Pickleball has taken the nation by storm and it doesn’t look like the trend is going to slow down anytime soon.
For the rapidly decreasing number of Americans who’ve never heard of pickleball, the game is one of America’s fastest-growing sports.
Let’s backtrack. For context, the sport was Invented back in 1965 by three middle-aged fathers in Washington state. The sport is a cross between tennis, ping pong, and badminton played with a paddle and a perforated plastic ball.
Fast forward to 2022 and the sport is finally catching on.
With 4.8 million people now playing — almost double the number from five years ago, according to the SFIA — some of the sport’s most avid participants are capitalizing on pickleball’s spike in popularity.
As it currently stands, the sport has two national professional tournaments. Both were formed in the last four years, and both organizers are looking for corporate sponsors to help grow the sport in the U.S. and abroad as part of a bid for upcoming Olympic inclusion.
While popularity for the sport is growing, it does still skew towards an older crowd. Most of pickleball’s current “core” players — defined as those who play more than eight times per year — are over age 65, but the game is getting younger, with the strongest growth among players under 55, according to USA Pickleball.
Pickleball participation grew by 21.3% between 2019 and 2020. Since 2019, that figure is even higher with 39.3% growth. According to the SFIA, it is officially the fastest-growing sport in America.
The growth narrative is a positive sign as the sport looks to become mainstream, but it does not come without drawback. With an influx of so many new players, the U.S. is struggling to keep up with demand for courts.
The country currently has only about 10,000 places to play, by USA Pickleball’s count, but that continues to grow by several dozen every month. Sports clubs and hotel groups, including Marriott and Omni Resorts, are converting tennis courts to or building new courts for pickleball.
Local municipalities are looking to meet the demand for pickleball venues as demand is quickly outstripping supply. In fact, there are so many requests for space that USA Pickleball is putting together a toolkit for community planners with guidelines and cost estimates for building courts, which can range from $300 for a temporary net, equipment and tape to mark lines, to $30,000 for a permanent court.
And then there is the celebrity influence. In early April, entrepreneur and avid sports fan Gary Vaynerchuk announced that he was buying a professional pickleball team competing in Major League Pickleball.
Private equity is also buying in: Carolina Hurricanes owner and private equity investor Tom Dundon recently purchased the Pro Pickleball Association and Pickleball Central.
And then there is Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry.
Lasry invested in 2021 and in an interview with Sports Business Journal, Lasry stated “I think you’re going to be shocked [by] where it is five years from now.” Even Lasry thinks the future is bright.
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