Maverick and Goose. Han Solo and Chewbacca. The Bert and the Ernie. The world has certainly seen its fair share of dynamic duos.
Over the last few months, a new iconic tandem has entered the fray in pickleball: Nighthawk and Dragon, or more commonly referred to as The Hype Guys.
If you’ve ever been to or watched a professional pickleball event over the last few months, chances are that you’ve seen them leading the crowd in “the wave,” showing off the newest edition of the Hype Flag, or even do-si-do-ing around Championship Court with fans.
But who are The Hype Guys? What had to happen for them to get to where they are today as the PPA Tour’s crowd engagement specialists?
Answers to those questions and more lie ahead. This is the origin of Nighthawk and Dragon.
Erik Iverson (aka Nighthawk) was a shy kid growing up. He attended Saint John’s University in Collegeville, MN for one semester before transferring to Drake University in Des Moines, IA.
This particular move turned out to be quite impactful.
“Everything changed for me there,” Iverson said. “Personality-wise, I became more extroverted. I think that’s where I picked up some skills that transferred into being able to engage a full crowd and stand in front of people and have the confidence to do that.”
While developing that confidence, though, pickleball wasn’t even on his radar.
After graduation, the former lacrosse player moved to Austin, TX to work as a software engineer, and he soon found the need for an outlet.
“Living in Austin on my own, working remotely in my apartment, I just needed an escape—some sort of social activity to get out there,” he said.
Enter pickleball.
“My dad had been playing pickleball, and he had been talking to me about it on the phone,” he said. “I got out there, finally. I convinced one of my buddies to go, and we played, and then I was hooked.”
Canton O’Donnell (aka Dragon) wanted to travel after college because of the insight it could give him into the people around him.
“What has always been eye-catching to me is people and connections, and being able to have a deeper understanding of where people come from,” he shared.
After graduating from Montana State University with a degree in multicultural studies, O’Donnell did just that.
He worked for EF Tours, which allowed him to quench that thirst for travel. That job eventually led him to relocate to Austin as well.
The Denver native discovered pickleball during the COVID-19 pandemic. His mother introduced it to him and the rest of the family through what he calls ‘forced family fun.’
Like Iverson, he was immediately obsessed.
Naturally, Nighthawk and Dragon met on a pickleball court. Their shared passion for the sport is what led them to become friends.
At the ONIX Austin Showdown powered by Invited in March, the duo got their first glimpse into how fans can define the professional pickleball experience just as much as the players.
They met a fellow enthusiast named Kathy who went above and beyond in her passion for the sport.
With her popsicle stick head cutouts of the pros and a noisy rubber chicken, ‘Crazy Kathy’ left quite an impression on the future Hype Guys.
“I think it just kind of unlocked the idea of, ‘Oh, this is what pickleball could be in the future, like there’s room for this in the sport,’” Iverson said.
Fast forward a few months to June, and the duo was gearing up for the Selkirk Texas Open presented by CIBC in Dallas.
The Hype Guys still didn’t exist as a brand yet, but both Nighthawk and Dragon knew they wanted to bring the same energy they previously delivered and saw in Austin.
“We felt like, ‘Let’s just go do that again,’” O’Donnell shared. “Let’s just go have the time of our lives!”
That’s what they did, and so much more.
From tailgating on Championship Sunday with a ‘You Honk, We Dink’ sign, to organizing a ‘Pink Out’ in the stands that even got World No. 1s Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters involved, The Hype Guys left their mark on the tournament.
The pros agreed—and seemed to be all for it. Anna Bright even gave the duo a shoutout on a podcast a few days later.
“They just killed it from start to finish,” she raved on The Drop podcast.. “It was absurd.”
Based on this reaction and many more like it, Nighthawk and Dragon knew they were onto something special.
“We both kind of knew, just based on the number of people that thanked us for what we were doing,” Iverson said. “It was just so weird, being recognized for being a fan having fun.”
Driving back to Austin after the tournament, Erik and Canton decided to create an official Instagram account to share their experiences at pickleball events with the world. The username they selected was something they had heard one of the ticketers at the Texas Open call them.
The Hype Guys were born.
The legend of The Hype Guys continued to grow after Dallas as they traveled around the country.
One notable event they attended was MLP San Clemente, where the nicknames Nighthawk and Dragon (a nod to the movie Step Brothers) officially stuck after one of the producers asked for them for the broadcast.
Even as their popularity grew, though, an important question about the duo’s long-term viability loomed: could Erik and Canton make The Hype Guys into a full-time career?
Ahead of August’s Vulcan Kansas City Open presented by Chicken N Pickle, they knew they had to bring something special.
“I was like, ‘We have to go big here,’” O’Donnell shared. “If we want to do this at all the tournaments, we gotta go big.”
And if you consider creating a ‘Wall of Pink’ with 150 fans wearing pink ‘Hype Squad’ shirts next to Championship Court on Championship Sunday going big, then The Hype Guys definitely went big in America’s heartland.
In that moment, The Hype Guys weren’t just two dudes rocking pink blazers and a flag watching pickleball, but a community of friends united by their enjoyment of the sport at the highest level.
“It just created a sense of this student section or fan section where everyone is together,” Iverson explained. “It’s not like there are individuals in there. We are one collective fan group willing on the players.”
That unique stunt ended up paying major dividends for the duo.
Erik and Canton joined the PPA Tour as crowd engagement specialists shortly after Kansas City.
They are the present and future of pickleball’s spectator experience and will only continue to have a greater impact as the sport continues to rise in popularity both domestically and abroad.
For Erik, he can keep using that trademark confidence and outgoing personality to do those crazy things that make memorable experiences for people.
For Canton, he’s able to travel around the U.S. and make connections with countless individuals from different places in a fun atmosphere.
And the best part is that pickleball remains at the center of it all.
To keep up with The Hype Guys for any of their events or giveaways, you can find their website here or follow @thehypeguys.pb on Instagram.
The post The Hype Guys: More than a Dynamic Duo appeared first on PPA Tour.