2024 Pickleball Recap and Looking Ahead – PickleballMAX

2024 proved to be another stellar year for pickleball! In fact, over the past 3 years, the sport has seen a massive 223.5% growth. In 2024, the sport continued to draw a younger crowd compared to years past. The largest age range being 25–34 year-olds.

This year, The Business of Pickleball released its 2024 participation forecast. It shows pickleball overtaking tennis participation by the end of 2027 regarding the number of U.S. players. Their five-year forecast estimates that there will be nearly 30 million pickleball players by 2028. Even tennis great Novak Djokovic came out in July saying that tennis is endangered due to pickleball and paddle.

In 2024, another forecast came out by Market.us News projecting that pickleball will hit $4.4Bil by 2033. All indicators in 2024 show that pickleball will continue to grow at a rapid pace in the coming years.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights for pickleball in 2024.

Pickleball Central

Professional Tours

In February, Major League Pickleball and the Professional Pickleball Association completed a merger, creating the United Pickleball Association. The PPA tour had approximately 25 stops in the U.S. throughout 2024. They combined some of those stops with the MLP.

Sponsorship business grew by 50% year-over-year with more than 50 sponsors across both the PPA Tour and MLP brands. Fan attendance grew 40% from 2023. It was also the first year in which revenue from ticket sales surpassed revenue from amateur registration.

In September, Major League Pickleball debuted a Minor League for amateur events.

The other professional league, the APP tour, brought on a new amateur format and a new pro-team competition. They also built a massive professional stadium in Ft Lauderdale, FL with an official opening in early 2025. The Fort has 43 courts that also includes a dedicated pickleball stadium.

Pickleball on TV

Fans were able to watch pro pickleball on Fox, CBS, ESPN, Amazon Prime, and the Tennis Channel. In addition to these channels, Pickleball started its own station. Pickleballtv began in 2023 but came into its own in 2024 airing different shows about the professionals, coaching tips, and tournament coverage. They even offered a subscription package and an app.

Professional Player Salary

2024 was the first full year of professional player contracts with high salaries. At the end of 2023, there was a lot of drama in the tour wars. That drama benefitted the players with nice contracts. During this past year, pro pickleball players made higher salaries than WNBA players with an average pay of $260,000. Collectively, pro pickleball players earned more than $30 million in salary, not including endorsement deals.

In fact, #1 Men’s player, Ben Johns made over $2.5 million. His salary went up tenfold from 2021. The #1 Women’s player, Anna Leigh Waters, made over $3 million.

DUPR

While there are currently 3 main professional tours, there are hundreds of other tournaments that are hosted across the country. In an effort to make tournament play more fair, DUPR, a player rating system, was integrated with Pickleball Brackets this year.

UPA-A and Hot Paddles

2024 brought about a new regulatory agency for pickleball. The UPA-A was formed. Their mission is to champion, regulate, and grow the sport of pickleball around the world at a professional level.

One topic the UPA-A has taken on is hot paddles. Unfortunately, with all of the paddle manufacturers competing against each other for the next best paddle technology, some of the paddles on the market are dangerous. They cause the ball to fly off the paddle at extremely high speeds and can harm a player if it hits them in the face or eye.

USA Pickleball has provided a list of hundreds of approved paddles over the years, but their testing hasn’t kept up with the technology. The UPA-A put together a testing and certification process for paddles that are used in a professional tournament.

Dedicated Facilities

The continued growth of pickleball brought about the need for more courts. Every region in the U.S. added pickleball courts in 2024. The year also brought about a boon in regard to dedicated pickleball facilities. Dedicated facilities have grown 55% year-over-year. Indoor pickleball franchises also grew throughout the year.

To find more information about dedicated pickleball facilities throughout the United States, check out Pickleball User Reviews.com. While you’re there, if you’ve been to any of the facilities, be sure to add a review or pictures. Other players will appreciate it!

International Leagues

With the desire to grow the sport. The professional leagues have turned their eyes internationally. The APP has been active in bringing the sport to India, the United Kingdom, Spain and Sweden.

The United Pickleball Association and Global Sports announced a deal in April to bring the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball to India. After selling franchises, their goal is to launch a full 12-team season of Major League Pickleball in 2025-26.

In addition to India, the PPA and Major League Pickleball will bring their brands to major Asian markets including China, Vietnam, Japan, and Singapore in 2025.

What’s Coming in 2025?

2024 laid a foundation for the continued expansion of pickleball into 2025. Some things to be on the lookout for in 2025 are:

  • More Facilities Built – New dedicated pickleball facilities will continue to expand throughout the United States. New franchises will come on the market. Watch for franchises to expand into other countries.
  • Make or Break for the MLP – 2024 provided changes for MLP. They will continue to tweak and fine-tune the League in 2025 by getting cities involved behind their local team.
  • Make Pro Players into Stars – In an effort to compete with the likes of Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff, the pickleball pros will be highlighted more. There will be shows dedicated to getting to know them and more media built around them.
  • Overtaking Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters – The top men’s and women’s players have been at the top for a few years. With more tennis players moving into pickleball and younger players coming onto the scene, Ben and Anna Leigh’s triple crown reigns might be over. Additionally, players are switching up partners in 2025. It will be interesting to see who emerges at the top.
  • International Pro Tours – With the APP, PPA, and Major League Pickleball all having games overseas, the International market for pickleball should take off in 2025.
  • College Tours – More colleges and universities are adding pickleball courts on their campuses. In addition to rec leagues, more formalized leagues will start. Our local facility, The Pickle Lodge, has already had a collegiate tournament. Students from many different states came to compete.
  • Hot Paddles – The industry will get a handle on paddle technology making it safer for players.
  • New Shots – We’ve already seen some newer shots in 2024. Most of the pros don’t have to work a second job due to their nice contracts. With that extra time, they’re able to spend more time in the gym and on the court practicing and strategizing. Expect to see new shots developed as a result.
  • Is Dinking Done? – Will the dink shot be as valuable going forward due to the power and grit of new paddles? Will pickleball just become a bangers game?

What do you think will take place in pickleball in 2025? Let us know in the comments below.

About Teresa

Teresa is the idea-maker behind PickleballMAX. Teresa joins Todd to manage and market PickleballMAX. She creates pickleball content and assists with pickleball tournaments. In 2023, she wrote a pickleball devotional book titled Pickleball Is [Not] Life. 

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