Pickleball Growth Dramatic

According to USA Pickleball "The Sports and Fitness Industry Association has made it official in its latest trends report: pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the country. Over the past two years, participation is up 39%, including an increase of more than 20% from 2019 to 2020 when the pandemic helped drive the sport’s appeal."
Listen to a conversation between SportsTravel Executive Editor & Publisher Jason Gewirtz and Stu Upson, CEO of USAP, as they discuss what has accounted for the sport’s growth in popularity, when venues will catch up with demand, what the event landscape looks like and what the biggest threats may be to the continued power of pickleball to gain new followers and fans.
Among the topics featured in this discussion:

• What accounts for the growth of the game? (5:34)
• Is the sport growing beyond just with seniors? (7:48)
• Is the game growing overseas? (9:36)
• What is happening with pickleball-specific venues? (10:15)
• Residential developers building specific courts (13:46)
• Communities converting tennis courts into pickleball courts (15:42)
• What will the venue conversation be like in five years? (17:27)
• What events does USA Pickleball own and operate? (18:44)
• Events being put out to bid or hosted in existing venues? (21:50)
• Are indoor events growing? (22:58)
• How has the professional level of the sport been growing? (24:00)
• APP Tour brining an event to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (25:08)
• Sponsorship trends at  USA Pickleball (27:00)
• Pickleball’s potential threat to the tennis industry (28:37)
• Similarities between the growth of bowling and pickleball (30:23)
• Does he play pickleball? (32:22)
• Biggest threats to the continued growth of the sport (32:40).