Promotional Popularity

I have spent my entire life participating and competing in all types of sports. Everything from team sports like baseball and football to individual sports like tennis and golf. I have also spent my entire life as an avid fan, watching all types of sports on television. These sports have been around for decades, some of them for centuries. They all have ahistorical tradition of greatness about them, and they all have generations of notable famous players, aka, GOAT’s. It doesn’t matter which sport you pick, everyone can identify a GOAT from each particular sport. As the sport of pickleball continues to grow, I have discovered that not too many people, (aka, the average citizen on the street)seems to be able to identify a GOAT from the sport of pickleball.  

So, where am I heading with all of this? First of all, there is a definite difference between watching team sports like baseball and football and watching individual sports like tennis and golf on television. Everyone likes to watch team sports. However, individual sports like tennis and golf seem to mostly be followed and watched by people who participate in those sports on an amateur level of competition. With that said, as I am seeing the sport of pickleball growing as one of the fastest sports in history, I began to ponder why the sport of pickleball is not televised as much as the sports of tennis and golf? My first realization was the difference in tournament sponsorship and advertising associated with professional tennis and golf, as compared to that which is associated with pickleball. Tennis and golf both have major global corporate sponsorship from companies like American Express, Cadillac, Mercedes Benz, Rolex, Heineken, Chase Bank, Emirates Airlines, etc. I have not seen this level of sponsorship or advertising associated with professional pickleball. My next realization was that pickleball has not been around long enough to have any historical heritage of the tradition of the sport.  

The 2024 U S Open tennis tournament had record-breaking fan attendance during its fortnight. The daily televised coverage on ESPN, ESPN2 and CBS was extensive and entertaining to watch. Associated streaming venues also provided ongoing coverage of matches being played on the outer courts. Several top-ranked retired players provided informative commentary on the action. These veterans of the game (many of them Grand Slam champions) provided interesting insight into the emotional and physical challenges the players faced before, during and after the matches. Their combined years of experience as competitive players enable them to provide viewers a wide spectrum of interesting and enlightening commentary. In addition to the human side of the coverage, there was an array of interesting and informative statistics on things such as the percentage of points won on first and second serves, the number of points lost on unforced errors, as well as a variety of enlightening visual graphics, and of course, let’s not forget, the ever popular radar gun, which displays the speed of the serves in great big numbers on a screen located right on the court. 

So, the question is will professional pickleball ever be able to develop the tradition of Wimbledon or The Masters, and become a marketable venue for the major networks? Only time will tell. Also, will pickleball continue to grow as a popular recreational sport? Absolutely! Recreational pickleball is growing faster than any other sport around. It is a fun athletic activity and it’s easy to become an accomplished player in a short period of time. What’s not to like?