This summer, the Carvana PPA Tour made the landmark decision to become the first pickleball organization to sanction events within the U.S. legal sports wagering market.
This significant step allowed pickleball enthusiasts to engage in betting on the sport, meaning they focus in particular on pickleball’s most dominant player, Ben Johns, who is often likened to Novak Djokovic but in the world of pickleball.
A Central Figure
Johns, boasting over 80 titles and a remarkable winning streak in singles and mixed doubles, became a central figure in the newly introduced pickleball betting landscape.
FanDuel entered the scene in August, providing odds on Pro Pickleball Association matches, starting with the Vulcan Kansas City Open Presented by Chicken N Pickle.
The platform offered a range of betting options, including match winners, correct match scores, total points, and head-to-head matchups. Johns, living up to his reputation, secured a triple crown with victories in singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles.
“Pickleball Betting Massive For The Sport’s Growth”
Connor Pardoe, the founder and CEO of the PPA Tour, explained to Sportshandle.com how “The launch of pickleball betting has been massive for the sport’s continued growth.”
This initiative was the result of a two-year collaboration with Genius Sports, granting exclusive data rights to PPA matches.
While FanDuel accepted wagers on subsequent PPA tournaments, including the Baird Wealth Management Cincinnati Open and the Guaranteed Rate PPA Championships in Las Vegas, the Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships in Dallas, organized by USA Pickleball, did not feature in FanDuel’s offerings.
Despite the absence of betting options, the Dallas tournament gained substantial attention. Mark Cuban, a stakeholder in the Dallas Pickleball Club, emphasized the role of gambling in driving sports growth during the Sports Business Journal’s Dealmakers conference.
This is real:
— Sports Handle (@sports_handle) June 17, 2021
You can now bet on professional pickleball.
The Professional #Pickleball Association (PPA) has announced a long-term partnership with @GeniusSports.
This partnership will set the stage for regulated sports betting on PPA events for the first time. #ESPNocho
A Remarkable Winning Streak
Looking ahead, Pardoe envisions the PPA Tour expanding to other top betting apps, with DraftKings, BetMGM, and PointsBet being potential partners.
Since FanDuel’s introduction of pickleball betting, Johns experienced a remarkable winning streak but faced an unexpected defeat against Christopher Haworth at the U.S. Nationals on Thursday.
As Sports Handle reported, he had won eight of nine tournaments on the tour’s three divisions, winning at a clip of around 95% until the upset.
If FanDuel had offered odds on this match, Haworth might have commanded substantial moneyline odds, while PointsBet’s unique PointsBetting apparatus could have provided lucrative opportunities for bettors backing Haworth.
Lack Of Historical Data
Despite the temptation to offer exotic betting markets, the PPA currently refrains from in-game wagers, single-game parlays, or futures.
The lack of historical data sets in pickleball poses a challenge for algorithm development, unlike sports such as tennis and golf.
To ensure the integrity of the game amidst concerns of match-fixing, the PPA Tour collaborated with Sportradar to establish a sports betting integrity framework.
This is real:
— Sports Handle (@sports_handle) June 17, 2021
You can now bet on professional pickleball.
The Professional #Pickleball Association (PPA) has announced a long-term partnership with @GeniusSports.
This partnership will set the stage for regulated sports betting on PPA events for the first time. #ESPNocho
This framework includes educational efforts for players on the risks associated with wagering on league events. Justin Mader, gambling operations manager for The PPA Tour, emphasized the tour’s proactive approach to integrity, citing no reports of suspicious betting activity.
“I believe that we’re ahead of the game when it comes to integrity,” he said.
Betting Will Continue To Gain Popularity
While the PPA has not implemented a computer vision system like Hawk Eye for line calls, Pardoe expressed ongoing research into various options.
Although specific metrics on wagering handle or gross gaming revenue have not been released, Pardoe remains optimistic that betting on pickleball will continue to gain popularity:
“It added a new dimension to fan engagement with respect to our tournaments and created a thirst of knowledge about our players’ respective games and stats,” he said.
