South Pasadena, CA – July 23: Pete Dinero, right, eyes a shot as his partner David Valera looks on as they play pickleball at the Arroyo Seco Racquet Club in South Pasadena on Saturday, July 23, 2022.
Keith Birmingham | Getty Images
The pickleball boom is real.
More than 36.5 million people played pickleball from August 2021 to August 2022, according to a new report by the Association of Pickleball Professionals released exclusively to CNBC. Earlier data pinned the participation rate of the sport at 5 million players in 2021.
The latest numbers unveiled in the 2023 APP Pickleball Participation report, via a study conducted by YouGov, shows that 14% of Americans played pickleball at least once in that 12-month period. And over 8.5 million people played pickleball eight times or more.
“When you look at participation rates alongside golf, and basketball and tennis. … I don’t think anybody would have thought a year ago that pickleball would be right up there with those more traditional sports,” said Tom Webb, chief marketing officer of the Association of Pickleball Professionals, the group that represents professional, recreational and amateur players.
In recent months, star athletes ranging from LeBron James and Tom Brady to Kevin Durant and Patrick Mahomes have brought more high-profile attention to the sport by investing in professional pickleball teams. What began as a way to get in on a professional sport early has become one of the hottest sports investments with the ability to own a team in the low seven-figure range.
The sport is also attracting a new wave of sponsors. Familiar names like Holland America, Anheuser-Busch, Sketchers and Carvana have all signed recent pickleball deals.
“When you look at the number of people that are now picking up a paddle and playing for the first time, it is inevitable that the investment market is going to look at that and say, this is something worth us investing in,” said Webb.
The real dill
Across the country, tennis courts and being replaced, and pickleball courts are moving in as other investors are shoring up big money. In Southern California, the Santa Monica Tennis Center just invested $250,000 in a new facility dedicated to pickleball. Outside of Sarasota, Florida, real estate developers have invested $180 million into a 15-court facility called The Pickleball Club. They expect to have 600 members.
The pickleball restaurant-entertainment model is also gaining steam. From Chicken N Pickle to Camp Pickle, entrepreneurs are hoping to capitalize on the craze. Food and entertainment industry veteran Robert Thompson says he plans to roll out at least 10 Camp Pickle facilities across the country in 2024.
Ben Johns hits a backhand shot during the 2022 US Open Pro Men’s Doubles at the East Naples Community Park on April 29, 2022 in Naples, Florida.
Bruce Yeung | Getty Images
Terri Graham, the co-founder of the Minto US Open Pickleball Championships, the largest event in the sport since 2016, says enthusiasm is at an…
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