Moneyball

How popular is pickleball, really?

Recent estimates put the number of annual participants in the U.S. around 50 million. That’s the same number of people who swung a golf club in all of 2024, be it on a course, driving range, indoor simulator or at a popular entertainment destination like Top Golf.

Fifty million, give or take, is the number of people who went running last year. It’s a few million short of the number of Americans, age 6 or older, who dropped a line in the water and hoped for a bite. It’s also—fun fact—right around the number of people who visit America’s most popular tourist attraction annually: Times Square, New York City.

It’s a staggering number of people. For America’s fastest-growing sport, it also represents a staggering amount of moolah.

It’s impossible to know just how much cash can be attributed to the rise and proliferation of our new favorite pastime, but there are a few key guardrails that can help point us in the right direction.

To play pickleball, you need a paddle, a ball and a dedicated court. Play a few more times and you’ll likely want specialized footwear. Maybe a few new pairs of shorts, socks and tops while you’re at it. Soon, you’ll need a better paddle. (Or five.)

Fifty million pickleball paddles is a lot of moolah. And that’s just the tippy top of the iceberg.

Star Power

Like any major sport, pickleball is increasingly relying on celebrity endorsements as a catalyst for growth.

A growing flock of A-listers rank among the ownership groups at the professional level, including Tom Brady, LeBron James, Eva Longoria, Michael Phelps, Patrick Mahomes and Gary Vaynerchuk. Drew Brees has become a franchise owner as well as the face of The Picklr nationwide, along with top pros Hayden Patriquin, Anna Bright and Connor Garnett.

On the court, the sport’s top names are benefiting from a mix of lucrative contracts—salaries fueled in large part by the arms race that played out between the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) and Major League Pickleball (MLP)—and brand sponsorship deals.

• James Ignatowich said he pulled in more than $1 million in 2024 between his salary and coaching appearances.

• Gabe Tardio recently signed a three-year, $800K pro contract, not including performance-based incentives.

• Federico Staksrud is the new face of Adidas Pickleball, with a signature paddle forthcoming.

• Ben Johns revealed to CNBC that he makes $2.5 million in salary and endorsement deals.

• Anna Leigh Waters was the sport’s highest-paid player in 2024, earning more than $3 million.

Tyson McGuffin has turned his firebrand personality into successful brand deals, including a reality show on YouTube. Most notable, perhaps, is his long-running shoe partner, Skechers, which he has helped propel to pickleball fame through loud signature colors and limited-release collabs with brands like Miller Lite.

“We love working with Tyson. Beyond his extreme talent on the pickleball court, he’s bold, charismatic, and truly believes in the brand,” says Greg Smith, Skechers vice president of product development and merchandising. “The relationships we have with our athletes are extremely important for us. The fans are highly engaged with the sport, making them more likely to support brands that are associated with their favorite athletes.”

Michelob Ultra even banked on pickleball’s universal appeal to carry its estimated $8 million Super Bowl ad, a cheeky on-court con for free beer that plays out between Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara and pickleball pros Hunter Johnson, Parris Todd, Jaume Martinez Vich and Emily Cederquist. The spot currently has 18 million views on YouTube.

Paddle Battle

Pickleball is already a multi-billion-dollar industry, with some reports pegging its growth as high as $7.9 billion by 2032, fueled largely by equipment sales and the proliferation of dedicated indoor and outdoor facilities to meet the relentless and rising demand.

To understand the money saturating the sport of pickleball, it helps to wrap your head around the profuse paddle market.

There are more than 4,000 different paddle models listed on USA Pickleball’s approved paddle list, the vast majority of which even the most diehard player has never heard of. And that’s just on the recreational and amateur side; the United Pickleball Association of America (UPA-A) has its own set of regulations that govern its approved paddles for professional play.

Small, under-the-radar paddle brands can clear $100,000 in sales a year, no problem. But for industry stalwarts like Selkirk, Joola, Proton and others, the numbers are enough to make your jaw drop.

“In 2024, Selkirk sold over 1 million units, reflecting significant growth in the high double digits compared to the previous year,” the company’s co-founder and co-CEO, Rob Barnes, told Pickleball Magazine. “In 2025, we anticipate continued strong performance, with projected growth in the mid to high double digits.”

Serlkirk’s paddle prices range from $50 to $250 (and higher still for limited releases). The most popular models—ubiquitous on courts from the lowest rec levels through to top pros like Jack Sock and Catherine Parenteau—cost $150 and above.

Many consumers choose to buy paddles online directly from the companies themselves. And it’s not uncommon for brands to sell out of a new release (with quantities ranging from 500 to 10,000 units) in a matter of days or even sooner.

But other options abound: Dick’s Sporting Goods, Pickleball Central and Amazon are just a few retail channels profiting from the sport’s growing participant base. (A quick search for pickleball paddles on Amazon, filtered by “Best Sellers,” yields more than 3,000 results.) According to a report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), pickleball paddles and balls accounted for wholesale sales of $220 million in 2023, the highest growth of any category tracked, increasing 30.7 percent from the year prior.

Most recreational players naturally want to level‑up their paddle as their skills increase. Where once a $40 starter paddle from Amazon felt great, suddenly they’re comparing the difference between carbon fiber and fiberglass and happily spending $200 or more for the newest, hottest paddle on the market.

“There are certain characteristics of equipment in pickleball that can make you a better player, even at a lower level,” says Gordon Kaye, chief experience officer at Joola. “If you start segmenting the customer behavior by dollar value, the largest is in that $100 to $200 range.”

Joola recently announced a paddle collaboration with superstar tennis couple Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, starting at just $59.95. “We’re pretty convinced that the $99 paddle is going to be a significant disruptor in the space,” adds Kaye.

If You Build It

Let’s review: Tens of millions of Americans of all ages are now happily playing pickleball, a number that’s steadily increasing in every region across the country. They’re buying paddles and balls and footwear and apparel at ravenous rates. They’re hooked.

Now, exactly where are we supposed to put them all?

Access to courts is becoming a barrier to entry. According to SFIA, in partnership with Pickleheads, there are 68,458 total playable courts in the U.S., with 18,455 new courts added in 2024. Even so, “the industry will need to spend over $855 million building courts over the coming five to seven years to satisfy current and future demand,” or about 25,000 additional courts.

Local parks, rec centers and municipalities are doing their part, allocating as much space as possible to make room for more pickleball.

LifeTime, the upscale fitness and lifestyle company, has invested upwards of $100 million toward adding pickleball courts to its existing facilities. It’s also a title sponsor of some PPA events, playing host to this year’s Veolia Atlanta Pickleball Championship in May.

Membership-based, upscale facilities like CityPickle and The Picklr are increasingly becoming the norm, popping up with new locations all the time. The premise: Come for the pickleball, stay for the experience. Amenities like locker rooms, smoothie bars and singles events turn a two-hour session into a full-blown social event.

“CityPickle is more than just a place to play pickleball,” according to co-founders Mary Cannon and Erica Desai. “With the sport exploding all over the country, we saw an opportunity to create a brand that celebrates pickleball while also catering to the busy lives of urban professionals, combining bookable indoor courts with the added benefit of pre- or post-game socializing at a full bar and restaurant.”

By fall 2025, CityPickle will operate 50 courts across its current locations. “Our goal ultimately is to be in all major cities.”

The Picklr focuses on existing “big box” retail footprints, due in large part to the need for ceiling heights of 22+ feet. Think Bed, Bath and Beyond or Hobby Lobby and you’ve got the right idea.

“It is important to The Picklr that we choose real estate that not only works for our franchisee, but also helps uplift the community by bringing pickleball players of all skill sets and ages together,” says Chief Marketing Officer Kathryn Smith Bullough.

The Picklr operates 30 clubs in the U.S. with an additional 60 coming in 2025, and more than 475 locations sold that will open over the next few years. Seven international locations are also planned for 2025.

Just the Beginning

The equipment that people use to play at all levels represents a tremendous revenue stream into the gushing river that is the sport of pickleball in America. With more brands entering the space every day, it’s only going to grow in force in the coming years.

But there are financial tributaries the sport hasn’t even unlocked yet, chief among them a major television deal and the inevitable onset of pickleball sports betting. If the sport keeps growing like it has been—and there are no indicators that it won’t—these tidal shifts will come. And the financial dam will break open even wider than it already is.

In parallel, the sport’s governing bodies, its various regulatory arms, facilities large and small, and the countless brands vying to create the next hot paddle or shoe or piece of apparel will all contribute—in their own small but influential ways—to elevating the experience of what it means to play pickleball.

After all, 50 million pickleball players might sound like a lot now, but imagine a whole generation of kids who grew up playing the sport, unlike most of us who only discovered it as adults.

Pickleball is everywhere. And for everyone.

“By investing in the next generation of players,” says Smith Bullough, referencing The Picklr’s Junior Academy (which it heralds as the country’s first), “we’re ensuring the sport’s growth and maintaining its competitive edge for years to come.”  •

Alex E. Weaver is the digital content manager at The Dink. When he’s not writing about, watching or playing pickleball, he enjoys spending time with his family, traveling and hiking with his two Bernese mountain dogs.