Tennis beware, pickleball is becoming the fourth most popular sport abroad

Pickleball has seen explosive growth over the past year and is becoming one of the fastest growing sports abroad.

Some retired tennis players began to play pickleball, and players such as Jack Sock and Sam Querrey began to become professional pickleball players. Just recently, active WTA player Bouchard has confirmed that she will participate in the 2024 Pickleball event.

The Canadian has even talked about using his influence to help the sport grow, bringing tennis fans to the arena of Pickleball. In fact, the rapid development of pickleball is mainly due to its ease of operation, and the cost of maintenance and purchase of game equipment is relatively low.

Sports enthusiasts have been actively promoting the sport through their respective exhibition matches and inviting people from all walks of life, including tennis, to participate. In February, for example, the second Grand Slam was held in Florida, featuring retired tennis legends such as John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova and Graf. This helps to increase the outside world's understanding of the movement and attract more people to participate.

According to the 2023 Top Participation Report released by the Foreign Sports and Health Industries Association, 1,360 million outsiders played Pickleball last year, making it the fourth most attended sport behind basketball, tennis and soccer.

In 2024, the same report mentions 8.9 million people playing pickleball abroad. As you can see, this number has grown rapidly in 12 months, equating to a 52% increase over the previous year, making it the biggest increase in participation in 2023.