For the third consecutive year, pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America, according to The Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s (SFIA) Topline Participation Report. The sport grew 51.8 percent from 2022 to 2023 and jumped 223.5 percent over three years.
The SFIA noted that all age groups saw increased participation.
“While many have associated the sport with a higher age participation, the age group with the most participants, 2.3 million people, is actually the 25- to 34-age-range,” SFIA said in a media release. “The sport added over 1 million children under age 18 from 2022 to 2023. This cross-generational appeal highlights pickleball’s versatility and its ability to bring together diverse groups of people. The significant increase in youth participation also suggests a promising future for the sport as young players grow and continue to engage with pickleball.”
The SFIA report also details that in 2023 all regions in the U.S. saw an increase in pickleball participation, with the South Atlantic leading the list with 2.8 million pickleball players, a 50 percent increase compared to 2022.
“Given the remarkable growth trend we are seeing, this underscores the need to apply facility data alongside detailed participation data to ensure the industry is doing what it can to keep up with the unprecedented demand of the sport,” SFIA said.
“The remarkable growth in pickleball participation highlights the sport’s widespread appeal and the enthusiasm it generates across all age groups,” stated Alex Kerman, senior director of research & business operations at the SFIA. “The 2024 State of Pickleball Report showcases this surge in participation and the cross-generational excitement for the sport. As we continue to support this rapid expansion, our priority is to ensure that pickleball remains accessible and enjoyable for everyone, fostering a thriving community of players.”
Although the average number of days that Core pickleball players participated decreased from 40 days in 2022 to 31 days in 2023, the SFIA explained the decline as largely due to the influx of new Core players, which could demonstrate pickleball’s growing appeal. Core player growth was tagged at 11 percent year-over-year from 2022 to 2023.
“This indicates a healthy, expanding sport with increasing levels of engagement, which paves the way for continued success in the future and is a positive sign,” the trade association said. “To keep up with the explosive demand of pickleball, there is still work to be done in terms of funding for infrastructure.”
A deeper dive into the work needed to support this still nascent sport, the SFIA and Pickleheads have released their second annual report, the 2024 State of Pickleball: Participation & Infrastructure Report, in conjunction with the USA Pickleball National Championships taking place in Mesa, AZ.
Pickleheads, which matches people with available courts and games, is the official court and game finder of USA Pickleball and the Global Pickleball Federation.
This is the SFIA’s second report on pickleball play, providing an in-depth analysis of participation and facilities in the United States. The report highlights the investment required to sustain pickleball’s rapid rise by integrating comprehensive participation and facility data, not previously available.
“Now in our second year of this report, we can see the pickleball industry has responded to the court shortage challenge by adding infrastructure, with dedicated pickleball facilities growing 55 percent year-over-year,” noted Brandon Mackie, co-founder and COO of Pickleheads. “Still, there remains a long road of investment ahead with $855 million needed to construct courts over the next 5-to-7 years.”
While every region in the U.S. added pickleball courts in 2024, the Mountain, West North Central and East South-Central regions declined in dedicated courts per 1,000 participants metric. The number of new courts added was not enough to offset the drastic growth in pickleball participation in these regions.
The SFIA’s 2024 participation report outlines that many of the largest metropolitan cities in the U.S. are catching up with the cities called out last year as laggards in the move to expand facilities as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have doubled dedicated courts per 10,000 people.
However, there remains a long way to go for these three major markets, where, on average, they are 92 percent below the national average for dedicated court density.
With participation numbers in 2023 at 13.6 million people, the sport is approaching the numbers for outdoor soccer, weighted more heavily toward kids, leaving a vast in-fill opportunity. “Build it and they will come” is no longer the reality of the situation; “they” are already here.
To view the full report, go here.
Image courtesy Selkirk Sport
