298: The Revolution of Racket Sports with RacketX w/ Robin Duda
Welcome to an exhilarating chat with Robin Duda, the genius behind the revolutionary Racket X event. Get ready to discover how paddleball is stealing the show in the racket sports scene, creating waves of change that promise to bring together enthusiasts like never before. We navigate the thrilling activities planned for Racket X in Miami, a glorious week-long event that's set to become America's Racket Week. From clinics and product demos to fashion shows and engaging speakers, there's something for everyone.
Buckle up as we also discuss the exciting giveaway planned for my upcoming 300th episode of Private Club Radio. A closer look at the multi-generational appeal of paddleball reveals how it's breaking boundaries to become an all-inclusive sport. Don't blink as Robin unveils the collaborations in store for Racket X, including a joint ticket sale with the Miami Open and a major pickleball league tournament. Ready to soak up the Miami sun with a racket in hand? This episode is your front-row ticket to all the action at Racket X. Let's get this party started!
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Everybody. Welcome back to Private Club Radio. I'm your host, Denny Corby. Paddleball is blowing up racket sports right now, absolutely destroying everywhere. You can't go anywhere without someone mentioning pickleball. It's bonkers, bonkers. Everyone's doing it, everyone's doing the paddles. But I'm excited for next year because there's a lot of different conferences and events that I am going to, from the CMA conference to the NCAA and just a bunch of other different cool industry events, chapter events, all the events. But there's one that popped up that was interesting and it's the first of its kind and it's called Racket X and it's going to be in Miami March 24th, 25th, 26th. It's going to be at the Miami Beach Convention Center and I'm chatting with Robin Duda, who's putting this whole shindig on an event. Professional racket club, racket sport enthusiast and even funnier, is grew up in my neck of the woods here in Pennsylvania. All the roads lead to Scranton. I'll let Robin explain it more, but really trying to revolutionize the racket sports scene and she's going to tell us about how the event and collaboration a little bit with the Miami Open that will be happening around the same time. It will offer racket zeus an exciting range of activities including clinics and products, demos, fashion shows, speakers, professionals. It's going to be really fun, really interactive and for anyone. Anything racket, sport related. And I thought magic conventions were dorky. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It is cool to see how fast a sport can gain traction and get people excited, and something that's a multi-generational sport that everybody can enjoy and be a part of and understand is pretty cool. Can't say the same for paintball? Well, did we love playing paintball with grandpa? Getting very close to the 300th episode here on Private Club Radio. If you have not done so already, make sure you are signed up for the giveaway. Head on over to privateclubradiocom and you can't miss it. It's right there Giving away some amazing prizes, tremendous prizes, a ton of books. We have a bourbon basket from our friends at KE camps. Back to the books. I love books, I love reading. So just some really good classic books, books on management. We're going to be giving away some of those. Our buddies over at Club Grub are giving away a really cool package and prize really excited about that. And I'm giving away a free show. What I know? A club can win a free evening with me. That sounded weird, but having me come in and do my stand-up magic, mind reading and comedy show For an evening, fun evening for your members. So head on over. If you're not registered yet, get on there and you might possibly be the lucky winners. There's gonna be plenty of winners or a bunch of the different prizes, without further ado, please welcome from the racket X Bow Robin Duda Obsessed it's a pretty polarizing sport.
Speaker 2:I feel like you're either obsessed or you can't stand it it's, I feel, like it's your eye in one of either of those two camps for.
Speaker 1:Then you have paddle. Now which?
Speaker 2:It's taking, it's like aggressive. It's super fun. I mean it's the fastest growing sport in the rest of the world. I mean it's huge and it's the biggest board in Spain and Just paddle ball, but you can like bounce off the wall.
Speaker 1:Or it's like pickle ball, you can bounce off the wall.
Speaker 2:I wouldn't say it's like. I'd say it's like a mix of tennis and Squash almost, because you, you play like you turn around and you use all four walls. It's not like there's one. You use the whole fish bowl you're in. I've played a couple of times. Only it's very addicting. There aren't you. There's a court here to play on or a club in Atlanta yet, but as soon as it comes I will be playing. It's super fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And pickleball is everywhere, of course, and you could do that anywhere, but paddle is quite addictive.
Speaker 1:It's just, I don't know, I can't get past the name. I think part of it too. Paddle Just a little bit like no pickleball. Oh, pickleball I can't pickleball, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Well, people love it Super. I mean, I've played a bunch. It's really fun and you can play with anybody. I think that's what America loves about it. My personal opinion it's super accessible and very inclusive sport you can be. It's multi-generational, you can play with your grandparents, you can be a kid and play. You can be yeah, yeah, I think that's you know. It's very accessible in terms of low cost of entry. You can throw up a court in your driveway if you really want. You can go to a public park and it's super easy. Or you can be at a club.
Speaker 1:It's a very every man sport every woman sport Our trainer, because it's like a big space. He got like a roped off thing that they put weights on. So, like you know, it opens, spreads out, so they had like their court they could play wherever. Now I'm like, oh boy.
Speaker 2:I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised, Is it? How's it taking storm in the Northeastern PA?
Speaker 1:It's getting there, it's getting there. It's getting very popular, but the thing is space, so they're starting to pop up more.
Speaker 2:You'll see public parks too, I think probably. I don't want to say transform tennis courts, but you'll start to see them popping up, I think probably a little bit more too. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So what do we have going on in Miami? Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2:What's not going in Miami? The week that we're there, racket X is the home court for racket sports over the March 24th, 25th and 26th, and we're going to be a business and consumer based show with tons of content and activations throughout the three days. However, elsewhere in Miami, we are collaborating with the Miami Open, which will be its biggest weekend. Yeah, we have a joint ticket sale going on sale this week with the Miami Open, which is amazing. So Monday night at Racket X will be at the Miami Open and it'll be Racket X night at the Open. And then we're finalizing some plans for a major pickleball league to be playing their big tournament next door to us. So there'll be lots and lots going on, as well as a paddle exhibition. So it's For sure going to be America's Racket Week.
Speaker 1:I was going to say just racket galore.
Speaker 2:That's the name of the game we're trying to be. We're trying to rising tide, to lift all ships in our opinion, and we're trying to create an environment that is inclusive of all sports, that is inclusive of multi generations, as we kind of just talked about, but also a place that you can discover, learn and actually play and have some fun. So we believe that Miami was the best place to launch this, given the rise of paddle pickleball and the Miami Open. Being there, we just thought that this seemed like the perfect opportunity in the white space that didn't exist in the market.
Speaker 1:Perfect storm. Actually, I shouldn't say that.
Speaker 2:Not in Miami, not in Miami. Yeah, that's a little too soon, okay.
Speaker 1:So what got you to here? Like, how did we arrive at Racket X?
Speaker 2:So some industry investors approached had the idea that they were launching some businesses in other racket tangential markets, if you will, not in the event space. But they kind of saw that there was no. As they were launching things, they noticed that there was really no place for discovery on the business side across all racket sports. So they had this concept. They approached me. They said do you wanna get back in the game? I've been in the event business for 20 years and get back in the game, meaning get your hands really dirty and launch this. I had been consulting and advising for the last six years and I said yeah, hell yeah, let's do this. There was. It's a growing, amazing market. It's in sports. I've been an athlete my entire life. The industry itself is really nice and fun and collaborative and we did a little bit of discovery and thought that this was definitely a place for us to put a flag up and start to build something that we thought was truly special and different.
Speaker 1:Can you walk me through what the whole thing is gonna look like? So, like day one, I show up. You said there's plenty of activations.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Building day by day what this monster looks like. But day one is a Sunday, monday, tuesday dates, so that Sunday there's a lot of action happening, like I mentioned, between all the different sports that are gonna be in town as well as Miami Music Week. So that day, we believe, is gonna be very heavy on the consumer side. All content will be showcasing or centered around trends in the market and by trends we mean the right now, in the near-ish future and there'll be mainstage content, very festival-like, if you will, where there is your mainstage and then there's sub-stages, that kind of dive into everything a little bit deeper. Then there's a mainstage where it's very keynote-centric, big hitters, big names, and then you kind of break down into the show floor, if you will, which is what we would call our activation zone. There's another theater there where we can, like I said, dive deeper. But also there will be pickleball courts, tennis court and paddle courts, hopefully a squash court, table tennis tables set up in an activation zone where there will be clinics, there will be 101s, there will be product demos, you name it. You'll be able to get in on the action pun intended in that zone, as well as exhibitions, famous players playing, book signings, book readings all of that happening along with your trade piece of this, where there are brands who are activating their spaces, their stands showing their latest wares, a fashion show with the latest of what's coming up for the spring-summer season, and then a viewing bar area to take all this in and meet in network using our AI-based app, where clubs, in this instance, could be able to sift through a lot of the action on the consumer side and get to actually meet with buyers or potential products that they'd like to, whether they're a court builder, a court manufacturer, lighting or apparel company. They'll be able to meet, virtually connect through an AI-based app, set up a meeting and then actually schedule that meeting and that space in the viewing area on-site. So, like I said, there's something for everyone for sure, and we hope that we are creating an experience that lends it easy to discovery and actually having a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:Any celebrities going to be there?
Speaker 2:Okay, I can't announce them yet. Oh, come on. Yeah, there's a lot of contracts and red tape at NDAs, but there will be a couple of big-name players, quote-unquote, who have either retired recently, crossed over across sports, former athletes, et cetera, and then big names in each of the sports. Of course, that will be announced in the, I would say, the next two weeks. Some of them, but we will be dripping them over the course of the next several months. That's just the name of the event game. You can't give up all your cards all at once, of course.
Speaker 1:Of course, all the big names come like two weeks before.
Speaker 2:Well, they're schedules. I'm sure you could imagine if they're at the Miami Open they're probably playing, and we have to work around a lot of people's schedules too.
Speaker 1:Just a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, goodatta Puyano, thanks, but it should be fun. Like I said, it should be a really but also very you know, hopefully value based for our business side attendees there. You know we're targeting clubs, which is a big reason why we're you know we're talking now, but Parks and Rec, real estate developers, investors who are already in this space, or potential investors who are looking to get in this space and discover new products and things that could be a part of their portfolio, as well as universities pros and then your fans and enthusiasts.
Speaker 1:The whole gambit.
Speaker 2:The whole game.
Speaker 1:It's actually pretty cool because it almost feels like you can go and meet your heroes, Like it's such a small, intimate space that a lot of industries don't and can't have. You know, like there's like how many kids who play football actually can grow, you know, can go to like a football thing and like meet their heroes? So you know it's a lot more difficult, but this sounds like a really cool place where you could really, you know, when you say activation now it does make more sense, you can have that engage.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, that's the holy grail of events, in my opinion. We're trying to get to connection and then engagement. And when you could connect with a brand, whether it's my, our brand, rack-a-ducks, or one of our brands that we represent and help promote at the event. The goal is that you engage with them, you have fun, you share, you learn and you actually get your hands. This is an industry, you know. I'm so lucky to be a part of this. I've been in industries where it's not fun. There's no sport, there's no, you know, chemicals. I can't say was the easiest thing for you to market. But what I love and what I didn't really realize when I first started to kind of peel the layers away in this industry was the business folks. Most of them that I've met are enthusiasts, fans and players. So it lends itself to be able to create so much more fun because it makes sense, it doesn't feel like it's just thrown in there or forced, which I do believe a lot of events tend to do. They have, you know, experiences for the sake of throwing in an experience that doesn't actually make sense to the, to the overarching theme or what their industry is, and it's like, okay, this is cool, we're going to go ride you know, do a you know, on a track for like a NASCAR thing, but like it doesn't make any sense to what we're doing. This is a really easy segue that we can allow the business side to have even more fun than they would have expected and serve the consumers at the same time. That's awesome. Plus the more. If you have a racket in one hand we hope that you are you most likely have a paddle in another, and discovery of cross sports is really fun too.
Speaker 1:I legit thought you were going to say like a drink or something. Well, that's two. And then like a racket and then like a drink. I was like oh, you're like, I know they're. I was like oh, okay. You were definitely not on the same page If you so choose.
Speaker 2:there is a viewing bar lounge area in the center, which is the epicenter of Racket X that you know kind of has a perfect view of center court and you can have a alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage of your choice there as well.
Speaker 1:I don't know if I'm going to edit this part out or not, but I swear, if I see this I'm coming after you. No, there should be like a racket, like drink and snack hold.
Speaker 2:Oh, oh, you should trademark that. That's a really good.
Speaker 1:That's a really good idea, or even like so, as you have. Oh, my God.
Speaker 2:That's going to go in next year's gift guide. I can tell you right now you better start production.
Speaker 1:If you, if you, um, just a cool thing. Uh, if you take a tennis racket and it has all those holes you can put like lollipops or popsicles.
Speaker 2:You can do like something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Right to like I don't know, like to walk around a handful.
Speaker 2:We're going to have to put you on the creative team.
Speaker 1:I got plenty.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1:This is my. I go nuts, my brain goes all over the place.
Speaker 2:I love it. We need all the ideas we're going to have to every year we're going to have to. You know you can't do the same thing either. You need lots of ideas in this space to stay relevant.
Speaker 1:What are the dates again for it?
Speaker 2:March 24th to the 26th, so that's the middle weekend of the Miami Open, which and it is post spring break in Miami. For anyone who's concerned over spring break, it is post right at the tail end. Spring break will be over, but we will have on the site, if it's not already, a some hotel rates, because that is I'm sure you could imagine. March in Miami is a very desirable time to to get away from a lot of places in the US.
Speaker 1:And I think just anytime people, if you just say Miami, they're like I'm there, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've. We've partnered with a few hotels that are very close by to provide the industry with a range of different hotels to stay in, from more expensive to more affordable. We have a trends report that dropped two weeks ago on the basically the state of the racket sport industry altogether, which hasn't been done before. It was the first of its kind piece, pulling in research from lots of different sources. It's like 40, some pages. It's on the website for a free download. So, by all means, you just have to give us your email and you get that for free. We're going to be dropping four more of those over the course of the next couple of months. The next one is going to be in fashion and fashion trends. We just released our holiday gift guide today. So lucky there, with some of our top 20, what we believe are fines for the holiday. So definitely subscribe to follow along with all of our updates. And tickets are on sale. Like I said, miami open ticket joint ticket option has dropped and there are all access in VIP passes still available.
Speaker 1:Oh snap, what's. What's with the VIP package?
Speaker 2:Oh, you know, early access to things. There's going to be some very well known coaches in the different sports who are going to be doing clinics, one on ones, et cetera and they'll have first access to sign up for those on court clinics and little fun experiences as well. As you know, the, the gifting. You know, not a gifting suite by any means, but the yeah, some special swag from some of our partners and preferred seating in the, at the open, at the tournaments that we're partnering with, as well as in the all the different sessions, keynote sessions, main stage and on the show floor. That's cool, yeah, yeah, hopefully they'll be a part of your two thrown in there as well. So more to come.
Speaker 1:I would hope. I would hope maybe one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, I think. I think there probably will be a couple in Miami. Yeah, well, for sure, no shortage of parties.
Speaker 1:Hope you all enjoyed that episode. If you're interested, head on over to theracketxcom that's the T, h, e and the word racket and then the letter Xcom to learn more and registrations open. The VIP All access passes are on sale. So if you want to bar, it'll do, you know what to do. As always, your support means so much. So if you can like, share, subscribe, give a rating. May seem like it's a little thing, but it means the world to myself and the channel, so I will catch you on the next episode. Until next time, catch you on the little little flip. I get it Back, don't talk back.