Pickleball’s marketing momentum—how brands, celebrities and TV networks are finding consumers

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When it comes to the defining sports in U.S. culture, pickleball likely isn’t at the top of that list, or even on that list at all. But, the racquet sport—a mishmash of tennis, badminton and ping-pong played with flat paddles—is rapidly dominating sports culture nationwide and attracting a wave of brands looking to capitalize on its surging popularity.

Brands have started jumping on the pickleball bandwagon as the sport grows, with new companies seemingly announcing tournament sponsorships or endorsements of professional pickleball athletes on a weekly basis. On Tuesday, for example, Anheuser-Busch InBev revealed the company has purchased a Major League Pickleball team for the upcoming 2023 season. And while sponsorship deals and pickleball-themed marketing is still in its infancy, a tipping point could be nearing, said Chuck Menke, chief marketing officer of the sport’s governing body, USA Pickleball. 

“Really, now is the time for Fortune 500 brands to jump into the sport,” he told Ad Age. “After a certain period of time, the categories will be closed, and I think those who are left on the sidelines will regret it.”

In October, Molson Coors-owned Vizzy became the “official hard seltzer of pickleball” via a deal with the Professional Pickleball Association. Active footwear brand Oofos, and Claussen Pickles (a Kraft Heinz brand with a fitting name for the sport) are backing a primetime celebrity pickleball tournament, “Pickled,” which will air on CBS on Nov. 17 with host Stephen Colbert. 

Earlier this year, Skechers announced a partnership with two top-ranked players, Tyson McGuffin and Catherine Parenteau, who now serve as Skechers ambassadors and exclusively wear the brand’s pickleball-specific footwear during their matches. And 15-year-old Anna Leigh Waters signed deals last year with Richard’s Rainwater, an Austin, Texas-based brand that collects and bottles rainwater, and sportswear company Fila. Waters wears logos for these two companies—along with paddle manufacturer Paddletek, her first brand sponsor—during her matches, and dons Fila apparel, accessories and the brand’s pickleball-specific footwear. 

Waters’ influx of sponsorship proposals shows how eager brands are to work with one of the sport’s biggest stars. She and her agent, Kelly Wolf, are currently deciding which of the roughly 10 brands that have contacted her to add to her pool of sponsors. 

For Wolf, guiding Waters through pickleball sponsorship deals has been a completely different experience from her years of working with professional tennis players or NASCAR racer Jimmie Johnson, because pickleball is still emerging as a space for brand deals, unlike more-established sports, which have more competition for brand sponsorships. And pickleball’s growing popularity among millennials and Gen Zers, as well as the sport’s skewed participation among middle- and upper-class consumers, appeals to many brands trying to reach members of these demographics, she told Ad Age. 

“It’s not very often that, as a brand, you get the opportunity to be at the forefront of an emerging sport,” said Jim Gunning, CMO of non-alcoholic beer company Best Day Brewing, which in August became the “official non-alcoholic beer of the PPA.” “When you can put your brand in that spot where you become almost considered endemic to that space, you’re at such a huge advantage over anything that comes behind you.”

In contrast to Best Day Brewing and other recent brand additions to pickleball, Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts became the ongoing title sponsor of the USA Pickleball national championships back in 2018, and is now also the official lodging partner of the PPA Tour. The company beat most other non-endemic brands to the punch in integrating into the world of pickleball, starting off in 2017 by building pickleball courts at its various “Latitude Margaritaville” senior-living locations. In the ensuing years, Margaritaville quickly became “pickleball-crazy” and has established the sport as a core part of the brand’s identity, Tamara Baldanza-Dekker, Margaritaville's CMO, told Ad Age.

“We’ve got branded paddles and branded gear and all sorts of pickleball clothing. We’ve started to build pickleball courts at all of our new properties,” she said. “The national championships out in Indian Wells … it’s the Margaritaville pickleball national championships. We’ve almost become synonymous with it.” 

Although Margaritaville also partners with other sports leagues like MLB and the NFL, pickleball provides the company far more opportunities to incorporate its brand into the sport than events such as individual Margaritaville-themed MLB games. For the national championships, the company works to recreate the feel of its resort properties at the pickleball courts, setting out several Adirondack chairs and a mini version of the company’s “License to Chill” bars included at its resort properties for the tournament’s spectators. In just under five years, pickleball has reached the status of Margaritaville’s “sport of choice,” Baldanza-Dekker said.

Since its inception in 1965, pickleball has largely been pigeonholed as an activity for senior centers or school gym classes because of its simple, low-impact nature—but pickleball’s accessibility is part of its surging appeal among players of all ages. The sport's quirky name originates from the concept of the "pickleboat" in competitive rowing, which, in keeping with the hodgepodge nature of pickleball, refers to a crew of leftover oarsmen not chosen for more competitive boats. Players can jump onto a pickleball court with just a paddle and a Wiffle ball, and can challenge a single opponent or play two-on-two. The social aspect of the sport contributed to pickleball’s pandemic-adjacent boom, as it provided a medium for people to spend time with friends and get outside while safely social distancing, Menke explained. 

Pickleball began rising in popularity during the onset of the COVID pandemic, with tens of thousands of new players embracing the social yet socially-distanced activity. Since 2020, the pickleball-playing U.S. population has swelled by 39%, making pickleball the fastest-growing sport in America, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. By the end of 2021, roughly 4.8 million people across the U.S. were playing pickleball at least occasionally; and although pickleball has traditionally been pegged as an activity for the elderly, one in two people who picked up a paddle last year were under the age of 35, and one in five were under 18. 

Over the past two years, new pickleball courts have increasingly popped up across the country, Menke said. USA Pickleball reached over 10,000 registered pickleball facilities this year, with an ongoing average of three new facilities opening each day. Companies like the luxury fitness club chain Life Time have participated in the dramatic expansion of pickleball courts, too—the company recently announced it has constructed five new pickleball courts per week since the second half of 2021, surpassing 350 facilities in October of this year, and it plans to nearly double that number by the end of 2023. 

Naturally, dozens of endemic brands producing pickleball equipment, like paddles, nets or apparel have gotten a headstart on establishing themselves in pickleball, sponsoring tournaments and striking sponsorship deals with the sport’s biggest stars. Clothing and accessory brands such as J.Crew and Vera Bradley have partnered with these equipment manufacturers to design stylish branded paddles, while others have developed new sneakers or apparel designed for the pickleball court. 

But in the wake of pickleball’s surging popularity, non-endemic companies, and even celebrities, are getting involved. From renowned athletes like Tom Brady and LeBron James investing in professional pickleball teams, to pickleball tournaments airing on major networks like ESPN and CBS Sports, to the growing number of company logos adorning players’ uniforms and courtside walls, Menke predicts a second wave of pickleball marketing fervor—this time, largely driven by non-endemic brands—is close at hand. 

“And the second wave might be a lot bigger than the first, quite honestly,” he added. 

Beyond pickleball’s ease of entry for casual players, the emergence of professional pickleball leagues and tournaments with considerable cash prizes over the past several years also highlights the sport’s power to thrill throngs of enthusiastic fans. USA Pickleball began hosting national championship tournaments in 2009, but participation in these events only began to take off in 2016, when the organization had to cap player registration for the first time in response to overwhelming interest. The USA Pickleball National Championships, which were held in California's famed Indian Wells Tennis Garden, were broadcast to a nationwide audience on CBS Sports and on ESPN in 2018. 

“When we talk about building legitimacy and credibility for the sport within mainstream society, that was a huge stepping stone. It really opened a lot of eyes,” Menke said. “It’s steps like this—when we talk about corporate partnerships and brands looking to invest in the sport—it’s having major events held in those types of venues that additionally creates [public] interest.” 

Curtis Smith, CEO of pickleball paddle manufacturer Paddletek, has directly witnessed the surge of brand interest in the sport. When his brother first established the company in 2010, Smith thought Paddletek would struggle to attract consumers or reach a mass market; but even before pickleball’s pandemic-driven eruption, the business steadily grew year-over-year throughout the 2010s. However, the costs of brand sponsorships and endorsements have skyrocketed alongside the growing interest in pickleball, he said.

“We used to sponsor the national championships for $150, and we got a table to put up in their little vendor booth,” Smith said. “We’re not in Kansas anymore—it’s tens and tens of thousands of dollars to sponsor that tournament now.”  

Maintaining player endorsements has become more challenging, too, with new paddle brands and non-endemic sponsors beginning to compete for the top players, he said. In an effort to stand out from its competitors, Paddletek works with just under 200 pickleball aficionados across the U.S. to act as ambassadors for the brand and promote its paddles to their social media followings—an effort that has been “very influential” for Paddletek’s younger consumers, said Morgan Handy, the company’s sales and marketing manager. 

Inspired by the success of the USA Pickleball national championships, several other pickleball tournaments and professional leagues have sprung up in the last four years. The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) Tour launched in 2018 and held its first tournament the following year, quickly becoming one of the premier pickleball events in the U.S. and drawing in dozens of top players—along with brands. This year’s PPA Tour sponsors range from endemic companies like paddle manufacturers and court surfacers to brands such as Hyundai, Chase Bank, DraftKings and Carvana. 

A similar—but USA Pickleball-sanctioned—tournament, the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) Tour, kicked off earlier this year, spanning from California to New York and even making an international stop in England. Additionally, the sport now involves two rival professional pickleball leagues: Major League Pickleball, founded in 2021, and the Vibe Pickleball League, formally launched on Nov. 3, which focuses on team play and partners with the PPA. 

All Vibe teams will be “independently owned and managed by notable names and prominent figures,” according to a press release that also announced billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban as the first of these team owners. Meanwhile, Major League Pickleball team owners include NBA stars like James and Kevin Durant, NFL giants including Brady and Drew Brees; and investors and entrepreneurs such as agency executive Gary Vaynerchuk. 

“Look, I’ve been trying to find a way to extend my professional sports career ... and I think I got the answer,” Brady said in an Instagram video announcement last month. “Seems like everyone else has the answer too: pickleball.”