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Pickleball’s $6B Serve: Is Athleisure 2.0 Already Here?
Pickleball’s apparel and equipment market is surging toward $6B, fueled by lifestyle crossover, premium gear, and digital sales.
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Good morning, ! This week we’re exploring the Pickleball boom and its apparel and equipment math, cart abandonment is still the silent revenue killer in e-commerce, Canal+ has acquired 100% of MultiChoice Group for $3B.
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TREND OF THE WEEK
Serve, Smash, Exit
Pickleball isn’t just a sport—it’s a full-blown consumer thesis. With U.S. participation up 6x since 2017, the $2B apparel & equipment market is set to nearly triple by 2030. What started as a retiree hobby is now being driven by 25–34-year-olds in paddle-pocket skirts and carbon-fiber shoes. Apparel leads the charge, outpacing equipment with a projected 16.2% CAGR in women’s gear alone. Toss in $250 paddles and 18% online growth, and you’ve got the trifecta: premiumization, digital distribution, and lifestyle crossover.
Investors angle? The sector is fragmented, growing, and begging for roll-ups—Selkirk, Paddletek, and Stack are early signals. Net-net: If athleisure was yoga’s exit, pickleball’s is M&A. (More)
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ECOMMERCE
The Checkout Cliff
Cart abandonment is still the silent revenue killer in e-commerce. The biggest deal-breaker? Slow delivery (36%), followed closely by missing payment options (35%). Shoppers also hit eject when faced with customs charges (33%), broken discount codes (33%), or even just having to pay for delivery (32%). The pattern is clear: checkout isn’t about bells and whistles—it’s about trust and convenience. Data shows 81% abandon carts if their preferred delivery option isn’t available, and 79% do the same when returns aren’t flexible. Even Baby Boomers—often dismissed as less digital—are the most likely to walk away if delivery or returns disappoint. For retailers, the message is blunt: logistics are strategy. Get them right, and you win loyalty. Miss, and you lose the sale before it starts. (More)
DEAL OF THE WEEK
Canal+ Buys MultiChoice for $3B, Bets on Africa’s Streaming Future
French media giant Canal+ has acquired 100% of MultiChoice Group—owner of DStv and GOtv—for $3 billion, marking one of the largest media deals in African history. The transaction, pending final regulatory approvals, is set to close by October 8, 2025.
The move gives Canal+ control over a vast subscriber base spanning 40+ African countries, placing it in direct competition with global streaming incumbents. In Uganda, where the Uganda Communications Commission is reviewing license transfers, the deal won’t immediately change DStv or GOtv offerings—but longer term, it’s a platform for deeper digital and content investment.
Why it matters: Africa’s youthful, mobile-first demographic is increasingly valuable in the global content race. Canal+ is positioning itself not just as a pay-TV leader, but as a long-term investor in local storytelling, sports broadcasting, and streaming innovation.
The bottom line: This isn’t just an M&A play—it’s a strategic bet on Africa’s media future. For investors and strategics, it signals rising deal activity in frontier markets where population growth and digital infrastructure are converging fast. (More)
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Gift Cards Go Digital and Strategic
Once a plastic placeholder near the checkout, gift cards are now embedded in digital wallets, loyalty ecosystems, and omnichannel strategies. According to Bank of America, 81% of consumers bought a gift card in the past year, up from 75% the year prior—a sign of structural, not seasonal, growth.
The shift is fueled by frictionless tech: cards can now live in Apple or Google Wallets, redeem via push notifications, and cross borders. That means fewer cards lost in drawers, and more reasons for consumers to actually spend the remaining $8.47 left on one.
Why it matters: For merchants, gift cards are no longer just a convenient SKU—they’re programmable currency. Branded cards drive loyalty, capture consumer intent, and let companies time foot traffic with tactical activations.
Bank of America found 96% of consumers spend as much or more than the card’s value when given one by a merchant. That’s margin math most CFOs can get behind.
As cross-border utility expands and app-based redemption becomes the norm, expect digital gift cards to function less like gifts—and more like customer acquisition levers. (More)
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Influence at Every Age
Globally, 24% of consumers now buy products because of influencers and celebrities, up from 20% a year ago. Gen Z remains the epicenter—45% of them consistently shop via endorsements—but the real story is outside the youth bubble. Gen X surged from 17% to 23%, the sharpest jump across age groups, showing that midlife wallets are opening to digital persuasion. Millennials ticked up slightly (32% → 33%), while Boomers nearly doubled, albeit from a low base (6% → 9%). Translation: influencer marketing has graduated from a Gen Z playbook to a cross-generational growth lever. The challenge for brands? Tailoring the message so a TikTok dance sells sneakers to a 20-year-old and skincare to a 55-year-old—without looking like dad trying too hard on Instagram.
"QuoteThe purpose of our lives is to add value to the people of this generation and those that follow."
Buckminster Fuller