Cold Open + STL Bucket List Intro

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Drafted a 12-year-old. Yeah, 12-year-old female. Elsie Hendershot.

SPEAKER_02 0:04

I'm babysitting now, too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:05

So we got a new babysitter responsibility. But our bet again is on the future of the sport. And you talked about the accessibility. It's one thing that's unique is you know, on an MLP court, you have literally 12-year-olds competing against 45-year-old.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

If you wanna hear about St. Louis, tune into the bucket list show weekly. Hear what Marissa and Luke say. It drops every Wednesday. Got a dope new guest every single week. Buckle up for the ride. Who's it gonna be? Who's on the show today? They rap St. Louis. What to do in the loo on a late night? I maybe what to do on a date night. Yeah. Bucket list as you covered, they know what's going on. What's going on? They'll give you hate. 18 different things to do on 19. If you need one more to choose, yeah. The city, city, city is a place we call home. A place we call home. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 0:59

St. Louis, welcome back to the STL bucket list show. Um, the hottest podcast in St. Louis, highlighting the people, places, and events that make St. Louis special. Shout

Meet the St. Louis Shock + What Is Major League Pickleball?

SPEAKER_03 1:08

out to Julia on the ones and twos, producing each and every episode. We come out with new episodes every single week right here in Maplewood, Missouri. Um, we got a special episode, one of the biggest sporting events of the year happening um in June. So just a week from today. Um I got Ross Schaeffitz um and I got Andrew Haynes from STL Shock. Um, you guys might have heard him last year. Now we got Ross on this year to talk more about it. But thank you, gentlemen, for coming in today.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Um, so I want to, you know, just to educate the crowd, we we have some new listeners. Um, tell us what the St. Louis Shock is, you know, because obviously, you know, this is a new sport. It's uh you guys are investing a lot in St. Louis and and in your team um and putting on one of the biggest pickleball events in the country, you know, here right here in St. Louis, something we should be proud of.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

So the St. Louis Shock is the best team in the fastest growing sport in the world. Um we compete in Major League Pickleball. Uh the team was founded three years ago in 2023 as an expansion franchise. Um, and everything we do, we do as big and as strong as possible. And in three quick years, we've built this team into really the leading franchise in Major League Pickleball and in the sport. Uh last year we were 26 or 27 and one. We were regular season champions uh and we won the MLP Cup. Uh not only are we winning on the court, we're winning on the business front. We lead the league in just about every single metric from social following to commercial sponsorships to, of course, our our on court record and our championships. Um Major League Pickleball, as I mentioned, is the uh fast growing league in the world's fastest growing sport. Uh Major League Pickleball merged with PPA just a few years back to unite uh the two leagues that were at the time competing. And we now have unified what we're calling UPA, um, which is the holding company of our leagues. Um so the St. Louis Shock is has now become the the leading team and the North Star of the sport. We're proud to be based right here in in St. Louis. And last year we held our our first ever Major League Pickleball St. Louis event at Schafitz

Why Pickleball? The Origin Story + Building the Franchise

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Arena, and we're excited to come back uh this year to do it again, June 4th through 7th at Schafetz.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

That's awesome. So why pickleball? What what what was that first conversation like? Because obviously, you guys, you know, everybody knows the Shaffitz Arena and everything like that, basketball and all these different things, but why pickleball? You know, obviously it's a newer sport. I just started playing. I was at the Missouri Pickleball Club the other day. Obviously, chicken and pickle has had us out a few times. Like you see it, but like who was the first person that was like, hey, we need to pay attention to pickleball here? Is that you?

SPEAKER_01 3:35

So so that was me. The story dates back to late 2022. And in my day job, I manage our family office Schaeffitz Group, where we're uh investing across a wide array of strategies from venture capital to private equity to real estate and sports. Uh and in 2022, the back half of the pandemic, the sport was really, really exploding. Uh and major league pickleball was in its its infancy at the time, uh, but they had publicly announced that they were going to go through uh an expansion process to sell two new teams. Uh and we, wearing our sports investor hat, were seeing all the trends in pickleball. Uh, but the sport was really a mess because it was moving so quickly. And we couldn't figure out, you know, we knew we wanted to be in pickleball, but how did we want to play it? Did we want to be in the paddle business, the technology business, the court construction business, the facility business, the league business, the team business? We didn't know. But we uh sort of drew an analogy to what was happening with now the major four leagues. Uh, when you think about NBA, NFL, MLB, back in the 70s and the 80s, where you had massive player adoption and massive player growth, uh, but not yet full maturity of the leagues and the commercial business models, we saw those similarities. Uh, so pickleball growth was, you know, 5x year over year during the pandemic. And we said to ourselves, look, if if the players here are here and they're not going away, the leagues and the professional side of the sport will soon follow hereafter. So when the league announced that they were gonna go through this expansion process, you know, our family office reached out and we were essentially told, uh, yeah, you want an expansion team, you know, you and everybody else, 50 teams are applying, you know, get in line. Um, and, you know, ultimately they came back to us and said, hey, you know, it's time for expansion, put your best foot forward. They got 50 to 60 bids. Um, and they already had teams in some of the uh, at the time, mature pickleball markets like Florida and California and Texas. Um, and, you know, as you know, we have a very strong affinity and relationship here in St. Louis with some of the things you mentioned, uh, St. Louis University, Shave It's Arena, a variety of technology and real estate investments here. And we know this ecosystem really well. And the one thing that we are aware of is just how passionate they are about their sports teams. But what surprised me when we were digging into our research and our diligence about pickleball was at the time St. Louis was a top five pickleball market in the US. And not many pickleball players knew that. Missouri Pickleball Club here in town was a first mover uh in introducing facilities, which ultimately created the flywheel around players and and demand for the sport. And so when we were offered the opportunity to buy the team, it was my mom, actually, who was a Padel player in her father past life, who said to my dad, if you don't buy this team, I'm gonna kill you. Verbatim. So what that meant was um we ultimately had to overpay, um, which in hindsight was a good decision, but we had to overpay for at the time was essentially a hope and a dream. So, as I mentioned, it was an expansion franchise, which meant we had nothing. Um, we were awarded the franchise, us and the DeVos family, who are owners of the uh Orlando Magic, we were awarded the franchise and essentially said, Hey, great news. You won the franchise. We like the St. Louis market, write us a check. Your first event is in two weeks. And so, what that meant for me was my full-time job, at least temporarily, shifted from investor to end-to-end team operator. So that two weeks became a sprint around all aspects of building a team. Everything from logos to roster generation to hiring folks on social media and business and commercial leadership, everything souped to nuts. We launched in two weeks. Probably in hindsight, one of our proudest moments was how much we were able to accomplish in two weeks. And so that's kind of the story of how this thing got going. And fast forward three years later, and here we are, as I mentioned, we're kind of the north star of the league and uh we're we're the envy that everybody's chasing now.

SSM Health Sponsor Spot

SPEAKER_03 7:19

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Celebrity Ownership + Growing the Business Side of Pickleball

SPEAKER_03 7:49

And and you know, you were competing against people like LeBron and Mahomes and Brady and like some pretty big players, not only financially, but star power. Like if it's my league, I want those guys in my league. And now you're in a league with those other people. So what no, Andrew, how did you get involved with it? Were you part of that two-week blitz or was it?

SPEAKER_02 8:07

I came on after the fact, thank God. But uh, I still feel like I was thrown into the fire like that. Yeah, I didn't know pickleball when I got in. I've been in minor league sports for 25 years and definitely knew the Chafus family from from being in St. Louis before and saw how hot pickleball is. I mean, it's it's everywhere. I was living in St. Pete, Florida, and everywhere I'd go, you'd see pickleball courts, people out there playing. I didn't realize there was this whole professional side to it. And then when I did see that, I I was shocked that they were so young. The players like our players when I first joined were 18 years old, two of our guys. I mean, they're they're kids, you know, and and they're just unbelievable. So I think that's that's a big thing. And then just taking this and turning it into a viable business. I mean, that's really what what Ross has been able to do over the last three years. And I've been able to come in and help, you know, grow that business side. Um, and I got hooked. I've been playing. I've got I'm scuffed up from playing this weekend, diving around like I'm still like a kid. I'm not. I'm sore today, but uh but it's a lot of fun. It's it's hard not to get hooked.

SPEAKER_03 9:14

And we talked last time about the accessibility because that's what's beautiful about it. It's almost it almost reminds me of golf in a way because you're you can play four generations all out on the course all at one time. You know, your 10-year-old, 40-year-old, 80-year-old, you know, grandpa can all play. And not every sport's like that. If we all went out and played football tomorrow, we're all gonna be really hurt, you know. But pickleball kind of has that. And you guys are betting on pickleball, not just in St. Louis, but the MLP and and you guys are also a part of that group now, too. And and uh, I mean, where do you see it? I mean, do you see this? Um, we're professional pickleball, like obviously you mentioned the big four, but like you see pickleball rising in that way, obviously, because you guys are betting on it.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

You know, yeah, yeah. I think the the growth is undeniable. And, you know, when we were first starting to build this team in 2023, and even when Andrew came on in 2024, a lot of the pushback we got from sponsor prospects was hey, we see pickleball, you know, we play pickleball, we believe in pickleball, but persuade us that this isn't just a fad. Persuade us that pickleball is going to be around for the long term.

Investing in the Future + Building a Pickleball Portfolio

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Um, and fast forward to now, we've done that and we are continuing to do that. And I think, you know, from an investment perspective, our investment thesis really evolved from, hey, let's acquire a team to let's build a portfolio in pickleball. Yeah. And so again, fast forward two or three years, and we've built uh really the largest standalone pickleball uh investment portfolio in the sport. So when you think about the flywheel effect we've created by first acquiring the St. Louis shock, we've now wrapped around all these other ancillary assets and investments around it. So we have uh investments in technology with platforms like Duper, which is the universal rating system. We have investments in facilities when you think about Pickler, who's the largest franchise or of facilities uh in the US. We have an investment in a court construction company, Pickle Tile, who build builds uh courts and sound suppressing solutions. We have investments in uh apparel with a company called Stack, who's essentially the Lululemon of pickleball. We have Vulcan, which is paddles, accessories, bags, balls, you name it. So we're building a portfolio or a mutual fund or an ETF, if you want to use financial um, you know, uh similarities, uh, because we believe this sport is here to stay. Now, I I'm honest when I tell people I don't know what line of business is going to win. I don't know if it's going to be the team, if it's software, if it's facilities, if it's uh equipment, whatever it may be. So we're building a diversified uh approach and our investment in the team and in the shock and in our players and in our personnel uh is what has, you know, led us to the forefront of the sport. And as I believe, one of the recognized uh sort of builders and leaders in pickleball. So we're we're hyper, hyper bullish. You know, what's to come in the future is is TBD. Uh, but I think we are very confident in saying that, you know, when you wake up in the future, whether it's three years down the line, five years down the line, 10 years down the line, the sport is only going to continue to grow. Uh the financial aspects of the business will only uh continue to uh mature. And I think, you know, we see that every

Bringing Major League Pickleball to Chaifetz Arena

SPEAKER_01 12:07

day. I see it on the investment front. And Andrew sees it when he talks to our sponsors and our partners.

SPEAKER_03 12:11

Yeah. And then, you know, let's shift to MLP St. Louis. You know, obviously, you know, at your guys' home base, get to transform the stadium. I remember driving our office used to be on North Grand, right at the on God Hearts Hotel, a little bit, a little bit north of you guys. And I remember driving by the stadium and seeing the pictures of the your team up on. I mean, how cool is that? When you really get to see, we took a pic, I think we posted a picture last year of like from like across the highway, like looking up at the building and just seeing this huge billboard of these younger people. I mean, them on a platform, professional athletes.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

How is it for them too? I mean, think about it. You know, they started a few years back. I, you know, the guys specifically, they started when they were about 14 years old. So they've been playing and they've been playing at places like Missouri Pickleball Club and and that, and now they're rising up to a professional arena like Chafus Arena, and then they see their selves up on the the side of it. I mean, everyone throughout the league uh was blown away with with the venue, with with that. Like this is the place that people want to play. Um you're putting St.

SPEAKER_03 13:09

Louis on the map in that way. You know, St. Louis is the mech of pickleball, you know. Yeah. It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Bringing people, not just you know, St. Louis people, but we're bringing people from all over the country to come here. They they recognize that this is one of the top pickleball events in the country or world, and uh they want to be here. So this year it's it's the interest, the you know, from sponsorships, from fans, from ticket sales, everything is trending upward. So it's looking to be another great event.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

Yes, and I think I think it speaks to the maturity of the sport. The fact that we're even in a position where we can play in a world-class arena like this that seats 10,000 people, you know, if you look back to where MLP was in its early years, just a few years back, I mean, we were playing on um, you know, uh on on small courts with bleachers that would seat, you know, 300 people. And the growth that the league has experienced to be able to be in a position of financial viability, to be able to afford to play in a place like Shea Fitz speaks to the attraction uh of the fans and the sponsors. Because what people don't recognize is it's not just that you show up and you you play in a 10,000 seat arena, right? Uh there's a PL and there's an expense profile to this. And we're only doing it. We only did it because we have pure lines of sight and confidence to the fact that our revenue can now offset the expenses. So I think, you know, there's a business side to it, but there's also the player experience that that Andrew spoke to. I mean, just a few years ago, uh players like Hayden Patriquin, who are on our team, you know, he was growing up as a surfer boy in California. Never in his wildest dreams was he expecting to be a professional athlete, you know, 18 years old in pickleball, the arguably the best man in the world right now, playing in a 10,000 uh, you know, seat arena. And when they were here last year, our team, our players, look, they've been in the hottest markets in the US from Dallas to Miami to Newport Beach, where pickleball is on fire. And the one thing they told us here that I think really surprised us was they were like, you know, oh shit, like we were in Walmart and people recognize us here. They feel like they're pro athletes, you know, on the biggest stage here in St. Louis. And it's because of the investments our making, it's because of the simple things, you know, that you mentioned where we're putting them on the the side of a world class arena, we're legitimizing the sport, uh, and it's creating a direct impact on on the PL of the expenses and and the player experience.

SPEAKER_03 15:25

Yeah, and being able to get those corporate. I mean, I see DoorDash is a big partner this year.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

And yeah, mega, mega partner with the league. I mean, multi-year, you know. The the league does a really good job as well, just you know, marketing and developing um, you know, the partnership side. And a lot of it now is turned over to the teams and and developing on the local and regional level. And that's helping drive some of those partnerships as well. And and I think for us specifically, I mean, it's it's continued to grow. Um, the last, you know, this is going into my third year, and we've had great growth um, you know, these last two and a half years.

SWADE Sponsor Spot

SPEAKER_03 16:01

The STL bucket list show is proudly sponsored by Sway Dispensary with 11 Missouri area locations. Sway does so much for the St. Louis community. We've been working with this team for a couple of years back since Medical was here, and we're excited to support their new product launches, events, and community initiatives. We couldn't be happier to work with this premier cannabis brand, and we're excited for them to sponsor the show. Enjoy the rest of the podcast.

Running a Family-Owned Franchise + Expanding Nationwide

SPEAKER_03 16:25

And at the end of the day, I mean, I Ross, I kind of want to toss this to you too. Like what I think is so beautiful is that it's a St. Louis story, but it's bigger than that. You're showcasing St. Louis with your family. So at the end of the day, it's a family business, but now you're in the sports world. So are you technically the day-to-day GM now? Or kind of tell me about that dynamic with what you guys got going.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Yeah, so um, you know, one of the things that's unique about the shock is we're owned 100% by our family. Yeah, it's beautiful. So I run the the day-to-day of the team. Uh Andrew kind of has as my right-hand guy helping to oversee the commercial side of the business. Um, but you talked about some of the celebrity ownership in the in the league, you know, people like Kaigo, LeBron James, Tom Brady. Many of these um, of these other teams are uh highly fragmented in terms of their ownership. There's 25 people that make up the ownership group. And so that creates a lot of clogs in the system when you think about decision making. Who do we draft? Who do we hire? What kind of sponsors do we want to work with? For us, you know, we're 100% owned by our family. So decisions ultimately come down to the people that you're looking at in this room right here, which allows us to act uh really, really quickly. Um, and you know, bringing it back to St. Louis, you know, when we thought about where it would be the best market to introduce this new pickleball team, you know, we're obviously hyper familiar with St. Louis because of what we've done with, you know, things like St. Louis University basketball. We know that they feed off their sports and their fandom and their and their passion for uh for professional teams here. So it just felt like the right fit. But one of the things that I think we've tried to do is broaden the appeal outside of St. Louis while make maintaining ties to this market. So one of the things that we and and Andrew have have focused on over the last year or two is the nationwide rollout of our minor league program. Uh so we have a minor league program where anybody can compete uh not only in the St. Louis market, but nationwide under the shock brand. We have a hundred players here in uh St. Louis, and we have, I think, almost 200 now nationwide, growing to 500 by the end of this year. Uh, and again, it just ties back to that flywheel effect of the investments we're making in the team, but we're always trying to maintain that St. Louis tie back. So these players that compete all around the country, whether they live in Dallas or Wisconsin or Memphis or Alabama, they show up to these events, they're competing in five, six, seven tournaments throughout the year, and they're wearing St. Louis shock stuff. So they're proud of the team, they're proud of this market, and it's our goal to maintain those ties as we build this thing.

SPEAKER_03 18:43

Yeah, St. Louis is just different. I mean, you've worked all over the country. Yeah, the fan of St. Louis. I mean, we just saw SLU obviously, you know, winning a tournament tournament game and then going up and playing one of the best games against Michigan, and like people were going crazy over what you guys did with Slough basketball. And um, but yeah, St. Louis, I mean, from Windsville to Belleville to the counties to all these different little everybody loves their sports. And what you guys are doing is you're introducing another thing for people to get excited about, similar to what the MLS did, another thing that people can get excited about. And you know, obviously you see what the blues do, you see what the Cardinals do, and what you guys are doing in pickleball. What I love about it is how innovative it is, how social it is, the social media strategy, the amount of posts that I see, like the mic up moments with the kids yelling and screaming, and you guys I've seen you guys on the social media too. You know, it's it's it feels like you're in it even

MLP Saint Louis Event Preview + Fan Experience

SPEAKER_03 19:32

though you're not in it. And and when we go, when we come down on, you know, June 4th through the 7th, you know, being able to get as close as possible to these athletes is is different, you know. So, you know, what what is the event gonna look like? You know, obviously it's a three, three-day event. Um, so kind of walk us through kind of you know what teams are gonna be there, what that event's gonna look like, and what exciting things that maybe you guys haven't shared yet.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

Yeah, it's it's uh four-day event. Um, Thursday, Friday, Saturday is uh pool play. And then Sunday becomes um the the top eight teams um then compete and it's it's point based uh for the standings. But we've got you know some of the top players in the world coming. Obviously, our whole team is uh top ten players, so yeah, um that that's a good start. Uh Ben Johns is on the LA Mad Drops, which uh, you know, Ben Johns is number one player, um, men's player out there. So um, but Brooklyn has been a a very uh tough competitor of ours. Uh a lot of a lot of great matches with them. So um definitely want to check it out. We play the four o'clock match on Thursday and Friday. So I know that's a work day, but maybe you can get out a little early, come out and check those those out. And then Saturday we have two matches, um 11:30 and uh four o'clock as well. And then Sunday it's based on uh how we perform in those first four days, uh first three days. So um we have single single day tickets and we also have two-day and a uh four-day pass. So if somebody wants to come out all four days, you get discounted tickets. You got VIP where you got food, drinks included, like you're right on the action. A lot of the players hang out in the VIP area. Nice. Um that that's the unique thing about this sport too, is like, you know, you'll you'll see the players, you know, and and they recognize how important the fans are. And you know, I've never seen anybody not take photos or sign autographs, and you know, um, you know, it's it's really about having that connection with the fans. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

Yeah, yeah, no, that's special. And especially these kids. I mean, you mentioned there's there's they're adults now, but it's like you got Hayden and Gabe are gonna be down there, Kate um and the rest of your team. I mean, seeing them become superstars has to be pretty special for you guys too.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Yeah, that I mean that's that's a proud moment for us when we when we drafted, especially some of these younger girls.

Drafting Young Talent + The Future of Pickleball

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Proud Papa. I mean, andrew's literally here doing laundry for some of our teammating stuff. But I said I said to him when when we when he was hired the job is not limited to solely what's in the job description and Now he's taking that quite literally. You got to start up, you know. Yeah. You know, we drafted these boys when they were 16 years old. And, you know, uh the thought process was at the time, you know, we were building this thing not just for for for then or now, but in the future. And look, it's paid off. I mean, we've had one of the top records in the league the last two years, MLP Cup champions, regular season champions. So it's working. And we're repeating the process this year, you know, with our fifth and sixth player slots. We uh drop uh drafted a boy, uh John Lucian Goines, who at the time was 17, now 18, a top singles male specialist. We also drafted a 12-year-old, yeah, 12-year-old female Elsie Hendershot.

SPEAKER_02 22:38

I'm babysitting now, too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

So we got a new babysitter responsibility. But but our bet again is on the on the future of the sport. And you talked about the accessibility. It's one thing that's unique is you know, on an MLP court, you have literally 12-year-olds competing against 45-year-olds. I mean, name another professional sport where that where that's possible. I think you'd be hard pressed to find one. Um but the competition structure is extremely unique. And one of the things that Andrew, you know, touched on, which uh we've actually changed this year over last year, is is uh we now have a group play format where teams are assigned into two groups where they play round robin style Thursday, Friday, and Saturday here at Shafits this year. Uh and then Sunday, what we're now calling Super Sunday, is when we'll have first place, third place, and fifth place matches uh where the teams that advance out of those groups will play one another for standings points. So uh the competition structure has changed this year, and you know, it all comes to a head. Each uh event on Sundays where there'll be some really, really good competition, and uh we're hoping for a very solid uh matchup against the uh Ben Ben Land uh LA Mad drops

Upshot Coffee Sponsor Spot

SPEAKER_01 23:41

on Sunday.

SPEAKER_03 23:41

The STL bucket list show is fueled by Upshot Coffee. My friends at Upshot Coffee have some of the best beans in town. I got some of their new packaging here. Look at this bag. Look how big this is. Um, they have four St. Louis locations, their flagship in Coddleville, the break shop over by Lindenwood in St. Charles, their Clayton location called Hi-Fi, um, and then flyby over in Tower Grove, their newest location. Um, and they also sell their coffee online everywhere. If you guys haven't added Upshot Coffee to your STL bucket list, it's time to try it. Some of the my favorite people in the industry and some of the best coffee in the game.

Local Partnerships + Community Support

SPEAKER_03 24:17

Yeah, no, that's special. I mean, what you guys have built is inspiring and and and really it's a St. Louis story. And I know that this is the STL bucket list show. So, what other local partners and local people are are a part of this? I mean, any other, you know, local businesses that really help make this thing possible.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, definitely. I mean, you know, Pickleman's is one of my favorites, right? I don't know if you've had their chocolate chip cookies, but I I sure have. Um everyone on our team has because if I do the order, we're gonna sure have chocolate chip cookies from Picklemans, but it is the joke around the team. Uh there's always chocolate chip cookies.

SPEAKER_03 24:53

It just makes sense to have picklemans a part of it. I mean, a pickle pickle in the name right by the stadium. Literally, you could throw a rock and hit their location right in midtown there. Um great, great, great people.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

Yeah, they're they're they're a great company. They're they're also like us, like they want to grow nationally. And uh they've got locations in uh in Dallas, uh out in Phoenix, uh Kansas, Oklahoma. So they're they're continuing their expansion as as we are. Um so we're really excited about that partnership. Um but we've been very fortunate with partners. Um we just um signed on Heat Controller, they're more of a national company. Um, Charles Schwab, Comsych, The Pickler, which uh Ross alluded to earlier. They're the largest franchise uh pickleball venue um company out there. So um that that's gonna continue to grow as we continue to develop these programs. One of the things that's nice to help us, you know, expand our brand is our show Shock and All. I don't know if you checked that out last season, but it's it's the best way to get behind the scenes. You see, you see it raw. Like, I mean, you know, we're we're a little out of control sometimes. And uh but you know, there's there's one thing no one will ever question,

Shock & Awe + Building a Content-Driven Sports Brand

SPEAKER_02 26:07

and that is just the passion that the entire organization has from ownership down to volunteers. Like we we want to win at everything that we do, whether it's on the court, off the court, uh we'll be in your face. Um, you'll like it or you'll hate it, but uh we're gonna be there, we're gonna be authentic, and so we're excited. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 26:30

I mean that's the it's content, man, and you guys understand that as a 2026 business. It's gotta have some fun. You know, of course, like yes, we want to sign those TV deals, yes, we're gonna be on ESPN, yes, we want to be on the streaming services. But at the end of the day, a lot of your fans, especially these younger ones, are gonna be watching you on TikTok, they're gonna be watching you on Instagram. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:46

They know Ross for sure. Yeah, yeah. They got Ross for sure. They gotta show up.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

And that's really a key element of the business strategy that that I envisioned and that we've now implemented. I mean, when we launched this shock and awe thing last year, it was really kind of just like a hope and a dream. And I I said to Andrew and our media team at the time, I said, Hey, I want to do like a very raw, like locker room type experience to show people what it means to be a professional pickleball player. Because people heard of this thing, major league pickleball, like what is major league pickleball? And it was really our opportunity to show what it's like on the business side and for some of these teenage pros. Um, and you bring that to life through very raw emotions. Uh, and I think people can relate to that. Um, you know, you contrast that with a very professionally edited 30 for 30 on ESPN, and it feels almost so overly produced that it's inorganic. And we wanted to make sure that what we provided was raw. So um, I will warn you, uh, it's not for young children. Uh, there are our occasional curse words in there, uh, but we can promise you that it's that it's always, you know, 100% authentic. And one of the things that I've said to Andrew is, you know, we're not a traditional sports team. Um, we are also a content business, we're a content engine. And so we've invested heavily in social media and some of those things like shock and awe. And it's, you know, that whole picture that's created uh this the scenario where we're now leading the pack in major league pickleball.

SPEAKER_02 28:03

Yeah. Yeah. Excited to have season two coming soon.

SPEAKER_03 28:06

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's coming out soon. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. It's it shows the investment and it shows that obviously, you know, you look at your team. I mean, your team's 18 to 21. It's like you need to be where they're at. And I I keep saying that. And there's some pro teams that aren't doing that. And they have way bigger staffs, way bigger budgets, and way bigger things going on that are in other major sports that can't seem to get their social media right. And you guys understood that from the beginning, and it and it helps having younger ownership too.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

And it's and it's quite counterintuitive to what people who don't play pickleball think pickleball is. Yeah. If you turn on TV and you see, you know, a prescription, you know, advertisement, they're now using pickleball in those prescription advertisements for 70-year-olds who have arthritis in their knee or have XYZ issue.

Youth Growth + The Future of Professional Pickleball

SPEAKER_01 28:49

So pickleball has had this stigma, for lack of a better term, that it's only associated with older folks. It's a way for them to get out and play. Right. But what people don't realize is the average age of a pickleball player has dropped by almost 10 years. The average age is now down to the low to mid 30s. It's dropped 10 years just since the pandemic. And, you know, you look at our team, you look at the new players who are entering the sport. You know, you go to an elementary school or a middle school or a high school now, people are electing to skip baseball, skip basketball, skip lacrosse, skip field hockey. They want to play pickleball because it's fun. And the youth kids are changing the game. You know, year over year, if you watch professional pickleball stylistically, the way the game is being played is changing because the youth are bringing a new energy and a new speed to the game. Now you have teenagers who are making literally millions of dollars. You know, Anna Bright on our team, who we drafted for $1.2 million. Uh, people like her, people like Ben Johns, people like Annalie Waters are making $1 million, $2 million, $3 million a year. They're making more than uh some of the highest paid WNBA players. Who would have thought in their wildest dreams that professional pickleball players could be making two to three million dollars a year? It's crazy how much. Yeah, this is a lot of things. You know, it's still so young.

SPEAKER_03 30:01

Yeah. Yeah, no, that's uh that's true. And and I noticed that because my wife's a high school teacher and they started implementing pickleball in school. And it starts in the youth. And it's I was reading something about hockey, and it's like the reason we have so many kids coming out of St. Louis for hockey is because not only the guys that are in the NHL, but kids see people playing. And once you know a 10-year-old comes to this event at Sha at Shea Fitz, they're gonna be like, oh my gosh, I want to be like him or I want to be like her.

SPEAKER_02 30:25

And now they can make real money as well.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

Yeah, and it's viable, it's not just a hobby sport, it's not just a little neighborhood thing, you know, like you mentioned where it's at the YMCA or at Lifetime, you know. This is in every neighborhood across St. Louis. And I would love to see some footage of that because like every neighborhood you go to in the county, ain't the city. Tower Grove Park has a pickleball league, Forest Park has a good racket, it's racket sports in general, and it's like that's becoming so and so so much popular. Um, so you guys obviously have this data now, but it is so new that every year you're growing. I bet the TAM of the market, you just can't even you don't even know it yet because you're still getting new, you still have so much discoverable fans. You know, new fans every year. It's exciting, man. And and and it and like I mentioned, everybody can play. You can play if you have young kids, you can play with your kids. You know, that there's so much stuff going on that, you know, I know we just watched LeBron play with his son in the NBA, but that's an anomaly. You know, that doesn't really happen in real life. That's uh that's not real, but it is it is for them. But yeah, what you guys have built, and I know I met you guys last year and and I I know some of the guys that were doing the social media, and I I've watched you guys for the last couple of years, super excited to be out there at the event this year.

How Fans Can Support the Shock

SPEAKER_03 31:29

How can people support? How can the city of St. Louis? I know we want them to buy tickets, we want them to support. Is there any other way? You know, if they can't make the event, is there any other way that they can support you guys?

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Yeah, I would say just look, first of all, if you can show up and show out, I can promise you whether or not you've seen pickleball before, professional is an entirely different game, uh, literally. And playing at Shea Fitz, again in a professional arena, in a professional environment, if you've seen PPA, if you've seen MLP in other environments, playing at Shea Fitz is nothing like you've ever seen before. You know, the full uh pyrotechnic capabilities and AV capabilities and lighting, I mean, we really make it a fun show. So whether you're looking for an outing uh with your family, you're looking for a date night, you're looking for something to do with your friends, you know, this is accessible to everybody. And if you can't be there, you know, we spent a lot of time talking about content and social media. Follow us online. I guarantee we're a worthy follow. Uh, you'll enjoy our content. It's fun, it's edgy, it's innovative, it's conflictual at times, but in a fun way. We're doing things differently. And I can promise that uh we're not gonna be a traditional count that you may follow on social media. So check us out at STL Shock MLP. We're on Instagram, we're on Twitter, we're on Facebook, we're on TikTok. You know, you name it. We got fun content everywhere. We've got uh fun uh merch and and swag that again is not tied only to pickleball, but tied to St. Louis. So no matter who you are, no matter how invested in pickleball you may or may not be, uh, we're trying to give something to everybody. So check us out, attend the event if you can, follow along. Our shock and awe series is a really, really fun way to figure out what this true uh uh major league pickleball thing is is really like.

SPEAKER_02 33:08

Yeah, it's a good way to get to know us all too. Shock and awe. I mean, it's it's I can't tell you how many times I'm I've traveled somewhere and people are like, oh, I I've seen shock and awe. You're the security guy, or you're the second guy.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

And believe it or not, fights do break out uh on the sidelines in professional pickleball. They do.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

And sometimes I go back to thinking I'm a linebacker. Yeah. And uh, you know, but uh you gotta protect your team, man.

SPEAKER_03 33:31

You gotta protect your family. How important and how vital is the arena that you guys have, having that asset and having that world-class arena. I mean, what advantages does that give you in the sport?

SPEAKER_01 33:42

It just takes us to the next level. Yeah. I mean, we could be like every other major league pickleball team where we say, hey, we're gonna host this in our local pickleball facility,

Why Chaifetz Arena Changes the Experience

SPEAKER_01 33:49

you know, no disrespect to you know, some of the facilities here like Arch or Major League Pickleball or Paddle Up or Chicken and Pickle. Great places to play pickleball. But what we're trying to do is we're trying to institutionalize, professionalize, and mature the sport. And the best way to do that is to bring it to a world-class arena that people have seen on national TV and can draw those professional correlates to. So again, like the viewership experience, simple things. The sight lines in an arena like Shayfit's are very, very different from what you would see at a traditional pickleball venue, the proximity you can get. If you want to sit courtside and be right next to the players, you can do that. If you wanted a suite, uh, you know, 80 to 100 feet up and get a bird's eye view of pickleball, which is really something that has never been offered until last year, you know, obviously full concession optionality, full VIP hospitality, food, bev, whatever you want, really unique merch offerings, uh way to get behind the scenes and access our team and the players and the fans. But these are all things that things that Schafitz Arena brings that traditional pickleball venues don't. And it also attracts um a unique consumer and and customer base. You know, what you're gonna get if we were to host this at a traditional pickleball venue is people who play pickleball. And what you get by hosting this at Shayfitz is you get uh attention and attraction from people who maybe haven't seen the sport before. Maybe, maybe you're an avid follower and season ticket holder of the Cardinals or the or the Billikens or the Blues or whoever it may be. And seeing that pickleball is coming to a professional arena might legitimize this sport in your eyes. So every time we get a new uh individual, a new person to step into Shave It's Arena, we find that that person most likely becomes a fan. And so these are all the things, the benefits that come with you know hosting this in a professional level arena and not just a traditional pickleball court.

SPEAKER_02 35:30

But I like it's climate controlled. Yeah, some of these events were outside. It's yeah, it's hot, it's brutal or it's raining. Like you just you can't control it. Here it's it's it's perfect, right? You know, you can really enjoy it as a fan. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 35:44

The sound, the light show that you guys do. I mean, you guys do an incredible job. I've been to that arena so many different times for with whether it's with my kids for Disney on like kids' events to big events to you know, obviously SLU basketball, which was one of the most electric gears

Closing Thoughts + Event Information

SPEAKER_03 35:58

that we've had. And it was just so fun to watch you guys this year. And and uh, you know, I'm excited to be out. I'm gonna be out at the event this year to um hopefully get down there and get some behind the scenes content. I always get it. I'll get you out there playing a little bit. Come on now, come on now, I'll play. Um we gotta I gotta get in the the shock and also STL bucket list in there. I appreciate you guys for coming on. Um Andrew, good to see you again, Ross. Nice to meet you. Thank you guys so much. And uh, you know, for you guys, go to stlshock.com. You can go to their website, go to their event calendar, and you can go buy tickets on Ticketmaster, right? Yep. So um grab tickets, like you said, this is uh the more so work that we can get for this is putting St. Louis on the map as a top five market for pickleball. Like you mentioned, is like how how are we? You know, we're a sports town, and this is just another one of the sports that we can get behind and and love that you guys are here and and doing your thing. So I appreciate you guys for coming on this week. Yeah, thanks for having us. All right, thank you so much. Appreciate it,

Bucket List Podcast Network Outro

SPEAKER_03 36:45

Ross. St. Louis, thanks for listening. Everything we do here is about telling the story of this city, and that doesn't stop with this show. On the Bucketlist Podcast Network, we're diving even deeper into the people, places, and moments that make this city what it is. Meet Me in Music with Neil Salsick captures the sound of the city, past and present, ending each episode with a live performance. For my foodie lovers, the sauce with Lauren Healy brings you inside the restaurants that define our culture every Tuesday. Gateway to Growth with Jamal Cornelius highlights the stories behind the people that make St. Louis work. And every Thursday, Bryce breaks down your weekend with This Week in St. Louis. More stories, more voices. Explore the full bucket list podcast network wherever you listen.