The major forces in professional U.S. pickleball are finally coming together.

Major League Pickleball is merging with the PPA Tour with a new $50 million investment to fuel the new entity.

The brands will remain distinct, but the merger aims to eliminate schedule conflicts and competition over players. The funding round was led by SC Holdings and MLP team owner Al Tylis, with participation from PPA Tour owner Tom Dundon and other MLP team owners.

“The holding company unifying the PPA Tour and MLP will create a streamlined sport for fans and add more meaningful opportunities for player competition, broadcasting rights, and sponsorship throughout the professional pickleball calendar,” said Dundon.

The two leagues agreed to a merger last year, but reports emerged last month that the pact was on thin ice. 

Rapid Growth

Both pickleball leagues sprung up within the last five years as participation in the racquet sport has surged. In 2022, 8.9 million people played pickleball, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, an increase of 159% over three years. The US added 130 places to play per month last year, according to USA Pickleball.

The PPA Tour focuses on individual achievements and rankings, while MLP has attracted a slew of athlete and celebrity team investors, including Tom Brady, LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Kevin Durant, Drake, Michael B. Jordan, Patrick Mahomes, Naomi Osaka, Rich Paul, and Gary Vaynerchuk.

Editor’s note: SC Holdings is an investor in Front Office Sports.

The WNBA enters its 2023 playoffs on Wednesday with the momentum of another season that has dynamically boosted its own growth trajectory and that of women’s sports.

Extending a trend over the past several years, the league ended the regular season up 16% in attendance with a per-game average of 6,615 — the WNBA’s highest figure since 2018. With the league’s newly expanded schedule seeing teams play 40 games each, up from 36, total attendance also rose to 1.59 million, the highest total in 13 years.

The defending league champion Las Vegas Aces led the league with a per-game average of 9,551, up by 66% and buttressed by a franchise-record turnout of 17,406 for a game played Sept. 10 at T-Mobile Arena, home of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, instead of their Michelob Ultra Arena.

The league reached 36 million total unique viewers across its national TV partners, up 27% from a year ago and its highest total since 2008. The combined per-game viewership average of 505,000 on ABC, ESPN, and CBS improved 8% from last year. Social media consumption nearly doubled to 373 million views.

The impressive totals extend a multiyear run of growth for the league that most recently has also driven new business for the New York Liberty and mirrors the historic levels of growth seen in both domestic and international women’s soccer, as well as in tennis and ice hockey.

Similar to changes introduced last year, a playoff pool of up to $500,000 will give WNBA players the opportunity to earn up to an additional $20,825 each.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the latest pro sports team targeting a new venue with their plans for a project that will cost nearly $1 billion.

Team and city officials have agreed on a proposal to build a $900 million arena downtown that would open in 2029 and be the Thunder’s home for at least the next 25 years. 

The team’s current lease at Paycom Center expires in 2026 — an issue contributing to mounting uncertainty over the future of the franchise. Paycom Center first opened in 2002 and seats 18,000 fans.

To greenlight the proposal — which had been lagging and won’t be formally approved until December — Oklahoma City has committed to publicly fund the majority of the arena, in addition to $50 million from Thunder owner Clay Bennett and other team investors.

“We had a choice to raise taxes or delay the project until 2034,” Oklahoma City mayor David Holt said. “We wouldn’t have an NBA team if we did that.” 

Cities like Las Vegas and Seattle are unabashedly vying for NBA teams as the league considers expansion or current franchises potentially seek new homes.

Will Philadelphia Follow Suit?

The Philadelphia 76ers are another NBA team hoping to build a new $1.3 billion downtown arena by 2031 — a situation that has caused strife with their current arena’s landlord. The 76ers play at Wells Fargo Center, which is owned by Comcast Spectacor, in South Philly.

“The trend of downtown arenas continues,” David Adelman, who chairs 76 Devco, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), referring to the news of the Thunder’s arena plans.