NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 21: Anna Leigh Waters of the New Jersey Five during the MLB Draft at Wollman Rink on September 21, 2024 in New York, NY Catching the ball during a league pickleball game. (Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Pickleball is paying off for America’s best players.
The Professional Pickleball Association said Thursday that the league is growing in everything from attendance to players and even salaries.
In fact, the average salary for the more than 60 female players competing on the PPA Tour and the American Pickleball League is $260,000, according to the league. This is better than Annual salaries of the highest-paid WNBA players That’s more than twice the average salary for players in the National Women’s Soccer League.
The league says professional pickleball players earn more than $30 million in total. This is based on salary only and does not include endorsement deals.
Professional pickleball has come a long way since its inception.
In December, a group of players formed a collective to voice their concerns about the future of Major League Pickleball after being asked to take a 40% pay cut.
In February, the American Pickleball League and the Professional Pickleball Association completed their long-awaited merger to create the United Pickleball Association. The deal also includes $75 million in outside investment.
The PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball retain their unique brands. The PPA Tour is an individual group tour, while the MLP is team-based.
Since the formation of the United Pickleball Association, the off-field drama has subsided and the league has been working hard to refine its product and operations, with stars such as 17-year-old Anna Leigh Water and top player Federico Federico Staksrud and Ben Johns.
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 21: Ben Johns of the Carolina Pickleball Club gathers the ball during an MLB pickleball game at Wollman Rink in New York, NY on September 21, 2024 . (Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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“As a result of our merger, we have achieved significant efficiencies which will be very beneficial to our business,” said Samin Odhwani, Chief Strategy Officer of the United Pickleball Association.
Odwani said unity creates cross-promotional opportunities for players and opens doors for sponsors and their sales teams.
As a result, sponsorship business has increased by 50% year-on-year, with more than 50 sponsors of the PPA Tour and MLP brands.
Odwhani expects UPA revenue to top $100 million in the next few years.
Ratings and interest also remain strong. The league said 320,000 fans attended PPA Tour and MLP events in 2024, a 40% increase from the previous year. It also marked the first time revenue from ticket sales exceeded amateur registration revenue, the league said.
According to UPA, by 2024, fans will watch 350 hours of pickleball television on Fox, CBS, ESPN, Amazon Prime, Tennis Channel and other platforms.
PickleballTV, a joint venture between UPA and Tennis Channel, says fans have watched more than 1 billion minutes of the sport this season.
“2024 is the best year in the history of professional pickleball,” Odwani said. “We have over 320,000 participants in our events, 27,000 amateurs competing, and it’s quite frankly a unified league.”
As we enter the new year, UPA says its priorities include expanding media rights partnerships, growing its amateur business and continuing to build existing pros into household names in the sports world.
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