Episode #532: Pickleball Expansion on Long Island: David and Sam Ring's Vision for PickleballXpo

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This is Pete Moore on Halo Talks NYC, a native

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Long Island strong islander who is a big pickleball advocate. I had the

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pleasure of having David Ring and Sam Ring, and we

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are gonna talk about Oceanside. We're gonna talk about the Pickleball

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Expo, and we're gonna talk about a movement that has no

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signs of letting up. Thank you, Randy Sussman, pickle 65,

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for getting us connected. And, guys, welcome to your first halo

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talks. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks for having us. To be here.

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Awesome. So, why don't you talk about when you guys got involved in this,

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in this, global movement and, why you decided to,

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basically, commit your time and your, your

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careers on, the game of pickleball? I'll take that

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one if you don't mind. So a year ago, my wife put the bug in

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my ear because she was an avid player, and she knew that I was

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winding down at work, retiring from a 46

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year career. And she knew I was gonna drive her crazy, so I had

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to do something. So I started looking around for real estate,

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and, I got lucky. About 8 months ago, I

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found a beautiful piece of real estate with the right dimensions,

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and I cut the deal with the landlord through some negotiations

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and started the process. And, there is it's

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very underserved in this community. There's only

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one competitor that's about 30 minutes away, and they have

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no parking. This has about a 100 and 25 spots

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and 25 foot ceilings. And so it was a no brainer

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in terms of the space and to serve, what was an

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unserved, opportunity, because

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people were driving endlessly to find courts, indoor

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courts Mhmm. And a special place where they could spend time

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and socialize and play and have some fun. We we what were you

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doing before, before this? So I was in consumer

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electronics. I worked for nobody beats the Wiz for 20 years. I was

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with Best Buy for another 18 years after that, and I finished

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out my career at Samsung Electronics.

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And I retired on July 5th. I took 1 week off from

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retirement, and I went right back to work. Yeah. It doesn't seem like you're

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ready for, for full time retirement. No. Good for

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you. And and on the, by the way, we used to go to Nobody Beats

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the Wiz on Old Country Road all the time. That was one of mine.

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Unfortunately, there was a guy that worked there that used to give away a lot

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of CDs. Not gonna give his last name, but his name's Adam. And he

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had we we all had, like, Milli Vanilli CDs, and I'm like and a lot

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more. My mom's like, where'd you get all those? Like, oh, Adam works at the,

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you know, the the Wiz. I'm like, dude, it's like, they got inventory control issue

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there. That you weren't running inventory, were you? Yeah. We had a 5 finger

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discount program. Yeah. That was pretty yeah. There was there was there was a

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little bit of shrinkage. Yeah. There was a there was a lot yeah. Streaming

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probably helps the the the, you know, the shrinkage.

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Yeah. Moving on to to the the location that you, acquired, what was

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that before you turned it into this? Yeah. Interestingly enough, it

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was a sporting facility. It was called Turf Island. It was a batting

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cage and an indoor lacrosse. It was here for a good 20 something

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years. Matter of fact, my son, Sam, I had him in

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here hitting baseballs at the age of 6 7.

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So this was known in the community as a place to

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bring your your children to learn lacrosse,

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batting, catching, etcetera. And and, they defaulted,

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and I happen to be in the right place at the right time. So you

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bought the property or you leased it? We leased it. We have a 30 year

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lease, 10 year with 4, 5 year renewals, and Good for you. We got

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a great deal. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of next generation space that's coming

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up, and I think there's a lot of fever into the pickleball

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category. But I'm glad to hear that you have it seems like you got an

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a location and an a box where I think some people look at and

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say, hey. The the the sport will fill it, and it's like the

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location's gotta be the right, you know Mhmm. Layout, and there can't be, like, all

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these, you know, columns and and so on and so forth. So That's the challenge.

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I saw a lot of real estate. You know, Bed Bath and Beyond was going

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out at the time, but they're filled with columns, and their square footage

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was expensive. Warehouse space was ideal. And this is really

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less than an eighth of a mile from Costco. So we're pulling a

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lot of those customers, across the board here. Great.

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Great. Yeah. And, Sam, what's your involvement in, you know

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Yeah. For sure. Working with your dad and building a business? Yeah.

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So it's been a really fun ride so far.

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We've been open for about 2 or 3 weeks now, but I feel like we've

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been working together on this for probably over a year at this point.

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You know, from finding the right real estate to having the ups and downs if

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we're getting the lease or not, the construction being done on time,

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the permitting, all all that, it's been a hell of a

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ride. In terms of my,

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my operational role here, I am mostly focused

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on all of the marketing, the socials, the

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sales, the customer service, the software.

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Really, the whole operation is what I'm spearheading with the help

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of my dad and some other family members and some people that we hired,

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some locals in the area that have a history of teaching pickleball. We

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we really tried to hire people that sort of had a following

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within the Long Island community in regards to pickleball, which we did a good job

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of of finding. But I'm mostly focused on the

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back end of things, outside of some customer service and some

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sales, because, you know, driving the business is

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really what is gonna keep the doors open, obviously, and,

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get our name on the map for people who haven't even played yet and people

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that are already playing. And what's your background,

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before this? Yeah. So my background before this has mostly been,

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just in a lot of b to b sales roles at a few different firms,

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but nothing to do with pickleball. I started playing pickleball

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personally probably about 2 years ago in the park,

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right here in Manhattan. And, to this day,

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every day I walk by the park, there's, like, 20 new people every

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time I walk by the park. Yeah. It should be The sport is just like

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everyone people are like, just capture the bug now. I caught it 2 years

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ago. And, you know, my as my

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dad mentioned, Alisa, my my mother and

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and David's wife, she put the bug in

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his head a couple of years ago looking for a space, and she got

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into it a while ago. And then I started playing 2 years ago,

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and it really I think, got my dad even more interested because I

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was telling him how all my friends and I are playing every night, every day,

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and we can't get off the court. So he's like, you know what? We gotta

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look more into this. So that's where we're

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In in Oceanside in general, I mean, it's not it's not that easy to find

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this type of, you know, box with that kind of parking,

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you know, in the area. So it kind of has a little bit of a

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moat to it, I would think also. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. And then on top

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of that, you know, we opened up this location in an industrial area right by

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Costco, which everyone goes to, because everyone loves shopping at Costco.

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Shout out to Costco. And, you know, we're really trying

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to turn around the area that we're in. The area right now is a little

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bit overrun by construction sites, recycling plants, etcetera.

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So we're trying to really lift up the area and make it a little bit

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more, you know, a little bit more feasible for more more

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people to come visit. Gotcha. There's a local brewery around the corner

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from us. We partnered with them, a beer and wine place called South Shore

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Brewery. Shout out to them, and we're doing some cross promotions with them.

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Eventually, we'll get them in here, Once we're able

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to legalize the licensing aspect and do drink and drink

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nights, you know, singles nights, we're gonna do that

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kind of stuff, parties. We're we're expanding the space. We

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have another 84 100 feet coming in October, which will

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include 3 more courts and a 2,000 square foot party

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room that will include a kitchen, big video monitors on

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the wall, overhead projectors. So we'll have corporate

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events, functions, parties, holiday parties, birthday

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parties, where they could utilize the space and have

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courts available. Sam mentioned we hired some folks

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that have been in the business a while. They're former pros,

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pickleball instructors, with a great following. We

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hired Frank, and he's kinda running that for us. We have 3 other

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pros with Frank. And since there's so many new people joining,

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the sport, they're spending a lot of time with clinics, 1 on 1

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lessons, group lessons. So it's been a really

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fantastic, opportunity for people to come and learn a

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new sport at all ages. And we find that we're really attracting

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anywhere from, you know, the twenties up to the seventies,

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and that seems to be the range of folks that are looking

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to do something and get out of their homes and socialize. Yeah. I'm I'm

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shocked too that when I go and play pickleball, the 20 year

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olds are playing with 70 year olds. So it's not like, you know, you have

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to, like, segment them. A a couple of questions that that I

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wanna ask you guys. 1, are you guys running a membership monthly membership model

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and and court times as well? Or how how have you got that set up

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from the revenue model? Right. So we before we opened, we were offering

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a founder's membership, basically, an entry

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membership to allow people to subsidize the cost of our

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different options, like open play and private court rentals. We

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stopped selling that membership the day of our grand opening. That's when it

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expired. So right now, there is not currently a membership required

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to play at our facility, so everyone's welcome. You know, it's very

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inclusive, if you will. We want everyone to come enjoy it and to come play

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and come inside. And in terms of the courts,

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we have open plays. We have private court rentals. We

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have learn and play leagues. We have clinics.

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We have, like, beginner basic classes. We're really trying to

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appeal to as many people as possible, especially the people who haven't really

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ever picked up a paddle yet.

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This is Pete Moore. I wanna let you in on a little secret. There's this

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company called Promotion Vault, and what they do is they give out rewards from

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retailers that allow you to incentivize your

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members without having to do 0 down and 1 month

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free or giving away shakes or giving away t shirts. What

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you wanna do is build a rewards program that lasts, that

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people value, and that doesn't discount your own products and services.

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So here's the deal. There's something called rewards vault. The rewards

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vault is going to allow a member to set up their own profile.

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They are going to answer questions. You are gonna get those answers. You're gonna be

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able to target those members, and you're gonna reward them inside your

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club, inside your spa, and outside of the club and outside

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of the spa to get them to become loyal, to get them to pay

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their monthly dues, and to be rewarded properly

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for the actions. A lot of companies are cutting back on rewards. You shouldn't

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be. Promotion Vault's your answer. Trust me. This is real.

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From a standpoint of looking at some of the other

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models that are out there from a research standpoint or just to, like, understand what

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they're doing, we pulled a number of the, franchise

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disclosure documents on some of these groups to see We do a lot

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of things in franchising in the health club industry and the studio space. So there's

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a part of the franchise agreement. I don't know if you guys have looked at

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this ever, but it's called item 19. And out of this

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document, if I say, hey. I'm gonna sell you adult thinkers. I can't tell you

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what your revenue and what your EBITDA is, but I can say, you know, go

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to the franchise agreement, sign the the the confidentiality agreement, and then

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go to item 19. And that item 19 will show you our

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entire network of locations, what their revenue is, what their

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expenses are, what their cash flow or EBITDA is, how much what their square footage

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is, and number of members. There are certain groups that

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don't publish their item 19, and, historically, I found the only reason

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why you would not publish your item 19 is because it doesn't look good. Right.

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So when I find one of these early stage groups that are out there and

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they're selling pickleball franchises, I'm like, wow. These they say they sold, like,

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300, and they're not showing the item 19. I'm getting a little nervous. Like, did

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they just sell somebody, you know Right. A lemon? And they don't even know

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like, you shouldn't really be selling anything until you've, like, proven the

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unit economics. And the reason why the franchise is to say, hey. This is

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more capital efficient to me Right. To to roll it

224
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out. So I'm nervous about a lot of these pickleball

225
00:13:51,555 --> 00:13:55,275
franchisees saying, like, oh, yeah. I got the Dildankers or, you know

226
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Yeah. Chicken and pickle. I don't I don't know all of them. Yeah. Pickle mall.

227
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And I'm like, dude, like, does the franchisor know what the fuck they're doing yet?

228
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Like like, why are you paying them a fee unless they give you an operating

229
00:14:05,610 --> 00:14:09,210
model? Yeah. So, David, you've been around business a long time. You know what

230
00:14:09,210 --> 00:14:11,850
spells and looks like like a real business, and you know, like, hey. I might

231
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be able to do this my own. So my question is, have you looked at

232
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those? 2nd question is you you're going on your own. We didn't

233
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look at a franchisee option. We really took a grassroots approach. We

234
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funded it ourselves, and we learned a lot

235
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of valuable lessons along the way. There are inherent course that

236
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for a franchisee operator, you know, you gotta do your homework.

237
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You gotta get educated, around some of

238
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the, course that could surprise you. So,

239
00:14:40,490 --> 00:14:43,950
clearly, you know, it really comes down to

240
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capital expense, comes down to, like you said,

241
00:14:48,064 --> 00:14:51,824
your overhead. And then the courts. You know, how are you

242
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gonna invest? I've been to many clubs where our courts are

243
00:14:55,824 --> 00:14:58,805
we put a lot of money into the actual court design,

244
00:14:59,700 --> 00:15:03,540
more so than any competitor around here. We have 4 layers of rubber

245
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on top of a cement floor and then an acrylic paint over that

246
00:15:07,300 --> 00:15:10,820
and then the lines. And it it's actually a professional court

247
00:15:10,820 --> 00:15:14,195
where it's much easier on your body in terms of your

248
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hips and your knees wear and tear. There are other places that just

249
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have cement, and they slap a coat of paint over cement, and that they

250
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call that a court. So there are, but it's

251
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more expensive. Right? And can you afford that? And you have to look at those

252
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ROIs and see, can I make money here? So at the end of the day,

253
00:15:31,860 --> 00:15:35,560
it's a real estate play. You're really you're selling court time. Sure.

254
00:15:36,180 --> 00:15:39,940
And with our, you know, event space, and we also opened

255
00:15:39,940 --> 00:15:43,714
up a smoothie bar, an iced coffee bar. And

256
00:15:43,714 --> 00:15:47,555
so we brought in other amenities along the way, to raise

257
00:15:47,555 --> 00:15:50,995
revenues, and, we're getting a lot of,

258
00:15:51,475 --> 00:15:54,995
increase now into the event space because we're coming into that season with

259
00:15:54,995 --> 00:15:58,720
holiday parties, corporate parties. So so two questions. You know,

260
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one is we do a lot of work in the software space in the health

261
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and fitness industry. Did you guys put use any kind of

262
00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:08,720
pickleball centric software to to manage the POS?

263
00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,795
And if so, can you tell us what that is? So I can tell you

264
00:16:11,795 --> 00:16:14,775
about it for hours because the software is so

265
00:16:15,875 --> 00:16:19,635
it's so diverse in what it can do. So shout out to Play by

266
00:16:19,635 --> 00:16:23,475
Point. Play by Point. Play by Point? Yeah. Play by Point's been working with

267
00:16:23,475 --> 00:16:27,250
us. They started working with us probably 3 months before we even opened. So

268
00:16:27,250 --> 00:16:30,949
that's how much work goes into actually setting up a proper POS

269
00:16:31,410 --> 00:16:35,110
that's capable of doing God's work, if you will.

270
00:16:35,410 --> 00:16:39,089
Right. Their POS, it I'm not sure how

271
00:16:39,089 --> 00:16:42,825
any club operates without their POS or without their software, I should say.

272
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From scheduling programs and running reports

273
00:16:47,465 --> 00:16:50,845
and looking at all different types of data points, anywhere

274
00:16:50,985 --> 00:16:54,345
from which court in your facility sells the

275
00:16:54,345 --> 00:16:58,140
least, during which times of the day, during which, months

276
00:16:58,140 --> 00:17:01,820
of the year, as detailed as that, like,

277
00:17:01,820 --> 00:17:05,500
across the board for everything that you wanna learn. You know? It can do

278
00:17:05,500 --> 00:17:09,194
mass emails, mass texting, based on the groups.

279
00:17:09,194 --> 00:17:12,155
You know, if they're in a beginner class, you can send it all to beginners.

280
00:17:12,155 --> 00:17:15,835
If they're in this class to that class, the amount of access at

281
00:17:15,835 --> 00:17:19,615
play by point enables the the business to really,

282
00:17:20,315 --> 00:17:24,110
use and access is unparalleled by any other

283
00:17:24,330 --> 00:17:27,630
software that we interview. So we interviewed with multiple softwares.

284
00:17:28,250 --> 00:17:31,930
By far the most, intriguing and and and most

285
00:17:31,930 --> 00:17:35,710
complex in a good way. With with my background in operations

286
00:17:35,770 --> 00:17:39,225
at at Best Buy and Samsung, a lot of

287
00:17:39,225 --> 00:17:42,585
KPIs to follow. And this software uses

288
00:17:42,585 --> 00:17:45,725
Tableau, as a analytics,

289
00:17:46,424 --> 00:17:50,270
background capability. So to Sam's point, when I wanna

290
00:17:50,270 --> 00:17:54,030
run, per hour what I'm making, from 4

291
00:17:54,030 --> 00:17:57,650
to 6, you know, if there's any report I want, I'm able to vacillate

292
00:17:57,790 --> 00:18:00,690
through the various programs. Furthermore, they're 247.

293
00:18:01,595 --> 00:18:05,435
I've seen Sam communicate with them at, you know, midnight when there was

294
00:18:05,435 --> 00:18:09,195
an issue or a hiccup, and they resolve it on the spot. I

295
00:18:09,195 --> 00:18:11,375
I would just say the software is crucial,

296
00:18:12,955 --> 00:18:16,470
component to, anybody who's gonna delve into

297
00:18:16,470 --> 00:18:19,850
this. Yeah. And they have over what was it, Sam? 700?

298
00:18:20,309 --> 00:18:23,529
About 700 facilities. Awesome.

299
00:18:23,909 --> 00:18:27,590
Yeah. Last question before we get the, to the classic event

300
00:18:27,590 --> 00:18:31,345
coming up, end of October. You could probably keep

301
00:18:31,345 --> 00:18:35,185
this facility open 24 hours if you wanted to. What

302
00:18:35,185 --> 00:18:38,785
times are are you keeping it open now, and and how are you thinking about

303
00:18:38,785 --> 00:18:41,760
that? Because at a hockey rink, you know, kids are going and playing it like,

304
00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:44,640
oh, I got 4 AM ice time. I got 1 AM ice time. I feel

305
00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:48,240
like if you're a pickleball evangelist or, like, you you're, like, out late at night,

306
00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,540
maybe you got a plan a didn't work out at one of the clubs,

307
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,040
d ring. Right. You know, I'm not saying I'm not going out. Me and Dave

308
00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,875
are gonna if we're going out of his clubs, hey, man. It's you know, I

309
00:18:57,875 --> 00:19:00,435
don't like this. You know, let why don't we go play some pickleball at the

310
00:19:00,435 --> 00:19:04,195
expo? What do you think? What's the time? Well, we

311
00:19:04,195 --> 00:19:07,955
we started out our hours conservatively. We're running from

312
00:19:07,955 --> 00:19:11,620
8 to 11 PM Okay. Right now. As demand and

313
00:19:11,620 --> 00:19:14,840
remember, we opened up, you know, in the summertime, so

314
00:19:15,140 --> 00:19:18,920
late August, early September. As we get into the season,

315
00:19:19,140 --> 00:19:22,200
if there's more demand, we'll be more flexible. Our competitor

316
00:19:23,105 --> 00:19:26,885
does open up to 1 in the morning. We've been watching and monitoring

317
00:19:27,585 --> 00:19:30,085
that, action through their calendar.

318
00:19:31,345 --> 00:19:34,785
It's not where it needs to be to support the labor yet,

319
00:19:34,785 --> 00:19:38,590
but, you know, you only really need 1 person at the front desk. Exactly.

320
00:19:38,970 --> 00:19:42,730
You know? So if there's demand, we'll meet that demand. I think as

321
00:19:42,730 --> 00:19:46,490
we grow the business, we'll have to revisit that. Got it. One

322
00:19:46,490 --> 00:19:49,790
question before we go because I played, pickleball in Chicago

323
00:19:50,605 --> 00:19:53,965
a couple of months ago, and they had the ability to, like,

324
00:19:53,965 --> 00:19:57,804
replay the the point on the video. Yeah. And then you could get

325
00:19:57,804 --> 00:20:01,005
it sent to you as, like, you know, for a fee. Yeah. I felt like

326
00:20:01,005 --> 00:20:04,750
that was awesome. Like, you create, like, a little highlight reel. Have you guys installed

327
00:20:04,750 --> 00:20:08,350
that video technology? Yeah. Great question. So we interviewed with a few

328
00:20:08,350 --> 00:20:12,190
different software companies that offer that technology. You

329
00:20:12,190 --> 00:20:16,030
know, given our the critical mass of our clientele for our

330
00:20:16,030 --> 00:20:19,645
facility are baby boomers. And

331
00:20:19,645 --> 00:20:23,165
upon, you know, going through different softwares and the different

332
00:20:23,165 --> 00:20:27,005
options from each software, we just concluded that that would not be

333
00:20:27,005 --> 00:20:30,845
of value to most of our clientele. Okay. But we did look

334
00:20:30,845 --> 00:20:33,885
into it. It is a cool technology, and we are open to it in the

335
00:20:33,885 --> 00:20:37,620
future, but we don't currently possess that capability. Well,

336
00:20:37,620 --> 00:20:41,060
we are wired for it, however. So if we wanted to add

337
00:20:41,060 --> 00:20:44,900
additional cameras onto a particular court Yep. We

338
00:20:44,900 --> 00:20:48,465
have one court designated like our champion court. We have

339
00:20:48,465 --> 00:20:52,065
that functionality and capability. Matter of fact, being that I'm an audio

340
00:20:52,065 --> 00:20:55,205
video guy, I brought in, a company,

341
00:20:56,305 --> 00:20:59,525
that specializes in just that. And so,

342
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:03,460
our our u our our club is completely wired

343
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:07,140
for any music, HVAC, control 4.

344
00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:11,920
I could see any camera anytime and, control

345
00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,315
everything about the business from my phone. And,

346
00:21:15,315 --> 00:21:19,075
inevitably, we could add that feature. We just have to wire up a couple of

347
00:21:19,075 --> 00:21:22,914
more cameras, quite frankly. Just a complete complete aside, there was

348
00:21:22,914 --> 00:21:26,755
a guy who came to us with a, tennis technology where

349
00:21:26,755 --> 00:21:30,280
it was gonna basically like, you'd hit with a pro, and it would, like, give

350
00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,720
you, like, a a footprint of, like, here's where all

351
00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,680
your balls were in and out. Yeah. Yeah. And I I said to him, why

352
00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,900
don't you just take the technology of, like, the line calling technology

353
00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:43,804
and sell that? Because I think people in I know in tennis, you know, if

354
00:21:43,804 --> 00:21:46,885
you can say, hey. For another $20, you want, like, the lines called for you

355
00:21:46,885 --> 00:21:50,005
automatically? I was like, that's the way you sell this thing. Do they do that

356
00:21:50,005 --> 00:21:53,845
in pickleball yet where it's like a Yep. Visual line calling? They

357
00:21:53,845 --> 00:21:57,605
do have that. It's not some guy it's not some guy to call center,

358
00:21:57,605 --> 00:22:01,440
like, calling it from, like, remote. It's, like, real. I'm just kidding. Yeah. Yeah.

359
00:22:01,500 --> 00:22:05,020
Play a video replay. There there are apps on the phone. If you put your

360
00:22:05,020 --> 00:22:08,140
phone on a tripod and put it behind one of the baselines, you put it

361
00:22:08,140 --> 00:22:11,900
high up, extend the tripod camera. There's actually an app from the App

362
00:22:11,900 --> 00:22:15,695
Store you can just download that does line calling. Oh, sweet. It's, like,

363
00:22:15,695 --> 00:22:19,315
94% accurate or something like that. Gosh.

364
00:22:19,375 --> 00:22:23,055
Enough. Yeah. So 90% yeah. More that's probably higher than you And if you wear

365
00:22:23,055 --> 00:22:26,860
your Apple Watch while you're playing, it tells you on the watch. Jeez. You

366
00:22:26,860 --> 00:22:29,039
gotta tell me to talk talk to me about that later.

367
00:22:32,380 --> 00:22:35,919
This is Pete Moore. Here's the last tip for you of the podcast.

368
00:22:36,460 --> 00:22:40,299
We are partnered up with a company called Higher Dose, higher dose

369
00:22:40,299 --> 00:22:43,675
dot com. They are the leader in workout

370
00:22:43,675 --> 00:22:47,355
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371
00:22:47,355 --> 00:22:50,955
light masks, neck enhancers, and other

372
00:22:50,955 --> 00:22:54,655
products such as PMF mats and sauna blankets.

373
00:22:55,120 --> 00:22:58,640
If you have not gotten on the workout recovery train

374
00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:02,240
yet, your time and your stop is now. You

375
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,860
gotta get these products in there before these workout recovery and spas

376
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,825
end up saturating your market, having your members walk out of the club

377
00:23:09,825 --> 00:23:13,425
and going into one of their locations for $200 per

378
00:23:13,425 --> 00:23:16,945
month where they're paying 39 to you. Let's become an

379
00:23:16,945 --> 00:23:20,625
expert in workout recovery if we are already an authority in

380
00:23:20,625 --> 00:23:24,330
workouts. Higher dose, check it out. There's a

381
00:23:24,330 --> 00:23:27,850
wholesale code, and we look forward to helping

382
00:23:27,850 --> 00:23:31,610
you augment your products and services to meet the demands of

383
00:23:31,610 --> 00:23:34,750
your members. And, hey, let's get people happy,

384
00:23:34,995 --> 00:23:38,755
healthy, and sweaty, and the recovery should be just as good as the

385
00:23:38,755 --> 00:23:39,255
workout.

386
00:23:42,995 --> 00:23:46,355
We're we're huge advocates of of pickleball just to give you one more,

387
00:23:46,675 --> 00:23:50,035
tidbit here. So we came up with this term halo, health, active, lifestyle,

388
00:23:50,035 --> 00:23:53,659
outdoors, because I don't like the word wellness. So we so we say we're health

389
00:23:53,659 --> 00:23:57,500
and wellness bankers. Our day job is we help people put money get

390
00:23:57,500 --> 00:24:01,260
money into businesses that are gonna further the health,

391
00:24:01,260 --> 00:24:04,735
active lifestyle, outdoor lifestyles, and, you know,

392
00:24:05,195 --> 00:24:08,895
events and hopefully get rid of, like, childhood obesity, diabetes,

393
00:24:09,515 --> 00:24:13,355
and, you know, loneliness. So once we got involved in pickleball, I'm like,

394
00:24:13,355 --> 00:24:16,875
dude, this is, like, the the the category killer or, like, the the

395
00:24:16,875 --> 00:24:19,880
outdoor of Halo is pickleball.

396
00:24:20,500 --> 00:24:24,019
Yeah. So so we're excited about what you're doing. So give us in closing here,

397
00:24:24,019 --> 00:24:27,860
and we could probably talk for hours. But, you know, talk about this event that

398
00:24:27,860 --> 00:24:30,740
you've got going on, how we could get people over there, and we'll fast track

399
00:24:30,740 --> 00:24:34,205
this, and see if we can get a, you know, some people to attend.

400
00:24:34,585 --> 00:24:38,205
Yeah. For sure. So we have the New York indoor pickleball classic.

401
00:24:38,264 --> 00:24:41,965
That's, gonna be held October 26 October

402
00:24:42,024 --> 00:24:45,720
27th. Men's doubles and mixed

403
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:49,340
doubles are Saturday 26th, and women's doubles

404
00:24:49,399 --> 00:24:53,100
are Sunday 27th. We have

405
00:24:53,559 --> 00:24:56,299
unbelievable prizes that we're gonna be giving away,

406
00:24:57,315 --> 00:25:00,855
such as not limited to kitchen backpacks, KTCHN.

407
00:25:02,034 --> 00:25:05,794
It's a new company out of Utah. So shout out to them for they

408
00:25:05,794 --> 00:25:09,095
make the nicest pickle bag on the market without question.

409
00:25:09,635 --> 00:25:13,220
It's fully leather, fully waterproof. It's got

410
00:25:13,220 --> 00:25:16,820
more pockets than you would ever imagine. It's got all the

411
00:25:16,820 --> 00:25:20,659
features you want, and it's very, very high end, and it's gonna

412
00:25:20,659 --> 00:25:24,500
be a great giveaway. On top of that, YOLA is sponsoring

413
00:25:24,500 --> 00:25:28,315
our facilities, so shout out to YOLA. And we'll be giving away some

414
00:25:28,315 --> 00:25:32,075
higher some of their higher end paddles as well. You know, we didn't wanna make

415
00:25:32,075 --> 00:25:35,914
it a tournament where you just get a medal and you just walk out. We're

416
00:25:35,914 --> 00:25:39,595
also working on, different tiers of cash prizes for our

417
00:25:39,595 --> 00:25:43,240
bronze through gold winners. And, you know, really wanna incentivize people to

418
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,280
come have a good time and really enjoy themselves, especially at a brand new place.

419
00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:49,800
And then lastly, like I said earlier, it's gonna be on Pickleball TV

420
00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,380
Network, live streamed on Roku and Apple.

421
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,765
Pickleball TV Network is coming to set up cameras throughout the

422
00:25:57,305 --> 00:26:00,185
facility for the 2 day event. And then on top of that, we have the

423
00:26:00,185 --> 00:26:04,025
National Pickleball League coming the day of both of the events, the 26th and

424
00:26:04,025 --> 00:26:07,325
27th to host, some of their championship

425
00:26:07,545 --> 00:26:10,730
games for the National Pickleball League at our facility.

426
00:26:11,030 --> 00:26:14,630
Awesome. So it's gonna be a really a hell of an event, and we love

427
00:26:14,630 --> 00:26:18,390
it if anyone, you know, anyone from all over can come on down. We have

428
00:26:18,390 --> 00:26:22,170
people registered from Connecticut. We have someone registered from Rhode Island,

429
00:26:22,230 --> 00:26:25,610
a bunch of people from Manhattan, and, obviously, a bunch from Long Island.

430
00:26:25,885 --> 00:26:29,645
Awesome. So we'll get we'll get an an email blast out. We'll make some intros,

431
00:26:29,645 --> 00:26:33,184
like, as I referenced before. I'm unfortunately or fortunately, I'm at my,

432
00:26:33,965 --> 00:26:37,424
Emery, 30 year, undergrad

433
00:26:37,485 --> 00:26:40,590
reunion that weekend, so I'm not gonna be able to make it. I do have,

434
00:26:40,590 --> 00:26:44,190
like, couple of, touch points to Oceanside. 1 is, my buddy,

435
00:26:44,190 --> 00:26:47,630
Mike Peska, the Peska family. I hope you know those guys, p s c

436
00:26:47,630 --> 00:26:51,150
a. He's one of my close friends, went to Emory with me. Used to be

437
00:26:51,150 --> 00:26:54,505
a sports analyst, radio shows on,

438
00:26:54,745 --> 00:26:58,225
on NPR, so I'll I'll make sure he knows about the event. Great. Thank you.

439
00:26:58,345 --> 00:27:01,544
Second thing, did you go to did you go to Oceanside High School, Sam? No.

440
00:27:01,544 --> 00:27:05,245
My sister did. I did not. Okay. So I used to there's a

441
00:27:05,304 --> 00:27:09,065
DX, NFL quarterback, Jay Fiedler, from Miami.

442
00:27:09,065 --> 00:27:12,790
Yeah. So he he went to Oceanside High School, and his dad used to

443
00:27:12,790 --> 00:27:16,470
own a camp called Brookwood. And I went to Camp Laconda, which

444
00:27:16,470 --> 00:27:19,430
was across the lake. We were the same age. So I used to have to

445
00:27:19,430 --> 00:27:22,730
guard Fiedler back in the day, whatever sport we were playing.

446
00:27:23,155 --> 00:27:26,835
And I was a decent basketball player, but not anywhere near, like, the physical structure

447
00:27:26,835 --> 00:27:29,795
of that guy. So they still, like, taunt him a little bit. Come on, Jay.

448
00:27:29,795 --> 00:27:31,875
Take me to the hole. You know? And that'd be like yeah. He's like on

449
00:27:31,875 --> 00:27:34,835
the free throw line, you know, on an n one. He's like, hey, Pete, man.

450
00:27:34,835 --> 00:27:38,660
I took you. You told me, like, I'm sorry about that. So, that's my

451
00:27:38,660 --> 00:27:42,180
claim to fame on that front. But, love what you guys are doing. You know?

452
00:27:42,180 --> 00:27:45,540
Thank you. Focus on this one location. I feel like there's so much that could

453
00:27:45,540 --> 00:27:48,980
be put into it. That's one of the questions with the hours. You know? We

454
00:27:48,980 --> 00:27:52,555
also did something with a ninja park

455
00:27:52,555 --> 00:27:56,255
that basically I said, hey. You're not really spending any money on marketing.

456
00:27:56,315 --> 00:27:58,875
You know, why aren't you spending any money on marketing? He's like, bro, I've got

457
00:27:58,875 --> 00:28:02,655
400 kids that come here in here a weekend for birthday parties.

458
00:28:02,875 --> 00:28:06,510
Right. And every one of their parents has to sign a waiver that has their

459
00:28:06,510 --> 00:28:09,870
name on it and how old the kid is. So my leads are, like,

460
00:28:09,870 --> 00:28:13,470
400 leads every Monday. You know? So I feel like every time you guys do

461
00:28:13,470 --> 00:28:17,310
a private event, make somebody sign that waiver with a little checklist and, like,

462
00:28:17,310 --> 00:28:20,750
bam, you got, like basically, just leverage it. It's, like, negative marketing

463
00:28:20,750 --> 00:28:24,485
cost. Yep. 100%. We, you gotta leverage the data. Right?

464
00:28:24,485 --> 00:28:28,005
Anytime people are at the facility, you gotta collect the data. So I hear

465
00:28:28,005 --> 00:28:31,365
you. Yeah. And then, David, if there's a drop box where I could send back

466
00:28:31,365 --> 00:28:34,950
some of those, CDs from, The Wiz, let

467
00:28:34,950 --> 00:28:38,550
me know. I think they're obsolete. Yeah. Anyway

468
00:28:38,710 --> 00:28:41,850
Maybe on eBay. That's why I grew up.

469
00:28:42,470 --> 00:28:46,150
I grew up 2 doors down from Jay Fiedler. Jay and Scott, I grew

470
00:28:46,150 --> 00:28:49,815
up with Jay and Scott on Judith Lane and Kenny and Donna

471
00:28:49,815 --> 00:28:53,495
Fiedler who owned Lenny Lenape. I grew up Lenny Lenape, and then he moved it

472
00:28:53,495 --> 00:28:57,035
to Brooklyn. Judith Lane. Great spot. That's where I grew up. Tennis

473
00:28:57,095 --> 00:29:00,855
behind that Oceanside High School quite often. That's right. Near

474
00:29:00,855 --> 00:29:04,549
the red store. Yes. The Red store's gone, by the way. Now it's

475
00:29:04,549 --> 00:29:07,909
like, not sure what to call it. Something else. It's gone.

476
00:29:07,909 --> 00:29:11,669
Yeah. Well, look. I'm glad to see you guys, you know,

477
00:29:11,669 --> 00:29:15,110
being a leader in this, and, it sounds like you know what you're doing. And,

478
00:29:15,269 --> 00:29:19,005
I I think your results are gonna exceed what your expectations are

479
00:29:19,005 --> 00:29:22,765
because this is gonna be huge, and it's only getting bigger. So, you know, we're

480
00:29:22,765 --> 00:29:26,524
happy to, get involved, help this show, you know, maybe host,

481
00:29:26,524 --> 00:29:29,005
like, a halo talk. So we do these things live. Maybe we could do a

482
00:29:29,005 --> 00:29:32,205
halo talk where we bring up, you know, a 100 people, and we do this

483
00:29:32,205 --> 00:29:35,940
on the side. Get a pickleball twenty going, and go from

484
00:29:35,940 --> 00:29:39,620
there. Alright, guys. Great work. Hey. Thank you, guys. Meet you.

485
00:29:39,620 --> 00:29:41,400
Later, guys. You both. Appreciate it.