Selkirk Sport: $100M Target, Pickleball M&A, & Why Malaysia

About this episode

Mike Barnes, Co-CEO of Selkirk Sport, discusses the company's expansion into Asia and their investment strategy in the pickleball market.

As growth in the US market cools down, the battle for pickleball dominance is shifting to Asia, and Selkirk has made Malaysia their Asian HQ. Mike Barnes, Co-CEO of Selkirk Sport, joins The Breakfast Grille to discuss their $30 million investment, their expansion strategy, and why the pickleball economy will avoid the post-pandemic crash of hardware peers like Peloton. We dive into how Selkirk uses its unique in-house R&D lab to build a strong patent moat , how they leverage sub-brands to create a customer "ladder" without hurting their premium image , and why a cooling market is actually opening up aggressive opportunities for Selkirk to lead a wave of industry M&A and consolidation. Finally, Mike shares surprising consumer insights on why Southeast Asian players often view a premium paddle as a prime status symbol rather than a price hurdle. Photo Credit: Selkirk Sport See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: BFM Media

Guest: Mike Barnes

Topics covered

• pickleball
• business strategy
• market expansion
• M&A
• consumer insights
• premium products

Keywords

• pickleball
• Selkirk Sport
• investment
• M&A
• premium paddles
• consumer insights
• Asia

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Selkirk Sport, Peloton

Places: Malaysia, Asia, Southeast Asia

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