You’d be forgiven for describing Pickleball as a ‘cute’ form of sport; that’s how Michael Barr, Bloomberg’s Business of Sports podcast host, first described it when it began to proliferate across the US.
Once dismissed as a quirky, niche pastime for retirees, pickleball has rapidly transformed into one of the fastest-growing sports in the country. At the professional level, it is now a well-capitalised, celebrity-backed entity attracting top-tier athletes, investors, and corporate sponsors.
In 2024 alone, Major League Pickleball (MLP) drove around $50m in revenue — and that figure doesn’t include income generated by individual teams.
“Pro pickleball came faster than any of us anticipated,” said MLP Commissioner Samine Adwani in a recent podcast. “It’s here, and more than anything else, it’s become real.”
Pickleball’s roots are humble — a fusion of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong played with paddles and a wiffle-style ball. But its appeal lies in its simplicity: small courts, easy-to-learn rules, and a low barrier to entry. That accessibility, combined with the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic, created a perfect storm for rapid adoption.
“Post-COVID, for all intents and purposes, pickleball didn’t exist,” said Adwani. “And now it’s exploded.”
Today, over 20 million people in the US play the sport. According to US Pickleball, 18,455 new courts sprang up over the course of 2024; unsurprising perhaps given the association sanctioned 142 tournaments across the year, including the Biofreeze USA National Championships.
The challenge now is turning those doers into viewers — and then ultimately, into investors.
Celebrities, Billionaires, and Big Bets
Critics might scoff at the economics of pro pickleball — but there’s a logic behind the model. Pro players currently earn more than $30m collectively, with an average salary of $250,000.
“That’s not nothing,” said Adwani. “It allows them to go full-time, to travel, do clinics, and appear at events. That full-time engagement lifts the entire product.”
Investors in MLP don’t just own a team — they buy into both the team, league and the PPA Tour, similar to owning both an NFL franchise and a PGA player contract. “We think one plus one can equal three,” Adwani added.
One of the most visible signs of pickleball’s ascension has been the influx of high-profile investors. Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Tom Brady, Drake, Michael B. Jordan, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Jamie Foxx are among the celebrities who’ve bought into pro teams — sometimes quite literally.
Adwani, who previously worked for Durant, recalled convincing the NBA star to buy a team. “We actually had him out playing,” he said with a smile, “He’s not great, but he got it — he understood the team element and the crossover appeal.”
In October 2022, Durant announced he had become an owner – along with manager and business parter Rich Kleiman – of the Brooklyn Aces, a Major League Pickleball expansion team. Durant said he “never thought” he would get into pickleball following the announcement, but noted the sport became a “small passion” after Kleiman got him onto the court to play for himself.
For investors looking for an entry point into pro sports, pickleball offers something that franchises in the NBA or NFL no longer can: affordability. An MLP team costs around $10m — a fraction of the $6.1bn paid for the Boston Celtics this year. The MLP, which was founded in 2021, expanded from 12 teams to 16 in 2023 and doubled its annual events to six.
For investors like Jewell Loyd — a two-time WNBA champion and owner of a Miami-based MLP franchise — the sport’s appeal is both personal and strategic.
“I love both sports,” Loyd said on the program. “Pickleball is super dynamic, very inclusive, and you can play year-round. The shift is happening.”
Her perspective is telling. While Loyd remains active in basketball, she sees pickleball as a long-term growth play, both culturally and financially. “I don’t see one as better than the other,” she said. “But as a businessperson, you want to see where the wave is going.”
Pickleball’s commercial viability isn’t just a function of celebrity endorsements. Its demographic range is a core part of its appeal.
“You can go out with your grandparent or three friends, and in ten minutes you’re in a competitive match,” said Adwani. “It’s that blend — old and young, casual and competitive — that makes it unique.”
The sport is also expanding into wealthier communities and institutional spaces, like country clubs and tennis clubs.
Nurturing the future pipeline
For pickleball to cement its place in the pro sports landscape, it needs a feeder system. That’s where the Junior PPA Tour comes in.
“We launched it to build from the bottom up,” said Adwani. “The NCAA is always a last mover — but if we can show there’s a base, they’ll sanction it.”
Youth engagement has been unexpectedly strong. “These kids are on their phones tracking their rankings, texting each other: ‘I beat you 11–9!’” Adwani said. “They’re hooked.”
One star already emerging is Anna Leigh Waters, who reportedly earned $3m last year at just sixteen years old. She now partners in tournaments with former tennis legend Andre Agassi, part of a broader trend of tennis talent migrating to pickleball.
A tense relationship with tennis
Despite shared origins and overlapping player bases, tennis and pickleball haven’t always coexisted peacefully. Turf wars — quite literally — have emerged over court conversions and local politics.
“Tennis people are like, ‘I don’t know about pickleball.’ Pickleball people are like, ‘Let us play on your courts,’” said Adwani. “But long term, I think it can be synergistic.”
That synergy is starting to take shape. The USTA National Campus in Orlando has built 10 permanent pickleball courts, and there are discussions about hosting MLP events in facilities like the US Open complex, which sits idle for much of the year.
Consolidation and strategy
In 2023, MLP and PPA were rivals. In 2024, they merged, with an eye toward streamlining operations and building coherent storylines.
This year, their seasons have been bifurcated: PPA runs August to April, while MLP owns the summer months (April to August).
“Running them back-to-back in the same city didn’t work,” Adwani admitted. “Now MLP can dominate the summer sports window — where there’s less competition for team sports — and culminate with a championship in Central Park.”
What began as a backyard hobby has matured into a sport with global aspirations and professional polish. Pickleball now has money, media coverage, celebrity backing — and, crucially, momentum.
