The biggest players in the racket sports business are about to converge on Miami for the first ever RacquetX – and the festival is already making waves by releasing ground-breaking research into the industry.
RacquetX, which is taking place at the gigantic Miami Beach Convention Center from 24-26 March, could be an exciting launchpad for padel in the USA. With around 250 courts in the States, padel’s footprint is tiny compared to the behemoth of pickleball, but curiosity levels are high and RacquetX will be a hugely important showcase for our sport.
To preview the three-day extravaganza, RacquetX has commissioned the first ever consumer report covering all racket sports, in conjunction with LaneTerralever (LT), a marketing and customer experience agency focused on leisure and entertainment consumers.
The RacqueTrends Report, called “Who’s on the Court?”, revealed the emergence of what it calls the ‘cross-court consumer’ with players diversifying the racket sports in which they regularly participate:
- – Close to half (43%) of responders have played more than one sport in the past year or intend to diversify their play
- 99% of players plan to play the same or more in the coming year (56% plan to play more)
- Padel is becoming a popular choice for Gen Z (18-27) in the USA with 30% of respondents trying the sport, with table tennis and badminton coming out strongly
- The report says: “Court builders, communities and clubs should consider adding both padel and badminton to their offerings as a mean of serving the needs of next-generation players.”
- Most people play in their regular gym clothes, unearthing a huge opportunity for brands to market their sports-specific products to this population. Tennis did this in the 1980s with bandanas, visors, and other iconic clothing pieces
- Public courts are the most popular place to play. Clubs (including the rapidly-expanding pickleball and padel venues, as well as country clubs) have tremendous growth potential and private/public collaborations will open up access for all market segments
Read the full RacqueTrends Report, “Who’s on the Court?”
The brainchild of events strategist Robyn Duda and entrepreneur/investor Marco Giberti, RacquetX is the first all-racket-sports experience, featuring tennis, pickleball, padel, squash, racketball, table tennis, badminton, pop tennis, and more. It includes 75+ speakers, an Expo with hundreds of new products, services, and technologies, and nine courts at the Miami Convention Center for tournaments, demos, and fan activities.
Read our interview with RacquetX founder Robyn Duda
