Latest news with #sportsindustry
Forbes
29-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Stack Athletics And Chaifetz Group Acquire Vulcan Pickleball
Stack and Vulcan teaming up. In the ever-changing world that is the Pickleball industry, corporate moves come fast and furious. The latest industry move came today 5/29/25, as Stack Athletics (currently a wholly owned subsidiary of The Picklr) and the Chaifetz Group announced the intention to acquire Vulcan Sporting Good's Pickleball product lines of business and form a new company named 'Stack Vulcan.' The two companies have collaborated in the past, and both have close ties based on common partners , so this merger (and Chaifetz investment) makes sense from a synergy perspective and from an overall brand portfolio perspective for all parties. Stack is primarily known as a pickleball apparel brand, while Vulcan is a long-standing equipment manufacturer with established paddle and ball lines. Together, both brands acquire with they didn't have previously to create a more comprehensive offering of products across the pickleball consumer lifecycle. For the Chaifetz Group (who made a strategic investment to facilitate the acquisition and who will acquire a seat on the newly created Board of Directors), this adds to their growing pickleball portfolio, which now includes the St. Louis Shock MLP team, shares of UPA and DUPR that came with their MLP team, and prior investments in both The Picklr and Pickletile (which we covered in January 2025). Their contacts across the landscape of professional pickleball continue to open pathways for these types of acquisitions, and their expanding portfolio of products will only continue to grow. I caught up with Ross Chaifetz, Managing Director of the Chaifetz Group, and Jeremy Nef, President of Stack Athletics (who will lead the new venture), to talk briefly about the move and to talk next steps. When asked about the overall acquisition, Chaifetz said, 'We are bringing onboard a great, long-standing business in the sport in Vulcan into the fold. The Picklr and Stack's ability to build brands is crucial here. Vulcan has a brand, but it's a legacy brand and it could use a refresh.' The Chaifetz Group's primary involvement will be on the corporate side, to help the new company by providing proven experience in e-commerce, selling, and distribution to partners. Says Chaifetz, 'We have a combined 8-10 businesses in this partnership that can provide an end-to-end strategy. Most Pickleball brands are uni-channel, we're omni channel.' Adds Nef, "The Picklr, Stack, and now Vulcan are among the best brand builders in the sport. Now you have a legacy brand in Vulcan that can be refreshed. We have a massive vision to breathe new life into a legacy brand that many know but which could benefit from more resources, more support, and a fresh new visions." Interestingly, both Nef and Chaifetz talked about Vulcan's position in the industry as being a 'legacy brand" that could use a 'refresh.' This is observationally true on both fronts: Vulcan has been around a while and was at the forefront of the current rising tide of the sport. They made a name for themselves early by having their original manufacturing being done in the US through a partnership with Memphis-based Statera Paddles and Randy Stafford (who spent decades in the Racquetball court manufacturing business), with early sponsorships of high-visibility OG pros like Jay Devilliers and Tyler Loong. However, Vulcan's efforts to keep up with industry advances and new technology had clearly waned, with its existing owners more focused on existing product lines and seemingly unwilling to expend the energy or effort to keep up with their competitors. This acquisition gives control of the brand and the manufacturing decisions to a team at Stack that is more than a little committed to the sport. Nef has described himself as a 'Pickleball Sicko' in the past and certainly plans on bringing this energy to the newly acquired brand. 'When we created Stack, one of our differentiators was to bring some energy and personality to this side of the industry. I think this acquisition is a great opportunity from a cross-marketing perspective. Vulcan immediately becomes the most fashion-forward, aspirational paddle line in the sport.' Vulcan's most high-visibility splash in the pickleball world was their 2024 agreement with the UPA to become the official ball of both the PPA and MLP, a contract reportedly worth more than $2M annually and which instantly created a market for their VPro flight ball. Was this a worthy investment? The new ownership team acknowledges that the ball market is relatively unique in that it is a 'recurring revenue model" in the sport where few other consumer items are (think of how often you need to buy balls versus how often you need to replace a pair of shorts), but still believes they may reevaluate as part of the initial analysis and strategy. Says Chaifetz, 'We will have an opportunity pause, take a look at this business, redirect focus, and then decide how do we modify or improve our products.' When asked whether Vulcan planned on expanding their pro player sponsorship, Nef was enthusiastic. 'It is always important for premier paddle manufacturers to be part of the pro game, so we'll be in that space. We want to make a paddle that competes with the best. Our next paddles will compete with the best of the best." Vulcan did commit resources to be on the 2025 UPA approved paddle list, which removes one roadblock for moving forward on this front. Interestingly, this move has been in the works for a while, but took some time to come together officially. Jimmy Miller, who remains the most connected man in the sport, tweeted about a possible merger way back in January 2025, having heard rumblings of a merger from one of his many sources. Four months to the day after Miller broke the original rumor, the merger was announced. When there is so much inter-connection within the industry, it's no surprise word leaked ahead of time. So what's next? Look for Nef and his team to pivot Vulcan into some new directions going forward. I'd anticipate some fresh new Apparel, some new sponsorships, and a new take on their flagship 1100 and 1200 lines of paddles. Brand is everything, and Vulcan is certainly in good hands on that front. One last observation. We continue to see major players in the pickleball industry expand upon their original offerings to either vertically integrate where complementary product lines relate to each other, or to expand upon initial successful ventures to add competitive advantages. Clearly here, Chaifetz' investment in the Picklr (who owns Stack) was a major role in this acquisition. Tom Dundon has done an excellent job of acquiring assets to control the online pickleball space, first acquiring Pickleball Central and its Pickleball Tournaments asset, then capturing Pickleball Brackets to eliminate a potential rival, then spending to acquire the domain name 35 Capital owns the Chicago Slice MLP team and acquired paddle companies Paddletek and ProXR, giving them a ton of direct player access and providing a competitive advantage in MLP. There are several examples of successful pickleball entrepreneurs in one space investing in the booming world of indoor club facilities, which are cash cows if done correctly in our wild west of pickleball expansion era at present. Life Time fitness has pickleball clubs … and also manufactures a new ball, which they leveraged into use at recent UPA-sponsored events irrespective of the existing ball contract with Vulcan. Sometimes, these cross-investments lead to transparency issues, or cost complaints from monopolistic behaviors. But, there are also benefits to pickleball customers from these collaborations. I look forward to seeing what comes out of this latest move.
Zawya
09-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
5 ways AI can be used in sponsorships
Mscsports believes AI has the potential to meaningfully improve how we value, plan, and deliver sponsorships. But then it must be used with intention Mscsports believes AI has the potential to meaningfully improve how we value, plan, and deliver sponsorships It is also not replacing the human element, but enhancing it. Where does AI fit in? In the sponsorship industry, we've seen more than a few trends arrive with big promises—blockchain, NFTS, the metaverse. Some shifted the landscape. Others faded into footnotes. 5 ways AI can improve sponsorships - Rethinking valuation Valuing a sponsorship has always been part science, part instinct. Benchmarking, rate cards, media equivalency, and the occasional educated guess all have their place. But AI can bring more structure to that process. By analysing historical pricing, performance, and audience data at scale, we can build models that sharpen our understanding of what rights might be worth—and why. This doesn't eliminate the need for judgment, but it gives us a stronger foundation to make the case. - Audience intelligence, upgraded AI also improves how we track and interpret fan behaviour. Social listening tools that map sentiment, engagement, and emerging trends give us a more nuanced view, not just of what fans saw, but how they responded. Layer that with audience profiling, and you move beyond demographics into something more strategic: motivations, preferences, and potential. That's where smarter sponsorship planning begins. - Creative acceleration Generative AI won't replace creative teams—but it can help them move faster. Whether it's developing initial concept routes, structuring messaging, or generating visual mock-ups, these tools offer a useful way to jumpstart the process and explore broader directions early on. It's not about shortcuts. It's about unlocking more ideas, more efficiently. - Efficiency behind the scenes Some of the most immediate gains AI brings are operational. Automated reporting, transcription, highlight clipping—these may not be the most visible wins, but they create space for teams to focus on insight and impact. In a fast-moving environment, that matters. - A Measured approach Of course, AI is only as strong as the data behind it. Incomplete or biased inputs will lead to flawed outputs. And no tool, however advanced, replaces the value of human relationships, intuition, or contextual understanding. That's not a disclaimer—it's a reminder that strategy still needs steering. A real opportunity AI isn't a revolution. But it is a real opportunity—especially for teams willing to test, learn, and adapt. It won't rewrite the playbook, but it might just help us read the game a little better.
