"For decades in the US, table tennis has lived a double life: one of the most widely played sports in the country, yet still dismissed by many as a basement pursuit. Now, unexpectedly, it is having a cultural moment. The release of Marty Supreme, a film steeped in obsession and myth, and loosely based on postwar American table tennis champion Marty Reisman, has pushed ping-pong into the pop-culture mainstream just as US Major League Table Tennis sells out matches, clubs report growing interest, and younger players pick up paddles for the first time."
"The movie has been a catalyst, says David Silberman, cofounder of PingPod, which operates table tennis venues across the US northeast. We're starting to see it in the data of our business. In 2022, Silberman started playing table tennis regularly with Marty Supreme director Josh Safdie whom he describes as a solid beginner player by competitive standards at Pingpod's Midtown, New York location. He's fascinated by the sport and how it's always been considered a second-rate sport, says Silberman. When Christmas Day came along and the movie premiered we pretty much immediately saw a 20-40% spike in year-on-year new customer reservations, and existing customer utilisation went up 10-15%."
"Major League Table Tennis (MLTT), the first professional table tennis league in the US, established in 2023, just set an all-time regular season ticket sales record, according to founder Flint Lane. No doubt some of that is Marty related. Lily Zhang is a six-time US national champion and four-time Olympian. Photograph: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images The sport already had momentum, adds MLTT senior vice-president for marketing, Matt Parker, but the film has helped reintroduce it to a younger, culture-driven audience that's now showing up at matches and engaging with our content. MLTT's first event since the release of Marty Supreme sold out in Portland, Oregon, at the beginning of the"
Marty Supreme, a film inspired by postwar champion Marty Reisman, has pushed table tennis into the pop-culture mainstream. PingPod locations reported a 20-40% spike in new customer reservations and a 10-15% rise in utilization after the film's premiere. Major League Table Tennis, founded in 2023, set an all-time regular season ticket sales record and sold out events following the film's release. Clubs across the US report growing interest and younger players are taking up paddles. Industry leaders attribute recent attendance and engagement gains to both preexisting momentum and renewed cultural visibility from the film.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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