Emerging

Ben Nichols & Patricio Misitrano
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Emerging is the show that calls the plays behind the fastest-growing racquet sports in the world. Every episode, Ben Nichols (The 22) and Patricio Misitrano (Misitrano Consulting) sit down with the founders, operators, brand executives, and investors shaping padel, pickleball, and beyond, the people building the equipment, apparel, tech, and real estate behind the boom. Patricio brings deep industry expertise, Ben brings culture-forward storytelling, and together they break down the biggest bets, challenge the loudest opinions, and pull real, applicable lessons from the frontlines of the racquet sports business. Whether you're building in the space, investing in it, or you just love the game, this is where racquet sports culture meets real business insight. New episodes every other week!

Episodes

  1. 5d ago

    How Big Is U.S. Padel, Really? Inside the 2026 U.S. Padel Report

    The U.S. now has just over 1,100 Padel courts across 38 states, up from 688 a year earlier. On this episode of Emerging, Patricio Misitrano walks Ben Nichols through his U.S. Padel Report 2026 and what it means for the Padel and racquet sports business, and Ben explains why he built a communications course to help Padel club operators market their clubs. Patricio built the report the old-fashioned way, with phone calls, Google searches and a lot of time on club websites. The data shows growth spreading well beyond California, Texas and Florida, a rising share of indoor courts, and more pickleball facilities adding Padel. He gets into why median court prices haven't moved, where you can still play for under $40 an hour, why he'd like to see courts priced the way Uber prices rides, and how he arrived at an estimate of around 460,000 active U.S. players. Ben then explains why Padel 22, the PR and communications agency he started four years ago, is now The 22, bringing his advisory work for brands and investors, the Insider 22 community and his new Communications Course for Padel clubs under one name. He makes the case that Padel club operators are so busy with permits, land, financing and staffing that marketing gets treated as a nice-to-have. The course covers the practical side of Padel club marketing: writing press releases, planning the first month of social media, building founding membership lists and finding sponsors. If you're thinking about opening a Padel club, investing in the sport, or just want to understand how fast it's growing in the U.S., this episode is for you. Key Takeaways: 00:00 Intro 02:10 Building the Court Count 03:35 ~1,100 US Courts, 38 States 04:35 Growth Is Broad, Not Local 05:40 Covered Courts Hit 42% 06:35 Padel-Pickleball Hybrids 09:35 Pricing: $100 Peak, $60 Off-Peak 10:05 Price Follows Real Estate 11:35 Rise of Promo Pricing 13:05 Over 1 Million Players? 17:05 From Reporting to Agency 18:05 Clubs Lack Marketing Skills 23:35 A Marketing Playbook for Clubs Additional Resources: The U.S. Padel Report 2026 Day One, the Padel Club Communications Course 🏓Connect with Ben & Patricio: Subscribe to The 22 Newsletter Subscribe to The Racket Sports Briefing Learn more about The 22 Learn more about Misitrano Consulting Connect with Ben on LinkedIn Connect with Patricio on LinkedIn 🎧Listen & Follow: Instagram Spotify Apple

  2. Oct 13

    Steve Bellamy: Can You Manufacture a Sport?

    Steve Bellamy built Tennis Channel from the ground up. Now he's trying to manufacture a brand-new racquet sport called TYPTI, designed to be played on existing pickleball courts. The question at the center of the episode is simple: can you actually manufacture a sport? Hosts Ben Nichols and Patricio Misitrano sit down with Steve to get into the business behind TYPTI, from his decision to cap the sport at eight racquet brands when pickleball has thousands to his belief that pickleball overbuilt its facilities and what that means for the clubs operating them. They also explore how Steve is building the infrastructure around TYPTI through coach certification and one-day tournaments, and where the 25 million lapsed tennis players he's talked about fit into the picture. Along the way, Steve argues that tennis "isn't fun," that racquet sports can add years to your life, and that putting courts where people already are could be one of the smartest ways to grow the category. It's a conversation about what it actually takes to build a sport, from the game itself to the market around it.  New episodes of Emerging every other week. Key Takeaways:  00:00 Tennis-Pickleball Gateway Sport 00:35 Tennis Channel Founder’s New Sport 01:34 Invented by Accident 31 Years Ago 05:40 Predicting the Pickleball Bust 06:10 Enhancement, Not Disruption 08:10 Certifying Tennis Pro Coaches 10:05 Winning Back Lapsed Tennis Players 13:05 Tennis Dropout Cliff After College 14:35 1 Tennis Court = 4 Pickleball Courts 17:35 Why Pickleball Clubs Are “Doomed” 20:00 The Pivot Saving Struggling Clubs 23:10 Tennis’s Big Mistake: No Home Fans 25:35 No VCs, Just Private Funding 33:15 Dead Malls Become Racket Sport Hubs 36:35 The Longevity Stat Tennis Ignores Additional Resources: 🏓 Connect with Ben & Patricio: Subscribe to The 22 Newsletter Subscribe to The Racket Sports Briefing Learn more about The 22 Learn more about Misitrano Consulting Connect with Ben on LinkedIn Connect with Patricio on LinkedIn Connect with Steve on Instagram 🎧 Listen & Follow: Instagram Spotify Apple

  3. Sep 29

    The Business Behind the Racquet Sports Boom

    When Ben Nichols and Patricio Misitrano first met four years ago, padel was still in its early stages in the U.S. and U.K. The two had a front-row view of a sport starting to find its footing, and now they're looking at what has happened since. In the first episode of Emerging, Ben and Patricio take stock of how the racquet sports landscape has changed and what that growth means for the businesses building around it. They discuss the role of real estate, hospitality, technology, financing and retail, along with the brands and companies entering racquet sports from outside the traditional industry. They also explore why clubs are only one part of the larger opportunity and where entrepreneurs and operators are finding ways to participate. The conversation also gets into some of the friction that comes with bringing these sports into new markets, including noise concerns, local opposition, planning and development. Ben and Patricio discuss the need for the industry to build a stronger base of data and experience as more communities consider new courts and facilities. To close out the episode, they look back at their own routes into racquet sports and talk about the kinds of people they want to bring into the conversation on Emerging, from entrepreneurs and operators to companies that are approaching the sports from an entirely different angle. Key Takeaways:  00:00 Intro 00:31 Ending a federation contract in Dubai, starting an agency 01:11 The growth numbers behind padel and pickleball 02:12 How embryonic the US market still was 04:27 Growing up playing padel in Argentina 05:05 Building an agency for racquet sports 08:04 Where to actually invest 10:20 Why outside brands are showing up 11:49 Endemic brands vs. outside investors 12:27 Courts as the hottest real estate amenity 15:26 Adding courts can boost property value 35% 17:30 The #1 growth killer: noise complaints 19:17 A non-issue in Argentina and Spain, a problem in the UK and US 22:27 Why the US needs more data first 24:08 The path: journalism to racquet sports Additional Resources: 🏓Connect with Ben & Patricio: Subscribe to The 22 Newsletter Subscribe to The Racket Sports Briefing Learn more about The 22 Learn more about Misitrano Consulting Connect with Ben on LinkedIn Connect with Patricio on LinkedIn 🎧Listen & Follow: Instagram Spotify Apple

  4. Sep 17

    Who’s Actually Building the Racquet Sports Empire? (Welcome to Emerging)

    Welcome to Emerging! The business behind the fastest-growing racquet sports in the world. Subscribe for weekly breakdowns with top founders, operators, and investors. New episodes drop every other week. Subscribe for actionable business insights, market predictions, and high-stakes conversations from the frontlines of padel, pickleball, and emerging sports. Hosted by Ben Nichols (The 22) and Patricio Misitrano (Misitrano Consulting), Emerging brings you unscripted, sharp, and fun conversations with the leaders shaping sports, real estate, and leisure. Patricio brings decades of deep industry expertise, while Ben brings culture-forward storytelling to reveal the driver behind the sport. Additional Resources: Subscribe to The 22 Newsletter Subscribe to The Racket Sports Briefing Learn more about The 22 Learn more about Misitrano Consulting Connect with Ben on LinkedIn Connect with Patricio on LinkedIn

  • 1 Trailer
    3 Episodes

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About

Emerging is the show that calls the plays behind the fastest-growing racquet sports in the world. Every episode, Ben Nichols (The 22) and Patricio Misitrano (Misitrano Consulting) sit down with the founders, operators, brand executives, and investors shaping padel, pickleball, and beyond, the people building the equipment, apparel, tech, and real estate behind the boom. Patricio brings deep industry expertise, Ben brings culture-forward storytelling, and together they break down the biggest bets, challenge the loudest opinions, and pull real, applicable lessons from the frontlines of the racquet sports business. Whether you're building in the space, investing in it, or you just love the game, this is where racquet sports culture meets real business insight. New episodes every other week!

Information

  • Creator
    Ben Nichols & Patricio Misitrano
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026
  • Show Website
    Emerging

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