• More than 320,000 fans attended PPA Tour and MLP events in 2024; Pickleballtv generates more than one billion minutes watched
  • Pro pickleball players with MLP and the PPA Tour collectively earned more than $30million

Dallas, TX, December 19, 2024 – The 2024 pro pickleball season will be remembered as a pinnacle year that has set the trajectory for continued growth and success for years to come. Beginning with the watershed merger between the two top pickleball entities, Major League Pickleball and the Carvana PPA Tour, the season saw the sport’s top stars shine on the court and earn off the court, fans coming out to pro events in droves and tuning in from afar, and the business side of the United Pickleball Association (the TopCo of the PPA Tour and MLP) thrive.

On court, 17-year-old superstar Anna Leigh Waters continued her dominance, ending the year ranked PPA World No.1 in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles and earning MLP season MVP honors with a 43-3 record for the New Jersey 5s – and Argentine Federico Staksrud became the first man not named Ben Johns to finish a season with a PPA World No.1 ranking in men’s singles. But it was the fan interest in these athletes and pro pickleball that really soared in 2024.

Pro Pickleball: A Spectator Sport

In 2024, more than 320,000 fans attended PPA Tour and MLP events – up 40% from 2023 – marking the first year in which revenue from ticket sales surpassed revenue from amateur registration. More than 27,000 players of all ages and skill levels competed in amateur tournaments at PPA Tour and select MLP events in 2024.

On broadcast, 2024 saw more than 350 hours of national telecasts for MLP and the PPA Tour across FOX, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, Amazon Prime, Tennis Channel, FS1, FS2, CBS Sports Network and more. In addition, Pickleballtv, the 24/7 pickleball streaming platform, saw more than 1 billion minutes watched by fans throughout the 2024 season. The PPA Mesa Arizona Cup FOX national broadcast saw 501,000 viewers tune in, the largest-ever pro pickleball TV audience. The exciting matches out-drew other notable sporting events in the U.S. including the MLS Cup broadcast on FOX in December.

Beyond watching in-person and on TV, fans clamored to engage on social media to dive deeper into results, highlights, and the behind-the-scenes lives of the athletes. PPA and MLP followings across social media channels (Instagram, X, Facebook and TikTok) increased by 40%, and YouTube video views were up 33% over 2023, with more than 50 million total views.

It Pays to Be a Pro

This year, the percentage of pro qualifier registrations in PPA events nearly doubled – from 7% in 2023 to 16% in 2024 – and it makes sense as to why.

The roughly 130 pro pickleball players under contract with MLP and the PPA Tour earn more than $30 million collectively over the course of a season, more than many other professional leagues including the WNBA, Premier Lacrosse League and NBA G League.

As a sport with equal pay and play for men and women, the 60+ female contracted athletes on the PPA Tour and MLP earned an average salary of $260,000. This is greater than the highest-paid WNBA player’s annual salary and more than double the average salary of NWSL athletes.

Investing in the Country’s Fastest-Growing Sport

The investments aren’t just being made into the talent pool of professional pickleball players, but also coming from partners and sponsors who see the immense value in aligning with the leading organizations in the fastest-growing sport in the country. With more than 50 total partners across both the PPA Tour and MLP brands, sponsorship revenue saw a collective 50% increase in 2024 over 2023.

PPA Tour and MLP partners leaned into both the professional and amateur touchpoints, going beyond traditional court signage and on-site activations to connect with the pickleball audience at a deeper level. For instance, PPA Tour title partner Carvana hosted the “Road to the PPA Finals,” and gifted a trip to the PPA Tour Finals in San Clemente as well as a Carvana car to two lucky fans – one of the largest fan prizes in the sport of pickleball. 

The Next Generation

The best is yet to come for MLP and the PPA Tour, signified by the fact that the highest number of pickleball participants across the country is in the 25-34 age range and more than 1 million children under the age of 18 joined the sport between 2022 and 2023 (Source: SFIA State of Pickleball Report). 

The 2024 season saw the creation of the Junior PPA Tour, dedicated to fostering youth pickleball players through competition events, development opportunities, and social activity. In its inaugural year, the Junior PPA Tour saw more than 1,100 athletes between the ages of 8 and 16 compete in 17 events all over the country – many with the goal of becoming the next Anna Leigh Waters or Ben Johns.

2025 and Beyond

The 2025 season will look to build on the great success of this seminal year in professional pickleball. With the Major League Pickleball and PPA Tour seasons announced and already underway in Daytona Beach, the growth potential as a merged organization continues to rise exponentially.

The post Pro Pickleball Continues to Explode: PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball Have Best Year Ever in 2024 appeared first on PPA Tour.