“If you build it, they will come” certainly applies to the sport of pickleball, according to a new study from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) and Pickleheads, a website that helps players find and schedule pickleball games. The study concluded that pickleball’s unprecedented growth would require a $900 million investment to build the 25,000 courts in the U.S. necessary to support continued participation gains.
The study analyzed pickleball participation and facilities in the U.S., including a deeper dive into SFIA’s 2023 Topline Participation Report that concluded pickleball is well-positioned for continued growth. “I can confirm to you that the sustained growth of pickleball in the past six years is virtually unprecedented,” wrote Tom Cove, president and CEO of the SFIA, in the report’s Executive Summary. “Pickleball is booming, and it is here to stay.”
Overall, SFIA’s research noted that 8.9 million Americans played pickleball at least once in 2022, an 85.7 percent hike from 2021, 158.6 percent growth since 2019, and 263.5 percent since 2014. In 2022, the number of new pickleball participants exceeded the total number in 2021.
The most advanced growth started in 2020, during the pandemic. Factors contributing to its acceleration included:
- The ability to play pickleball outside while remaining socially distant;
- Increased pickleball infrastructure;
- Ease of setting up a temporary court (in the driveway, gym, tennis court, etc.),
- The fast learning curve for new participants;
- The game’s social aspect; and
- The increased exposure from local and national media.
A primary reason for pickleball’s growth prospects is that contrary to “conventional wisdom” that pickleball is a sport for older people, it appeals to a wide range of age groups. SFIA’s data indicates the average age of a pickleball player is 35 years old, with the age group with the most participants ages 25-to-34 years old, followed in second among players ages 18-to-24 and 65-plus range.
Today, about 75 percent of pickleball participants are considered “casual” players, those who played 1-to-7 times in the last 12 months, versus 25 percent being “core” players; this is a slightly higher rate of casual players versus pre-pandemic levels and due to the rapid hike in new participants. Casual participants hovered around 60 percent before the pandemic boom and are expected to return to those levels within one to two years.
SFIA said in the study, “Increasing the number of core players is key as core players are the backbone of a sport. A core player will purchase more products while investing more time, energy and capital into the sport.”
Other findings in the SFIA report include:
- In 2022 there were 125.6 million pickleball play occasions, almost double from 2021 to 2022 and steadily increased since 2014;
- In 2022, pickleball recorded the lowest number, 1.2 million, of lost participants since the SFIA started tracking participation rates;
- Males account for 60.5 percent of all participants and 59.6 percent of core participants, pointing to an opportunity to reach more female players;
- Pickleball skews toward higher-income households, with the average income at $75,573 and $85,593 for core participants. Income disparity improved since 2019;
- Slightly under one-quarter of all pickleball players are from the South Atlantic region. In 2022, the Pacific region exceeded the East-North Central to become the second-largest pickleball-playing region. The areas of the U.S. with the fewest participants were New England, East South Central and West North Central. All three regions had less than 600,000 players.
SFIA forecasts that increased awareness will boost pickleball participation. The three pro pickleball leagues have signed major new TV deals in the last 12 months—The Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) signed an agreement with CBS and ESPN, The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA Tour) has deals with ESPN, CBS, Prime Video, and Tennis Channel, while Major League Pickleball (MLP) has an agreement with ESPN2 and Tennis Channel.
SFIA also expects elevated media coverage to drive awareness and cover the more controversial aspects of the sport, including noise complaints and sharing court space. Infrastructure investments could mitigate the problems, fuel greater participation and convert casual to core participants. The association’s report states, “When participants have a better experience, less travel time to a court, and more access to programming, they are more likely to continue to play.”
Overlaying regional participation data with facility data from Pickleheads’ database shows that getting court availability on par with the Top 25 percent of cities tracked by the group would require constructing over 25,000 courts at an estimated cost of $902 million. For new court construction costs, Pickleheads estimated $35,000, and the average generally accepted range of $20,000 to $50,000 for a new outdoor pickleball court build.
The number of pickleball facilities in the U.S. totals 12,081, which supports 51,937 pickleball courts. Of the pickleball courts, 71 percent are temporary. These include facilities that require players to furnish and set up a net or the facility provides players with portable nets on-site, often with wheels, also includes pickleball played over an existing tennis net, which is two inches higher than a standard pickleball net and generally viewed as unsuitable for competitive play.
The majority, 65 percent, are outdoor courts. By access, 50 percent are public or free, 23 percent require membership, 18 percent require a one-time fee, and 9 percent are private.
The data in the report confirmed that the southern U.S. states with warm climates have a high pickleball popularity, a long history of pickleball adoption and generally have the highest dedicated court density.
Florida, Arizona and California, where favorable climates have fostered a growing pickleball presence, represent 14 of the Top 50 cities; however, none of these hotspot states has a pickleball city in the Top 10. The closest is Tucson, AZ, at the 15th spot. Also notable are hotspots in the Central U.S., namely Wichita, Lincoln, Omaha, and Tulsa, which appear higher on the list than the state’s populations would otherwise suggest.
Bend, OR had the country’s most dedicated courts per population, with nearly nine dedicated courts per 10,000 people. With the average number of dedicated courts per 10,000 people at 0.65 nationally, Bend is 12.8 times higher than average.
Overall, the Top 10 cities, with a population greater than 100,000, with dedicated pickleball courts include:
- Bend, OR
- Surprise, AZ
- Orlando, FL
- West Palm Beach, FL
- Pompano Beach, FL
- Roseville, CA
- Roseville, CA
- Arvada, CO
- Mesa, AZ
- Green Bay, WI
- Knoxville, TN
The data in the report also suggests that many of the country’s largest cities have a long investment road ahead. America’s top metropolitan markets, New York and Los Angeles, are 98 percent below the national average in dedicated pickleball courts per 10,000 residents.
The Top 10 cities, with a population greater than 100,000, with the lowest number of dedicated courts per 10,000 players are the Bronx, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Manhattan, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Glendale, AZ; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Des Moines, IA; San Diego, CA; and El Paso, TX.
Photo courtesy Selkirk Sport
