Pickleball, padel—yes, they’re hot. Nevertheless, a third of the world’s adults are inactive—and among youth, inactivity is even more pronounced, according to McKinsey Partner Alexander Thiel. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Alexander joins Global Editorial Director and Deputy Publisher Lucia Rahilly to discuss this year’s whipsawing consumer trends, as well as what sporting goods leaders can do to harness them to combat slowing growth.

Articles/pieces mentioned:

Can Bloomingdale’s bring the magic back to department stores?

McKinsey's 2025 annual book recommendations

Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw

Pickleball, padel&mdash;yes, they&rsquo;re hot.&nbsp;Nevertheless, a third of the world&rsquo;s adults are inactive&mdash;and among youth, inactivity is even more pronounced, according to McKinsey Partner&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/alexander-thiel">Alexander Thiel</a>. In this episode of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-podcast">The McKinsey Podcast</a>, Alexander joins Global Editorial Director and Deputy Publisher Lucia Rahilly to discuss this year&rsquo;s whipsawing consumer trends, as well as what sporting goods leaders can do to harness them to combat slowing growth.
Articles/pieces mentioned:
<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/can-bloomingdales-bring-the-magic-back-to-department-stores">Can Bloomingdale&rsquo;s bring the magic back to department stores?</a>
<a href="https://preview.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/annual-book-recommendations">McKinsey's 2025 annual book recommendations</a>
Theme music composed, performed, and produced by Joy Ngiaw

The McKinsey Podcast, our new flagship podcast series, takes you inside our global firm, and features conversations with experts on issues that matter most in business and management. McKinsey & Company is a management-consulting firm that helps businesses, governments, and not-for-profit organizations realize their most important goals. Topics covered in this series include strategy, technology, leadership, marketing, operations, organization, and the role of business in society.

The McKinsey Podcast features conversations with experts from global management-consulting firm McKinsey & Company, focusing on the issues that matter most in business and management.

The McKinsey Podcast

Our flagship series The McKinsey Podcast takes you inside our global firm, and features conversations with experts on issues that matter most in business and management. McKinsey & Company is a management-consulting firm that helps businesses, governments, and not-for-profit organizations realize their most important goals. Topics covered in this series include strategy, technology, leadership, marketing, operations, organization, and the role of business in society.

Our flagship series The McKinsey Podcast takes you inside our global firm, and features conversations with experts on issues that matter most in business and management. McKinsey &amp; Company is a management-consulting firm that helps businesses, governments, and not-for-profit organizations realize their most important goals. Topics covered in this series include strategy, technology, leadership, marketing, operations, organization, and the role of business in society.

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