Emerging sports outside the big four of football, basketball, baseball, and hockey can face an uphill climb in gaining participants and a fan base. Leagues such as Fan Controlled Football and the World Surf League must get creative to find their niche among sports fans in a market saturated with options.
However, when a sport catches on, it can grow rapidly. That’s the case with pickleball, which entered 2023 enjoying a three-year stretch as America’s fastest-growing sport. A 2022 survey by the Association of Pickleball Professionals estimates that there are 36.5 million pickleball players in the US, making it the third-most popular sport/activity in the country behind only biking and running and ahead of established stalwarts like basketball, baseball, and soccer. Moreover, the sport is popular across age brackets and even has a multi-year distribution deal with streaming giant Amazon Prime, which will broadcast four tournaments per year.
Today’s guest on the WorkInSports Podcast, USA Pickleball Director of Communications and Content Melissa Zhang, joined the organization in late 2022 and is channeling the sport’s explosive growth in popularity. Zhang specialized in growing Olympic sports through her time with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (stints in 2018– 19 and 2020– 21) and USA Handball (2019– 21). She also spent a year doing internal communications with PointsBet (2022) during its growth period after sports betting became legal in more states. On today’s episode, Zhang and WorkInSports VP of Content and Engaged Learning Brian Clapp discuss:
• How Zhang got into the sports industry as a political science/psychology double major at UCLA
• How she approaches USA Pickleball’s content strategy to continue the sport’s growth
• How she has grown as a leader in her Director role
• How aspiring sports professionals can forge their path in the sports industry
Enjoy the full episode for all of Zhang’s sports career advice, and subscribe to the WorkInSports Podcast to catch every episode when it gets published. You can also check out additional content on our YouTube channel!
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.