Pickleball will be among the attractions in March at the first ever RacquetX – a spectacular racket sports conference at the gigantic Miami Beach Convention Center.
RacquetX will bring together brands, leaders, experts, players and fans from tennis, pickleball, padel, squash, table tennis and many more, for what organisers are calling “a world-class festival of thought, connection, and experiential learning.”
The gigantic 1.4million sq ft venue is set to host at least eight courts (four padel, three pickleball and one tennis and potentially one squash) from 24-26 March. There will also be table tennis tables and representation from more niche pursuits such as rackets, platform tennis, pop tennis and more.
The event will be targeted at consumers and enthusiasts as much as brands and businesses. There will be exhibitions, pro players, coaches, activities, a viewing bar to watch the action and conduct meetings and presentations on everything from attracting foreign investment to using racket sports for mental health.
The conference, which will become an annual event, is the brainchild of events expert Robyn Duda and Argentine tech guru and entrepreneur Marco Giberti.
Duda said: “The racket sports industry is experiencing unprecedented growth and I don’t think anyone in the industry believes pickleball is going away. There are a lot of learnings that legacy sports can take from pickleball, and that pickleball can learn in return.”
In Miami, businesses and consumers from across the racket sports sector will be able to network and learn from each other using a ‘Tinder-style’ app which uses AI to connect people with similar backgrounds or business objectives.
“You literally swipe left or right – it’s very addictive and intuitive,” said Duda. “It recognises the attributes as you swipe and serves you up the sort of people you’re interested in. You start to build a community in the app who have similar interests and challenges to you. We’re then able to facilitate meetings between people within those communities at the event.”
RacquetX coincides with the 2024 Miami Open tennis tournament and conference ticket holders can currently get free entry into Monday’s play. There is also an APP Pickleball tournament taking place a few halls down at the Miami Convention Center and its finals day overlaps with day one of RacquetX.
Historically, strategic collaboration between racket sports has been minimal, with the relationships more often characterised by tetchy rivalry. RacquetX’s intention is to foster mutual learning and capitalise on the current racket sports boom – with pickleball exploding in the US and padel in Europe (and both sports showing strong early growth outside those strongholds) and tennis profiting from a post-pandemic resurgence.
Duda said: “There are association shows and sport-centric shows across the world, but there’s nothing where everyone can come together to learn from each other. Our ethos is that if you have a racket in one hand, you should have a paddle in the other – or should want to! Nothing else ‘festivalises’ what’s happening, both on the business and consumer side, as we are going to do on such a large scale.
“There is no place for the entire ecosystem, from player to maker, to come together and keep growing. The industry is experiencing explosive growth but the worst thing businesses can do is rest on their laurels and hope that it just keeps going.”
More info and tickets: racquetx.com
