Franklin Sports signed a five-year partnership agreement with Pickleball Canada, the National Sport Organization of the country’s fastest-growing sport. As part of the agreement, Franklin’s X-40 and X-26 balls and a vast assortment of paddles become the Official Balls and Paddles of Pickleball Canada.
Through the deal with Franklin, Pickleball Canada became the most recent organization to choose Franklin as an official ball partner, joining USA Pickleball, England and the Indian Pickleball Association.
Per the agreement, Franklin Sports and Pickleball Canada will focus on growth initiatives for the sport, including supporting grassroots levels across Canada and collaborating to help pickleball athletes with access to equipment to play the game.
“We see pickleball rapidly becoming a global sport,” said Adam Franklin, president of Franklin Sports. “In working closely with Pickleball Canada, we can collaborate to help athletes of all ages and backgrounds have access to the products they need to be able to participate in all that Pickleball has to offer. We will work together towards our shared vision for the growth of pickleball which allows many to share in all the wonderful social, mental and health benefits that pickleball affords. We’re looking forward to pushing the growth of pickleball in Canada to the next level with all our existing Canadian retail partners and now our new partners in Pickleball Canada.”
In Canada, Pickleball originated in the early 1970s, but its growth trajectory took off in the last few years. Most notably, Pickleball Canada’s membership has grown over three times since 2021 and has over 51,000 members. According to market research the organization conducted earlier this year with over 2,000 Canadian households, Pickleball Canada had a 50 percent YOY increase from 2022 to 2023 in the number of females playing the game, and the fastest growing player demographic being Millennials between the ages of 18 to 34.
