#7 Edition of Daily Grind

In today’s newsletter:

• America’s fastest growing sport “Pickleball“: estimated 36.5M players in the U.S.

• Building new Bay Area city: Several of the techiest bros have together bought up $800 million worth of land in California.

• Dell’s shares rise up by 22% and a whole lot more….

America's Fastest Growing Sport: Pickleball

What is pickleball? It's all about paddles, a plastic ball, and a 34 inch net. You smack the plastic ball back and forth until someone blinks or breaks the rules. It's played both indoors or outdoors. Basically, it's tennis's awesome sidekick!

Let’s get into the stats and numbers of this sidekick that’s currently leaving it’s master in second place:

• In 2022, there were an estimated 36.5 million pickleball players in America, according to the Association of Pickleball Professionals.

• Pickleball participation has experienced an average growth rate of 158.6% over the past 3 years, making it the fastest-growing sport in America.

• Players aged 18-34 constitute the largest demographic of pickleball players, accounting for 28.8% of the player base nationwide.

• There are currently 10,320 pickleball courts across the United States.

• The pickleball paddle market was valued at $152.8 million in 2021 and is projected to grow at a 7.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2028.

• The 2023 APP Pickleball Participation report, conducted by YouGov, revealed that 14% of Americans played pickleball at least once in the past year, with over 8.5 million individuals playing the sport eight times or more.

• Outside of Sarasota, Florida, real estate developers have invested $180 million into a 15-court facility called The Pickleball Club. They expect to have 600 members.

Star athletes like LeBron James, Tom Brady, Kevin Durant, and Patrick Mahomes have invested in professional pickleball teams, turning it into a high-profile sport investment opportunity in the low seven-figure range. Additionally, familiar sponsors like Holland America, Anheuser-Busch, Skechers, and Carvana are entering the pickleball scene.

Hence, the tale reigns once again of the sidekick outshining the master.

If you wanna learn more here’s a short 5 min video.

Building a new utopian city in California

Tech giants are joining forces to create a new city in Solano County, California, worth a whopping $800M+. Frustrated by the rapid depletion of Silicon Valley real estate, these visionaries aim to tackle housing shortages and expand their workforce. Flannery Associates, led by former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Sramek, is at the forefront of this project.

Here are some notable investors, Michael Moritz (Sequoia Capital Chairman), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn co-founder), Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon (a16z venture capitalists), Patrick and John Collison (Stripe co-founders), and Laurene Powell Jobs (Emerson Collective founder).

This ambitious venture, though, faces California's challenging housing regulations. Much of the land purchased isn't zoned for residential use, potentially necessitating a rezoning initiative, which faces uncertainty. Despite the hurdles, if successful, this endeavour could ease housing shortages, boost tax revenue, and help job creation, a true tech utopia in the making.

SNIPPETS

• SEC delays spot Bitcoin ETF decision for all applicants including BlackRock and Fidelity.

• Dell's shares rose 22.2% and hit a record high after it raised full-year financial forecasts with boosts from AI and stabilizing demand for computer hardware after a months-long slump.

• OpenAI offers ways for teachers to use ChatGPT, like assisting in language lessons, while highlighting the importance of critical thinking and the challenge of detecting AI-generated work.

• It might sound absurd, but these days, just adding "AI" to anything can get you some serious dough. For ex: AI-powered BeFake isn't a BeReal parody; it's a real app with a whopping $3 million in funding.

• Meta is rolling out legs for its Quest Home avatars (which previously only had torsos). The feature is available for beta users, who can only see their legs by looking in a mirror.

COOL SHIT

• The podcast of the day is Finding value in the Oil market-Josh Young

• 15 fastest rising google searches.

• 10 key learnings from a mastermind- Sahil Bloom.

• How stuff works, this website focuses on detailing how stuff works in easy to understand language.