CRIM to partner with Pickleball518

It’s exciting to partner with Mark [Vinciguerra] and his team. Mark has extensive experience in audience growth. He is creative and willing to try new things. He also is a pickleball player and is an advocate of local news, so our missions are well-aligned.”

Cathleen Crowley Denbeaux, founder of Pickleball518

Capital Region Independent Media, an upstate media publisher, has partnered with Pickleball518, a newsletter and website focused on growing the game of pickleball in New York. Pickleball518, formed in November 2022, reaches more than 5,000 pickleball players each month.

Pickleball is the fast-growing sport in America, with the most growth among players under age 24. Players ages 18-34 make up the largest percentage of pickleball players at 28% nationwide, according to Pickleheads. There are currently 10,320 pickleball courts in the United States and 400 courts in New York.

Capital Region Independent Media will offer advertising and sponsorship opportunities on Pickleball518’s newsletter, website and social channels. And Pickleball518 content will be shared on Capital Region Independent Media’s online, print and social platforms.

“It’s exciting to partner with Mark [Vinciguerra] and his team,” said Cathleen Crowley Denbeaux, founder of Pickleball518. “Mark has extensive experience in audience growth. He is creative and willing to try new things. He also is a pickleball player and is an advocate of local news, so our missions are well-aligned.”

“I’m excited to collaborate with Cathleen and help develop a trusted local media source covering this robust, growing community of players,” said Mark Vinciguerra, president of Capital Region Independent Media.

Crowley Denbeaux and Vinciguerra both worked at the Albany Times Union but were re-introduced to each other on a pickleball court where the idea of a partnership emerged.

Crowley Denbeaux is a data journalist who previously worked at the Providence Journal in Rhode Island, and most recently was a data interactives designer on the Times Union’s web team. An adult ice hockey player and former softball player, Crowley Denbeaux fell in love with pickleball because of the intensity of the game, the social interaction with other players and how easy the game is on achy knees.

Vinciguerra comes from a racquetball background and once served as director of media outreach for the International Racquetball Tour.

Capital Region Independent Media publishes social media, websites, videos and printed newspapers in Albany County and Greene County, New York. The newspapers include The Ravena News-Herald, Albany County’s oldest continuously published weekly newspaper, as well as the Greenville Pioneer. TheUpstater.com is the hub for both newspapers.

Vinciguerra also is publisher of NYVT Media, which prints the Granville Sentinel, the Whitehall Times, the Washington Country FreePress in northern New York and the Lakes Region FreePress in Vermont.

In addition, Capital Region Independent Media publishes InPlay Capital Region, a website and social media site devoted to community theater; DIRT Central, a social media site focusing on the upstate New York racing scene; and Border Country Sports, featuring sports news from the North Country.

For more information, visit Pickleball518.com and nyvtmedia.com/