America's fastest growing sport is a cross between tennis, ping pong, and badminton

For the rapidly decreasing number of Americans who’ve never heard of pickleball, the obscure paddleball game is America’s fastest growing sport for the second year in a row.

Invented in 1965 by three middle-aged fathers in Washington state, pickleball is a quirky cross between tennis, ping pong and badminton, played with a paddle and a perforated plastic ball. The founders are said to have named the game after a family dog called Pickles.

With 4.8 million people now playing—almost double the number from just five years ago, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association — some of the sport’s devotees are capitalizing on pickleball’s spike in popularity.

The game now has two national professional tournaments, both formed in the last four years, and pickleball organizers are courting corporate sponsors to help grow the sport in the U.S. and abroad as part of a bid for Olympic inclusion.

“We’re still small and scrappy but we’re not so innocent anymore,” said Stu Upson, who was hired in late 2020 as the first-ever CEO of USA Pickleball, the sport’s official governing body. The organization was formed in 2005 to set rules and promote the sport.

Upson believes pickleball can keep growing without losing the accessibility that’s fueled its rise over the last decade. “People are looking for avenues to have some fun, get some exercise, but do it in an environment that’s not divisive,” he said. “That’s a pretty important thing in our society today I believe.”