Ever since I got interested in the sport of table tennis about 5 years ago, my goal has been to get as many people into the sport as possible and get new fans to watch this amazing amazing sport. Without a doubt or hesitation I can say that I firmly believe that PingPod is the solution that table tennis has been in need of for a long time. I firmly believe that this organization holds the key to re-popularizing the sport and bring it to a top level in terms of viewership, and engagement.

So what the heck is PingPod? PingPod is a series of staff-less “pods” or clubs that run 24/7. These pods will be open in many locations enabling access to table tennis in locations with sparse table tennis real estate. PingPod currently has many locations in New York, have opened in New Jersey, Philadelphia, and will be opening soon in Florida, Massachusetts, and Chicago, and many more. The goal is to eventually open up all over the world.

Table Tennis fans have kinda been carrying the sport. TT stagnated a bit in the U.S. and I hope that that can be changed. The efforts of few yet very hard working passionate table tennis lovers has kept this sport alive. As PingPod grows, I want to make sure that there is constant feedback from fellow TT addicts that I can funnel in to PingPod to make sure that we stay in touch with the core community.

PingPod has been sponsoring some players for some time and I want to bring forth new content. I want to give the starved table tennis fan access to these players’ matches, trainings, mindsets, and lifestyles through high quality footage that will keep the table tennis fan in the loop following PingPod Athletes.

I want to highlight two of our players who are making their mark on the NE region of the competitive table tennis scene; Adi Sareen from Australia, and Romain Lorentz from France.

Thanks for sharing - how do you see PingPod re-popularizing the sport? What innovative or unique steps are they taking to reach out to the general public in ways that everybody else has failed?

hassancooking wrote: Table Tennis fans have kinda been carrying the sport. TT stagnated a bit in the U.S. and I hope that that can be changed. The efforts of few yet very hard working passionate table tennis lovers has kept this sport alive.

Carrying the sport in what regards? 

I would strongly disagree that TT has stagnated in the US, in fact, I'd say it's grown more in the past decade than it has in a very long time, made possible by private clubs and private funding that has brought in higher level coaching and facility resources than existed before. 

Sorry for butchering the HTML quoting in advance.

First things first I wanna make sure that its clear that im speaking from my POV only! 

The way I see PingPod re-popularizing the sport is by creating the perfect environment to take the casuals players' hand all the way through process from being a basement player or a casual, to becoming a club player and being integrated in competitive table tennis. A ton of people play "ping pong" but not a lot of people play "table tennis." Anyone from any level can walk into PingPod at any location and you will find a mix of casual, competitive casual, club player, and competitive club players hanging out. There are always events running weekly for people at all skill levels of all sorts of settings to make sure that people are engaged. PingPod is focused solely on ping pong. Just that. As far as innovative or unique, I would say that the business model in its entirety is proprietary. Starting out, pods are placed in high foot traffic urban environments where it may be difficult or expensive to build a table tennis club otherwise. These pods are usually self serve and unstaffed, which reduces overhead and allows such a business to exist. There is also an incorporation of technology in various aspects some public and some that are being worked on that will be a great addition to the sport such as automated scorekeeping and replay features. 

With regards to the carrying the sport question: 

We're saying the exact same thing! haha 

So when I mentioned stagnating I was referencing a larger time frame where Table Tennis was very popular in the US in older times-- went to sleep for a bit-- and is slowly but surely gaining traction again. As far as the table tennis carrying the sport, I am indeed referencing those exact privately funded clubs and facilities. The people driving these movements are the "fans" that i'm referencing. This also holds true for PingPod :) 

In terms of? Growing the sport? Finding a place to play? 

Sorry not sure what youre referencing! 

What is the process when creating a new PingPod location? how does it work? can anybody do it?