Household Names Are Flocking To The Pickleball Slam. Is It Good For The Sport?

Pickleball’s meteoric rise has seen its fair share of celebrity involvement. By this point in the sport’s evolution, we’ve seen everything from A-list movie stars playing the sport, to NBA stars mixing it up with leading PGA professionals, to Shark Tank investors buying professional league franchises, to world-famous models taking ownership stakes in Major League Pickleball teams. We are starting to see casual name drops of the sport in TV shows (here in Apple’s Shrinking or during the debut of AMC’s new Bob Odenkirk vehicle “Lucky Hank”) and of course we’ve seen Savannah and Hoda mix it up with their co-workers on the Today show.

However, this coming weekend, a new wrinkle to the “celebrities playing pickleball” showcase will be seen: four of the most famous names in the history of US tennis will take their burgeoning talents to the pickleball court in the Inaugural Pickleball Slam. International Tennis Federation Hall of Famers John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Michael Chang, and Andre Agassi (who between themselves own 17 Grand Slam singles titles) are all competing in both singles and doubles for $1 million, with the marquee matches being broadcast live on ESPN on Sunday April 2nd at noon eastern.

The event is the result of a collaboration between Horizon Sports & Experiences, a branch of Horizon Media (one of the largest media agencies in the US) and InsideOutSport.com (founded by Jim Courier, which seems likely to be the facilitating connection to the four major tennis stars).

The event is being held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, and is also presenting as something of a fantasy pickleball camp for well-heeled fans of the sport. For those willing to put up $1,000, there is a doubles competition starting Friday afternoon for the opportunity to win $10k and have a featured match against two of the tennis legends on Saturday evening. No fewer than 86 teams are entered into this competition, which culminates with a banquet with the players Saturday night and which certainly has helped finance the event.

The prize purse is. by far, the largest single-event purse in the history of the sport, but it will not be awarded to the best players in the world. Instead, the prizes will be paid out to four famous names who have tenuous ties to the sport. This week has seen a blitz of well-produced social media posts on Instagram by the organizers of the slam, interviewing each of the combatants, playing up their experience, and building up anticipation, but this observer wonders about the quality of the match we’re about to see.

We’ve seen evidence that Agassi and Roddick have played before; there’s a fun video of them playing at MLP founder Steve Kuhn’s house in March 2018 in an event called Paddle Battle. How about the other two? Chang seems to be in the best playing shape of the group, but McEnroe has been publicly critical of Pickleball (here), saying flat out “it sucks.” What changed his tune for this event? Perhaps a guaranteed payday.

So the question is this: is this a good showcase for the sport?

Clearly the organizers are capitalizing on the sport’s exploding popularity; the latest participation research produced by the Association of Pickleball Professionals this week paints an even rosier picture of the sport than was reported even a few months ago. Per the APP’s research, nearly 19% of the US Adult population played pickleball at least once in the last twelve months. The survey also pegs the average age of a pickleball participant at just 34.8 years old, which is well younger than most assume and which fits nicely into the coveted 18-49 demographic that advertisers covet.

With nearly 20% penetration into the US adult population at this point, it probably is a safe bet that Joe Six-Pack has heard of the sport even if he hasn’t played it. The question will be, will the casual fan tune into watch the likely theatrics from McEnroe and Roddick (who are no stranger to the kind of hit-and-giggle tennis events that have helped line the pockets of touring pros for decades) and say to themselves, “Hey that’s something I want to try?” Or will we see a disjointed 3.0-level open play match between stiff and aging former athletes filled with miscues that does not highlight the best parts of the sport? Is the power of the name-brand players more important than the quality of play?

The answer likely is yes. For those of us who follow the sport intently, we know who its top players are and we know how exciting a really good doubles match can be. Look no further than what the Kitchen (pickleball’s largest online social media community) is calling the “Most Viral Point in Pickleball History,” an amazing rally from last weekend’s Major League Pickleball competition which features two of the top ladies pros in the game in Anna Leigh Waters and Lea Jansen scrambling to keep the ball in play against Andrea Koop and Maggie Brascia. The skill is amazing, but with all due respect these are not household names in the American sport lexicon.

So, having a few aging tennis legends showcasing our sport on national TV, even if they play it poorly, can only be a good thing for the sport’s continued push into the lexicon of American sports culture. Set your DVRs for Sunday at noon EST, cross your fingers that Roddick and McEnroe have been taking a few lessons, and hope for the best.