Browsing: Pickleball News

Good news Florida, you’ve got even more pickleball courts coming your way! St. Pete Athletic will be Tampa Bay’s first indoor pickleball athletic club, offering 16 indoor and outdoor courts, a full-scale restaurant and bar, and other amenities. From the legendary Pictona at Holly Hill to the Naples Pickleball Center, Florida is known for having many of the world’s premier pickleball facilities. However, the Tampa Bay area has been in desperate need of dedicated pickleball courts. View this post on Instagram A post shared by St Pete Athletic (@stpeteathletic) St. Pete Athletic plans on filling that gap for Tampa Bay…

Yesterday, USA Pickleball announced their new expanded sanctioning partnership with National Pickleball, a subsidiary of Advanced Sports Media Group (ASM). The continued sanctioning support from USAPA will allow National Pickleball to host 21 tournaments across the nation in 2023. This partnership is a huge win for the ever-growing amateur pickleball scene. According to the SFIA 2022 Sports, Fitness & Leisure Activities Topline Participation Report, pickleball has seen a 39.3% growth in its player base in just the last two years. With such exponential growth, serious players need support from groups like National Pickleball in order to participate in high-level tournament…

The momentum of the PPA Tour continues to shift following last weekend’s Vulcan Indoor National Championships. Winter storms couldn’t cool off the competition, as many pro players made their first podium appearances of the PPA’s 2023 season. Hosted at the Lakeville Lifetime Fitness in Minneapolis, the Indoor National Championships saw many of pickleball’s greatest athletes put on a show for Championship Sunday. With all-stars Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters not participating in this event, the field was wide open for other pro players to claim victory. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CARVANA PPA TOUR (@ppatour)…

The National Pickleball League (NPL) is the premier professional pickleball league for Champions Division players. The league’s 2023 NPL Draft Combine is set for March 24-26, marking the beginning of their inaugural season. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s 2022 Report, pickleball has seen a 39.3% growth in its player base in the last two years alone. With 4.8 million players in the United States, pickleball has seen some monumental changes as the sport continues to grow in popularity. Some of the sport’s biggest changes have been seen at its professional level. In the last few years, we’ve…

New York’s popular pickleball pop-up, CityPickle, will now be opening a permanent pickleball club later this year. CityPickle has officially announced that it plans on opening a new year-round facility, located at The Woodworks in Long Island City. The large industrial property will be home to four climate-controlled courts, which will allow players in New York to play pickleball all year long! Beyond the needed courtspace, CityPickle will also offer dining and cocktail accommodations with a dedicated lounge area. This confluence of pickleball and social gathering continues to grow with the popularity of the sport, as many similar business ventures…

Last weekend’s PPA Tour stop in Mesa, AZ proved to be a huge shift in momentum in the league’s competitive space. More and more PPA players continue to step up and prove that there’s a lot of talent in the field.Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters have been dethroned from their triple crown winning streak. While the two pickleball superstars still managed to bring home the gold in multiple categories, the PPA now has some new champions for its 2023 season. The 2023 Carvana Arizona Grand Slam was hosted at the beautiful Bell Bank Park sports complex. With 320 acres…

Professional pickleball is now being watched on televisions across America. From the APP’s recent deal with ESPN to the Tennis Channel’s PPA Tour broadcasts, pro pickleball is starting to make its way into the spotlight. However, a recent article in the New York’s Intelligencer column argues that pickleball doesn’t have much to offer as a spectator sport. Candidly titled, “Pickleball Looks Really Dumb on TV” believes that America’s fastest growing sport doesn’t have what it takes to merit a primetime broadcasting spot. Most of the article’s argument lies in how pickleball is too casually paced to actually excite an audience.…

Last Friday, February 10th, Paddletek formally announced its extended partnership with one of pickleball’s best athletes, Anna Leigh Waters. The young star will continue using her signature Paddletek paddle at all professional pickleball tournaments and events this year. Today, Paddletek and Waters released a promo video to commemorate their collaboration. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Paddletek Pickleball (@paddletekpickleball) Waters has worked with Paddletek since 2018 when she was just starting her career in pickleball. Now at just 16 years old, she is one of their top sponsored athletes. Paddletek has been changing the pickleball paddle game…

Things are starting to heat up for the National Pickleball League (NPL) as the league gets ready for its inaugural pro draft this April. The Naples Pickleball Center (NPC) just signed an agreement with the NPL to purchase one of the league’s new franchise teams. The NPL is the first professional Champions Division (50+) league, and will consist of six teams made up of 12 to 20 pro players from all across the nation. All NPL teams will participate in 5 competition events across America starting in June, which will then lead to a championship tournament event in mid-October. View…

Starting this Thursday, February 16th, the 2023 Carvana PPA Tour arrives in Arizona for the PPA Carvana Arizona Grand Slam. The four-day tournament marks the third official PPA Tour stop of the year, and there’s a lot to get excited about! View this post on Instagram A post shared by CARVANA PPA TOUR (@ppatour) The JW Marriott Desert Ridge Open at the beginning of this month saw two triple-crown performances from Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters, making it their second triple crown performance in a row.  Will they be able to do it again this week and secure a…