Alternative Sports
Welcome to?Alts Sunday Edition ??
I hope you enjoyed last week’s issue on?How Australia pioneered legal psychedelics.
Meanwhile in North America, Mid-July is considered the?worst month for sports fans. The NBA finals are done, and there's no NFL or NHL.
So it's the perfect time of year to talk about?alternative sports.
It seems like Pickleball is sucking up all the oxygen in the room. But there's?lots of other cool stuff out there gaining traction which you may not have heard of.
In this issue, we'll explore some of these alternatives. How many people play? What is the largest governing body? What does viewership look like? And how much money is sloshing around?
Let’s go ??
What are alternative sports?
What makes a sport "alternative" is hard to pin down.
They often have roots in mainstream sports, but with a?bastardization?twist:
Alternative sports receive minimal media coverage. They feel unserious, but have small groups of hardcore, dedicated fans.
ESPN?regularly broadcasts axe throwing, dodgeball and bratwurst eating on?ESPN 8: THE OCHO?(which is just a temporarily rebranded?ESPN 2, inspired by a?joke?from?Dodgeball.)
Lately, some alternative sports have gained a lot more buzz than others.
Pickleball
According to the?Sports & Fitness Industry Organization?(SFIA), Pickleball is the?fastest-growing alternative sport in America.
At first glance, Pickleball looks a lot like tennis. In reality, it’s a combination of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong.
You have four players on a badminton court, hitting a hollow ball over a tennis net, using table tennis-like paddles.
For whatever reason, Pickleball has curried favor with celebrities.?Tom Brady,?Kevin Durant,?Eva Longoria, and?Michael Phelps?have all rushed in to buy clubs in?Major League Pickleball
If it seems like Pickleball came out of nowhere, you're half right. The International Pickleball Federation (IPF) was officially established in 2020. But Pickleball has actually been around for over 50 years.
It was?invented in 1965?by Joel Pritchard, a Washington Senator (congressman, not NHL player) who created it as a less-intensive alternative to racket sports.
By 1976, the?first official Pickleball tournament?had arrived.?David Lester?reigned supreme, with Hall-of-Famer?Steve Paranto?coming in second.
Things became serious in 1984, when the?US Amateur Pickleball Association?(USAPA) was established to grow the sport nationally. This led to the first official rulebook that would dictate tournaments for decades.
Today, Pickleball has official membership of over 70,000 in the US (up 30% YoY) Unofficial estimates suggest nearly 9 million people in the US play Pickleball at least casually (once per year).
Top athletes now bring home?$200k per tour, with a?$5.5 million prize pool?distributed among participants throughout the season.
The?World Pickleball Championship?is taking center stage in Bali from Sep 19-23. Here's some footage from a previous tourney.
(Note: The?comments?are far more entertaining than the footage)
Pickleball is certainly experiencing?messy, rapid growth. In last week's?WC newsletter, Wyatt pointed out the?MLP?recently hired a new CEO and COO, and it's beginning to feel like?inside baseball?(err, Pickleball)
I won't go as far as to say it's a "scam," but I don't understand why Pickleball has the media attention it has. It's just not that fun to watch!
Last August's much-hyped broadcast of the?PPA Skechers Invitational Summer Championship?was estimated at just?621,000 viewers?— on par with sports like?Cornhole.
Ultimately for the economics to match the hype, Pickleball needs more, well, eyeballs. And that could be problematic, because (and this is just my opinion) but it seems like a sport that's fun to play, but not much fun to watch.
I think Wyatt said it best:
Ultimately, Pickleball feels a lot like?bowling. It's fun for the whole family, anyone can do it, and it goes well with a beer. But no one wants to watch you do it!
Further reading:
Teqball
Okay. Now?this?sport is a lot more fun to watch.
Teqball?is a much?newer?sport. It was invented in Hungary in 2012, by?Gábor Borsányi, a former professional football player, and his friend?Viktor Huszár.
It’s a combination of?soccer,?table tennis?and?kick volleyball. Teams play each other over a unique, curved ping-pong table. Like soccer, you can touch the ball with any part of your body except your hands.
It claims to be the?fastest-growing?sport in the world, but the founders have a vested interest in claiming this, and getting hard numbers on its growth is difficult.
That said it's a really interesting concept, and definitely fun to watch:
Teqball's fast-paced nature, familiarity with other sports, and unique table helped Teqball take off quickly. It took only three years for the Olympic Council of Asia to certify it as an "official sport."
It was recently added to the?Asian Beach Games?and the?2023 European Games. The sport is now shooting for Olympic inclusion.
By 2019, 57 countries were already participating in the?Teqball World Championships, organized by FITEQ, the governing body.
Last year's World Championships had a prize pool of?$250,000, with the lion’s share taken out by singles winner, Romanian?Apor Gyorgydeak.
Top Teqball athletes?earn around $50-75k?(in total, not per year). So it’s still a little ways away from becoming a full-time profession.
But remember, this sport is just 11 years old, and very eye-catching.
I think this one could get some eyeballs. It certainly grabbed mine. Once broadcasters catch on, watch out.
Teqball seems?made?for TV.
Further reading:
Quidditch (aka Quadball)
Quidditch is heavily inspired by J.K. Rowling’s fictional competition from?Harry Potter.
I say "heavily inspired" because, sadly no, the players don't fly around on broomsticks.
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It was adapted for real-life, and players use poles that are (comically) tucked between their legs.
Harry Potter?fans will already know the basics. But the sport has moved away from?Potter?roots (except for the broomsticks part). It's now a unique combination of?handball,?rugby,?water polo,?dodgeball, and?tag.
But the most unique part of the game is the "snitch chase." 17 minutes into the match, a neutral?Snitch Runner?enters the game with a snitch (tennis ball) hanging off the back of their shorts. Each team has one?Seeker, and the Snitch Runner tries to evade capture from them.
The first to grab the snitch from the snitch runner scores 30 points, and the game ends.
The sport was invented in 2005 and is governed by the?International Quidditch Association?(founded in 2009). There are 19 countries on the board, including Australia, the United States, the UK and Germany.
Quidditch takes the spirit of the?Harry Potter?books, turning it into a sport that's fast-paced and intense to watch. Despite?Harry Potter's enormous success, however, the sport hasn't grown as fast as leagues have wanted.
The sport is now officially recognized as?Quadball, which leagues and organizers are?hoping?sounds less ridiculous than Quidditch.
In my opinion, it's not the name holding this sport back; it's the broomsticks.
Lose the broomsticks, guys. Seriously.
Further reading:
Other alternative sports
Kabaddi
This combat sport is?basically a real-life raid. It's governed by the?International Kabaddi Federation?and actually appeared in the 1936 Olympics.
An intense sport with huge popularity in India.
WiffleBall
This ain't your backyard game. Professional "Fast-pitch" WiffleBall is fierce. Top-tier Wiffleball players pitch at an?average speed of 70 mph. (With the mound just 49 feet away, this feels like 100 mph to a batter.)
The?World WiffleBall Championship?is a well-known annual tournament held in Michigan. This is the largest and most prestigious Wiffle ball tournament globally, attracting teams from around the world.
But it's not the only game in town. 40 teams will compete at PeoplesBank Park for this year's?United WiffleBall?championship.
The most famous WiffleBall field is?Little Fenway Park?in Vermont. They even have a mini CITGO sign:
Chessboxing
This is exactly what it sounds like: A hybrid of chess and boxing.
The game has 11 rounds, and participants alternate between an ongoing game of chess, and boxing each other. The governing body is the?World Chessboxing Association.
Air Hockey
Everyone loves air hockey, the sport invented by a?billiards company?looking to expand their product line. The?World Air Hockey Championships?have attracting players around the world since 1978.
The funny thing about this sport is that watching the pros play is...similar to watching your friends play.
Bathtub Racing (aka "Bathtubbing")
Ever thought about going for a race in a bathtub? It’s an actual sport organized by the?Loyal Nanaimo Bathtub Society.
Think of it like sailing in motor-powered tubs. The annual race is happening next week in British Columbia. Grab tickets here .
Slap Fighting
Barbaric, dumb, and controversial Slap Fighting involves two people taking turns to deliver powerful open-handed slaps to their opponent's face. Players are scored based on the amount of damage they inflict and how well they absorb slaps.
UFC President Dana White’s?Power Slap League?became the first regulated American slap fighting league when the Nevada State Athletics Commission agreed to oversee the organization last October.
In February 2023, Congressman Bill Pascrell announced that he was launching a Congressional inquiry into the ethicality of Power Slap.
Beer Can Regatta
Australia, ever the beer-loving nation, has one of the?most unique events ever. Participants build boats out of recycled bear cans and race around Darwin.
In 2021, the race was too tight, and had to be decided by a tug-of-war. The?US Marines clinched the win.
Further reading
That's a wrap.
What do you think? What alternative sport do you think has legs? Which ones did we miss?
Let us know, we love hearing from readers.
Until next time,
Stefan
Disclosures
Account Executive
1 年Loved this article. Here are some interesting tidbits: 1. Kabbadi deserved a full length review - it's amazing. So is the somewhat similar Indian sport of Kho Kho. 2. Did you know that Quidditch is so named because of the 'Qu'affle, two blu'd'gers, and the sn'itch'? 3. Quidditch also has a rule where teams (of 7) must be equal sex - so at least 3 males and females and the 7th can be either. Unsurprisingly, due to this rule, it was the first sport to experience controversy around transgender players.