Pickleball Central announced a majority investment from Dallas, TX-based investment firm Dundon Capital Partners LLC. The deal includes both Pickleball Central’s retail equipment business and its affiliated PickleballTournaments.com software and event management solutions. The investment also provides a multi-million dollar investment to extend the capabilities of the Pickleball Tournament’s technology platform.
Additional terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.
“We are excited to be partnering with Dundon Capital Partners as a way to accelerate our meteoric growth,” said Pickleball Central CEO and Co-founder David Johnson. “The sport of pickleball grew by 20 percent last year and now counts over four million participants in the U.S. DCP will help us scale to meet demand with a passion for the sport of pickleball and an incredible track record of success in sports-related businesses.”
DCP is led by Tom Dundon, an investor, entrepreneur and pickleball enthusiast. Notable DCP investments include the Carolina Hurricanes, Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) through an early investment in Topgolf and commercial real estate projects in downtown Dallas via Pacific Elm Properties.
“Pickleball Central has been a pioneer for the sport of pickleball and through its acquisition of Pickleball Tournaments has uniquely positioned itself as a market leader. We are excited to partner with David and the Pickleball Central team to grow their brand and, most importantly, the sport of pickleball,” said Dundon.
Pickleball Central and Pickleball Tournaments will continue to operate with the co-founder’s involvement and the existing management team will remain in place. No immediate plans for changes in the company’s operating locations were forthcoming.
