outside courts.

[00:19:12] We do have some, someone that are in that I think one in Louisville, the Relish, they have 19 courts. But most of your facilities, your average facility is between nine to 12 courts. There's courts in Southern California and Vegas and around the United States that have 40 courts. That is just crazy to me. I mean, we didn't go the big route. I think we went with more courts.

[00:19:40] So these are outside facilities because they have, I mean, Southern California has the best, most 70 degree days than anywhere in the world. I mean, you could have a 40 court facility there. But isn't that crazy? How about Florida? Come on, guys. There's, you just go look online. You will see just rows and rows and rows of courts and they fill up. That's the nuts part about it. So I don't know that, you know, where we, where I live, we're going to see those giants. But there are, there's some facility here.

[00:20:10] There's a, there's a 24 courts in Colorado Springs. So, I mean, they're, they're, they're, they're getting bigger. But I think the other thing is going to be the food bars. I think those are things that are going to have to have to be part of pickleball. I think people, you know, if they're going to pay money and this thing's going to, it's getting, you know, real estate is not getting cheaper.

[00:20:31] So the, every, the, the late, the more years, by 2030, think of what the square footage price will be unless we're in a recession or, you know, who knows what's going to happen. Our world's crazy right now. So, but in the long run, you know, real estate's not getting cheaper. I mean, if you look back in many 20 years ago, look at what the cost of commercial estate is and what residential is. Yeah. Is there places around the world that are in the United States that there's cheaper? Sure. But I was, you know, you're not going to see those type of facilities.

[00:20:58] But, but as in the, in the end of it, these, it's going to be, you know, right now the average facility is 1.5 to 3 million to open a facility right now. That's nuts. And then four years ago, you could open that same facility for 800 to a million. So you can see as it's, it's progressing, it's jumping, but I think that you're going to have to have more stuff in there. And I think these are the, I don't know. You're going to see, I see some of these clubs that have tried to put a little fitness in. You're definitely going to have to have networking.

[00:21:27] I think you're going to see Pickleballers Next Door podcast studios that I'm going to have be in different facilities. That's my actual goal. I want to be in a facility. That's what I'm at mood swing right now. Their grace is enough to let me use their facility. My downtown place is being turned into condos. So I had a beautiful place on Champa and 16th street mall, right downtown Denver. I'm looking again.

[00:21:55] So, but right now, the funny part, I never used that studio. I still, I did what people love about my podcast is I go out into the world and meet people. And I see people get to hear and I get to ask questions and get to talk to people. I'm not in some closed off office or basement or something talking. I actually get to meet the people playing Pickleball. So anyway, I think those are going to, you know, you're going to have to have and might have to have, you know, some of the clubs are becoming multi clubs.

[00:22:25] You know, Padell. I know we don't, you know, a lot of people don't know what the Padell is, but Padell's old. It's an old sport. It's been around a long time. I mean, I think it's older than Pickleball if you look back in the books. But Padell's is still like up and coming sport. And some of these facilities, I'm opening one in Broomfield here in a couple months called the Three Rackets. And they are going to be doing, you know, Pickleball. They're going to be doing Padell and they're going to be doing not Batman.

[00:22:55] Oh, my gosh. Anyway, they have three different things that they're doing at their facility. So, again, I think you might see some of that where other facilities have more opportunities to do new sports. Tipsy, that's a new one that's coming in and they're just using the Pickleball court. I looked up, if you look up Tipsy, it's the craziest sport. But I just looked up, there's a $100,000 tournament to play with a foam ball. Now, again, am I being a little biased because I'm a Pickleballer, you know?

[00:23:25] Yes, I am. But I did try it. It was pretty crazy. It's a big soft ball, huge, like just a foam ball. And then you're using a racket instead of a paddle that is made for, it's a tennis racket, but made for that type of ball. It was fun. I mean, it was definitely something different, but there's pros in this. I had no clue. But just like people, and I play Padell, and people, when I talk about Padell, they're like, what are you talking about? Well, if you ever get to play Padell, it's an awesome sport.

[00:23:55] But, again, the problem with Padell, and this is my problem, is it's the rich men's sport. It's super expensive. Now, you want to complain about Pickleball? Go play $50, $60 to go play Padell. Or pay a membership of $100 a month, and that doesn't get you anything. So, I mean, I don't know. Anyway, this is the funny one I just talked about, child daycare. I would be awesome. I think a lot more people would come play at night.

[00:24:22] There would be a lot more families that would come if they had a child daycare area. You know, just like at gyms. I mean, think of, I go on this weekend. That facility, even during that night, that daycare at the gyms at Vasa? Oh, my God. There's a waiting line. Because people, you know, they want to go work out. Not that they don't want to love their child, but they want to go get a workout in. And if you're a mom or dad or both or single or whatever it is, you've got to go do that. So, I think the other thing I'm starting to see a lot in is the golf simulators.

[00:24:51] You're going to see a lot of that. People, they're mixing in the golf because people like golf. So, you're going to see a lot of people. And I think it's good, too, because it'll bring people that are into golf. Because I'm actually the Hilton pro here at the Inverness in Colorado. And it's a golf facility. When I started there two years ago, I had one pickleball player. I have over 30-plus players now that come out and have learned pickleball, love pickleball, because I love it.

[00:25:21] So, if you get around me, you're going to know. But anyway, I think that it gets people that have been curious because of the pickleball craziness. It opens up. So, I like that there's other things that will bring us more pickleball players, right? It brings new people, you know, which is awesome. So, I don't know. So, to me, I don't know. I hope that I like the facilities to get better. But also think bigger costs more.

[00:25:51] Now, sometimes, I guess that's some of the deals, you know, you go to, you know, you have these special. If you have all these things, you can buy a pass to do them per day. But I don't know. I don't know if, you know, people already are upset what the cost of pickleball is. Four years from now, what's going to be the hourly rate? You know what I mean? I don't know. You know, I hope they don't do, and I hate to say this, and people know this, but tennis and racquetball were basically,

[00:26:19] and this is why I believe that racquetball lost its ump, is it's still here, right? There's still pros and people playing it, but it has died. It is gone. Like, you don't hear about it unless you talk about it. I actually have the urge to just go play a game I haven't played in years. But, again, it became for the corporate guy, the corporate people. Tennis became about the image, and you had to play or to do anything to play tennis. You had to have a lot of money.

[00:26:50] Pickleball? You don't. There's free courts everywhere outside. They are starting to charge. The cities are starting to get more involved, and they like to have a little of that revenue because they did pay for the courts. They didn't pay for them. Our city paid for them. You know, our taxes paid for them. But at the end of the day, that's the difference. So, anyway, let's see what happens. I hope that we see things, you know, we hope it's good.

[00:27:15] I guess the other thing that I would like to talk about with it is, you know, is pickleball going to still be social or less? This is the one that worries me the most with all the technology, all the, you know, all the stuff that's coming, you know, as they're going to be apps now. And I know there's some of these already out there, but there's a lot of Facebook groups and stuff that do some of this stuff.

[00:27:38] But there's going to be literally apps that you're going to put your name in, and it's going to find you a 3.5 player or, you know, 3.50 guys. And it's going to set up the courts, and it's going to have it ready to go at 7 p.m., you know, within 10 miles of where you live. You know, it's going to get the court booked. It's going to know you. It's going to, you know. I hope, you know, some of the greatest part of being, I love, my favorite part is open plays everywhere. For me, I don't have the time to, like, do leagues.

[00:28:07] I would like to, but it's so hard for me with the podcast and my other businesses to, like, commit to a time. So open plays, for me, I can find open plays anywhere, like, at different times on the weekends, during nights. And what I love about open play, it's not just to go play pickleball. It's the new people that I meet every time I go to an open play. And the relationships that I've got from pickleball in the last few years, they're just incredible.

[00:28:34] I get these texts and emails, and I go out to see people. Now I have a podcast, so I get to, I know a lot more, I get to do this a lot more than regular people. But I love open plays. And so, I don't know, I hope that you, this doesn't just set games up and you play with this, the players you want to play with. And I know we all want to play with, you know, better players. But some of this was a social. This is about our community. Pickleball was a big social part of pickleball.

[00:29:03] And that's what I worry about, you know, that the social part might get a little go away with all the apps and, you know, the deals and all that stuff and the facilities. So, we'll see. I mean, let's, I hope we can still keep us all together. So, hopefully technology, you know, helps us organize. It makes it better. But we don't lose, we don't lose our community. So, all right.

[00:29:29] Well, pickleball could become personalized, right? You know, I mean, you can imagine that pickleball, the apps are just like we were kind of talking. It's going to know your level. It's going to know who you like to play with. It's going to know your favorite facility. It's going to be able to schedule you. It's going to do tournaments. Your lessons. Your wins and losses. I mean, we already have some of this. I mean, what is Duper? That's what Duper is, wins and losses, right? And, you know, so a lot of this stuff's here.

[00:30:00] I just wonder what, you know, think about where it is now. Even when Duper came in, where Duper has went from now, from years ago when it's just started to where it is now. It's really progressed. And AI has really learned with the outlet rhythms how to do a better job. So, it's only going to get better, but I just really wonder what that's going to look like, you know? So, I don't know. We're going to see. You know, it could be good. It could be bad. But we already are working on a lot of this stuff.

[00:30:29] So, you know. So, what happens to the everyday player? You know, this is always what I was just talking about. You know, if, you know, not, you know, I know we like to talk about the professionals and they are awesome. I mean, you watch the pros and the pros are on TV and there's Nike commercials. And every commercial you watch on TV has pickleball. The shows you watch have pickleball in them. I mean, pickleball is a craze and it's growing like nuts. It's not stopping. I mean, people keep going, when's it going to stop?

[00:30:59] It hasn't, it's not coming close to it. It's only getting more traction. So, but the one thing that I did when I started Pickleballers Next Door, I love the pros and I learn and I work with pros. And I go to pro PPAs and APPs and all those good things. But at the end of the day, I just used to ask other players about pickleball. And they just kind of would look at me and say, I don't know. I come here and play. I'm close to this facility. And, you know, I find some tournaments once in a while.

[00:31:25] So, I think that the, you know, this is one thing that makes me, why I did what I did for the podcast was because I felt like there was no information readily available to us. And, you know, hear me say this a million times. You live vicariously through me. I get to talk about things and people. And just like this podcast, I get to, you know, tell you neat things that are going on. So, but anyway, I mean, I don't know.

[00:31:54] How about the person that only plays three nights a week? The couples that just started. You know, the 60-year-old that just found his first sport. You know, the 25-year-old that can't believe that he can play somebody twice his age. I mean, you know, these are things that are real. You know, I mean, there's no app or nobody. You're just going to go do these things. And the friends you make on the courts, that's the real part of this whole beauty.

[00:32:18] I mean, I know if you don't have any, you know, social anxieties or anxieties, you don't understand. But there's a lot of people in this world that have social anxiety and some mental issues and scared. They're introverts and they're in their own head. They're great people. And so this kind of brings them out to the world and it gives people life. So, you know, those are things that, you know, apps and AI can't do any.

[00:32:46] It's us people that bring us all together. So at the end of the day, I hope the sport gets bigger and I think it will. I think faculties will get better. I just hope it doesn't get so crazy that there's clowns running around with balloons and stuff. You know, I hope that we still have, we keep the integrity of pickleball, you know, and we keep the community and help people and raise money. And I got people that I'll bring on and I've talked to that help people all over the world. So we do a lot. Pickleball does more than just play pickleball.

[00:33:15] It helps people in their health. It helps their mental state. It brings them to community. It's bring people to find their loved ones. We have a lady that she does pickleball dating and we just love her. And she brings pickleball to a whole new level. She brings their love. I'm waiting to do the first podcast that somebody met and gets married in a pickleball facility. That is going to be awesome. And, you know, and I'm sure it's happened. I just haven't seen it yet, but it's coming quick.

[00:33:45] So, but at the end of the day, I don't want us to lose the everyday, you know, community, the love, what we've done here. What it's done for me, it's changed my life. You can ask my wife. I was in, I've been running business for 40 years. I was losing my mind and she was just, everybody started to wonder, is there something wrong with me? I was mentally just stressed. I was done. Didn't want to do this anymore. I have five children. I work. I drive.

[00:34:11] I, is there anything more to life than just making money and working hard? Come on. And pickleball, I found, I don't know if it found me. I found it. Actually, you've heard my story a little bit. I was traveling with my wife and I'd seen them play at any Southern California and Florida. And I said, what is this? And all of a sudden there was a court built by my home and we were walking our dogs. I said, I have to get in this. And one day, the first pickleball facility that opened here in Colorado, an indoor one, had a free open night training.

[00:34:42] And guess where I went? And after that, it hasn't stopped. Man, I can't stop pickleball. And that's why you have a podcast because I love it. So anyway, I'll stop being a dead horse. I'm just hoping, you know, in the future, it's only going to get better.

[00:34:56] So, and I'm, if I'm here, which I will be, is I'm, cause I, my goal is to be the number one podcast in the world for pickleball and be, you know, social media where I can help and bring these communities together and keep this going and be a voice for people that maybe don't have a voice or wants to say something or don't like the way things. Maybe I, maybe I have some influence on that. We'll see, you know? But anyway, I hope we keep building pickleball facilities and getting them better.

[00:35:27] You know, beautiful courts, great lighting, you know, the cameras, the automatic scoring, foods and drinks, you know, comfortable social areas, you know, beginning for ends and, you know, having friends and family, corporate events. I know that happens a lot. I mean, you're starting to see more of those. We get calls about those and definitely podcast studios that have pickleballers next door there like me and other podcasts. I mean, there's lots of podcasts out there and there's pickleball ones. So, all right.

[00:35:56] Well, that was my, I hope that it was something different and fun. But I have some, you know, I have some questions for you guys. You know, what do you, I'd like to hear back from you and DM me on like the automatic, you know, what do you think about the automatic line call? The AI coaching, the smart paddles, the robot ball machines. You know, I didn't even go on that. I mean, some of these, you look at some of these ball machines and what they're doing. It's nuts.

[00:36:26] Like, it's crazy. But please send me some DMs and send me some, you know, emails and let me hear what you think. I want to know what's in your thoughts because you're not, I'm not the only guy out here. I'm sure you've had talks with your friends or you're wondering, where does it stop? Where does it end? Where do I go? Is it, you know, am I going to be able to do this? So, you know, let's please, you know, Mike at PickleLarsNextDoor.com or Instagram, PickleLarsNextDoor.com.

[00:36:55] TikTok, we're on all your social media sites. I mean, please, please start communicating and I'll watch for you. And if you see me out at one of your clubs, come up to me, talk to me. I'd love to put you on or talk to you. Or you have any ideas or questions. I probably have the answer. I meet a lot of people that, I mean, from multimillionaires and to people that are just coming off of never played a sport in their life and just coming in here and having fun. So let me know, you know.

[00:37:22] So I guess my next thing, my next week, I'd like you to guys, this is the one that I'd like to, that just to kind of, I'm kind of keeping a series going here. Kind of opening up the door to some things that I've been, people have asked these questions. So, I mean, where, you know, where is, where is the money going? Where is, who's actually making the money in PickleBall? You know, is it the brand, you know, paddle companies?

[00:37:50] Is it the facilities, coaches, tournament operators, brands, content creators? I mean, who, who is, who's actually making money? And so we want to know, you know, who's making and who's losing, you know? So look forward to our next podcast called the PickleBallers Gold Rush. You know, who's making, who's losing, you know? See if, is there still opportunity for you to make money in PickleBall? So anyway, thank you guys. I'm Mike Pays.

[00:38:20] Thank you for all my listeners, my wife, my family, all my sponsors. ChrisAnna, you are incredible. You're always here helping me. Greg, you know, you know, I love you. He's, he's an awesome guy. You always, you'll know Greg. He'll body bag you. My wife, I love her dearly. My five children, four grand babies. Oh my God, I can't, and all the players that I get to play with. Thank you so much. Had a good evening.

[00:38:47] And stay tuned for next week, the PickleBallers Gold Rush. Good night. Denver! Feel that energy? Professional Pickleball is here. Your hometown heroes, the Denver Iconics, are serving up nonstop thrilling action. We're more than a team. We're a community. Be part of the movement sweeping the Mile High City.

[00:39:14] Get the latest news, grab your gear, and join the Iconics family. The action starts at DenverIconics.com. That's DenverIconics.com. That's DenverIconics.com.