Pickleball is exploding! The question is… by just how much? To answer that question, you do not have to look much farther than Pickleball Central’s revenue numbers.
Pickleball Central is the largest, and probably most well-known, exclusive-pickleball company in the world. You probably would be hard-pressed to find a veteran pickleball player that has not, at least once during their respective pickleball career, either (1) bought a pickleball paddle or a pack of pickleballs from Pickleball Central, (2) used PickleballTournaments.com (which is owned by Pickleball Central) to register for a pickleball tournament; or (3) obtained the bright orange drawstring Pickleball Central bag at a pickleball tournament. Pickleball Central, which started in 2006 by David Johnson and Anna Copley out of their garage, was just honored with two awards – the “Champions of Pickleball Award” from Racquet Sports Industry and named to Washington State’s 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies (52nd on the list).
One of the driving factors behind at least one of these awards for Pickleball Central was its huge revenue growth. According to a press release from Pickleball Central, Pickleball Central achieved a 50% revenue growth selling all things pickleball between 2017 and 2019, with about $14,885,525 in revenue in 2019. Further, Pickleball Central projects over $20,000,000 in revenue for 2020 and another 25% growth in 2021. These revenue projections, which are fueled by the growth of pickleball, are insane!
Prior to the pandemic, Pickleball Central expected the sport of pickleball to grow at a rate of 9-10% per year. However, the pandemic seems to have caused growth to accelerate and the number of beginners to double, as pickleball courts in backyards, driveways, and public parks popped up across the country. In fact, according to the owner of Pickleball Central, David Johnson, the sport of pickleball is growing faster than ever before. And, the sport of pickleball is not slowing down any time soon, as the Sports Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) expects pickleball to grow at a 10% compound annual growth rate throughout the decade of the 2020s.
In other words, the sport of pickleball is in for a roaring 20s!
