A game that is easy to pick up and more accessible than tennis, pickleball is all the rage in New York, as the sport snags investors and grows increasingly professionalized across the US.
On a recent weekday evening at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, dozens of players ranging from thirty-somethings to retirees shared the four new courts at Brooklyn Bridge Park, which recently replaced the bocce ball courts.
Teams formed spontaneously as players waited their turn at the park space that offers a unique view of Manhattan’s brightly lit skyscrapers.
Photo: AFP
“You come here, put your paddle over there and you get to play with a range of people, beginner and intermediate,” 52-year-old Amy Zhao said with a smile.
With its neon perforated plastic ball, flat paddle rackets and obligatory underhand serve, pickleball is a kind of “mini tennis,” especially due to its smaller court.
It is also much cheaper: 31-year-old software engineer David took up pickleball when he realized it cost US$100 to snag a spot to play tennis at a New York public park.
“And also, you had to wake up at like 6am just to reserve a court,” Masters said.
Beyond tennis, pickleball takes on airs of badminton and table tennis, with lighting-fast exchanges that demand quick reflexes.
What is more, players must strategically position on the court: Competitors cannot hit the ball before it bounces if it lands in a non-volley zone that is just in front of the net.
The game was invented in 1965 by three fathers in the state of Washington.
In February, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association deemed it the fastest-growing sport in the US, with 4.8 million regular or casual players last year, up 39 percent from 2019.
The growth in New York is visible, with new courts popping up throughout the city and where private coaches have even become in demand, some running upward of US$75 per hour.
“During the pandemic, people wanted to get activities, and it felt like pickleball was one that checked a lot of boxes,” 33-year-old Karim Kerawala said. “It let them be outside and let them compete in something that didn’t require a tonne of exercise, unless you wanted ... higher level play,” Kerawala said.
Calling pickleball his “new obsession,” he said a meet-up app saw membership numbers go from about 200 to nearly 2,000 in one year.
A number of “professional” circuits have already arisen, including the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) tour that was founded in 2019. At the end of May, the league organized a tournament at Flushing Meadows, on the grounds of the US Open.
APP Tour founder Ken Herrmann said that interest and skill is such that qualifying tournaments are starting to become necessary for professional events.
The competing Professional Pickleball Association Tour, found in 2018, signed exclusive contracts with the 24 best male and female players in the sport. They distributed US$3 million in prize money this year, a sum that could double next year, PPA Tour content director Hannah Johns said.
“It’s been absolutely crazy, how much it’s taken off, and a lot of that is because we were able to get bigger sponsors and broadcast partners involved,” Johns said, citing CBS, National Broadcasting Co and American Broadcasting Co among the networks, and the vehicle rental company Hertz as a brand.
With the already announced takeover of the PPA Tour by the private investment firm founded by businessman Tom Dundon — who already owns the Carolina Hurricanes ice hockey team — Johns said partners in the world of alcohol and gambling are expected to come.
Major League Pickleball announced this week that it is joining forces with NBA phenom LeBron James, who is purchasing a team as part of an ownership group that includes basketball champions Draymond Green and Kevin Love.
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