Team Insight

I had the crazy idea to let Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT write my editorial for this issue. With all the talk of what AI can do and how it is changing the way we do business – and how we publish magazines – I figured I would enter in a few key words like "team sports" and "Fall 2024" and see what came up. But then I changed my mind and decided to write about gaga ball and cornhole instead. Much more fun and I am doing it in response to our art director Francis Klaess' insistence that this sport he is seeing being played in parks and school playgrounds and on the beach warrants our attention. And it is not just those two sports – which are the subject of a primer for team dealers looking for some new income sources on page 20 – but instead all of the "specialty sports" as we cover every year at this time in Team Insight. at means soccer and lacrosse, wrestling and track and field, and, yes, gaga ball. (I think I just like writing "gaga" a lot.) Football, baseball/soball and basketball deservedly get so much of the attention year-round from team dealers. ey even get their own issues on our editorial calendar, while this "special" issues comes around only in September/October. But that's okay, because this allows us to finally focus on just how important these "other" sports are for team dealers who rely on them to contribute year-round to their own bottom lines. Whether it is the original "sport of the future" – that would be soccer, back in the 1980s – or more recently lacrosse, wrestling (especially girls' wrestling) and the continued strength of volleyball at both the school and club level, team dealers feel special about the specialty sports. And don't even get us started on pickleball, which is usually followed by the term "the fastest-growing sport in America." Pickleball provides a huge opportunity for team dealers to sell paddles, balls, nets and court markers to almost every school and town recreation program that is trying to keep up with the demand. Plus Chicken N Pickle and Pickleball Kingdom and the dozens of other "eater-tainment" venues popping up all over America need to buy their pickleball stuff from somewhere. Why not from their local team dealer? Read all about it starting on page 22. And that brings this editorial all the way around to the use of technology in the team business, where online team shops, inventory management systems and even a bit of AI are making life easier, more efficient and ultimately more profitable. As I mentioned earlier, technology is constantly changing the way we publish magazines and write our stories and even our editorials — although I did write this one myself without the help of ChatGPT. Or did I? I WROTE THIS EDITORIAL. OR DID I? I had the crazy idea to let Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT write my editorial for this issue ... TEAM TALK / MICHAEL JACOBSEN STAHLS.COM | 800.4.STAHLS Order now stahls.com/shop-HTV GET READY FOR GAMEDAY WITH STAHLS' HEAT TRANSFER VINYL TI0924 • Abrasion-Resistant Strength • Light & Soft Stretch • Special Effect Shine STYLES FOR EVERY SPORT 6 • Team Insight ~ September/October 2024 teaminsightmag.com

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