Improved infrastructure and target marketing have been identified as the keys for pickleball to continue its steady national growth.
Pickleball is increasingly ensconcing itself into Australian culture, growing to 15,000 paying members and 92,000 participants in the last financial year, from just 967 paying members at the end of 2020.
The pattern of growth currently taking place in Australia is comparable to that which existed in the USA in 2022, a year when there were 8.9 million participants, putting the sport on the mainstream map.
It follows a sustained period of well-executed strategy by both the National Pickleball League (NPL) and Pickleball Australia – the latter the acting governing body of the sport Down Under.
"By 2026 we hope pickleball will be essentially part of the Australian sporting landscape," NPL CEO Ron Shell told The First Serve.
"We’re hoping there will be a few hundred thousand (participants) by the end of this year."
Shell was in America in 2022, allowing him to audit the growth, contributing to the inauguration of a league in Australia.
Using that insight, Shell says the NPL is focusing its energy on increasing dedicated venues and marketing.
Awareness of the sport is currently outgrowing venues, which is stalling expansion efforts: in 2024, Australia had one venue per 39.4 paying members, compared to one per 4.9 in the States.
There are 380 venues in Australia, with the sport most popular in Queensland.
While pickleball is also available at many more multipurpose facilities, with 20 per cent of games played at venues with temporary lines, as Shell points out, dedicated venues are needed to add legitimacy to the sport as it fights for recognition as a national sporting organisation.
"We could do the best marketing in the world and get every celebrity on board, but if people can’t find somewhere within 20 minutes of their house, the whole thing falls down," Shell said.
"Infrastructure is the key in 2025 and I see that starting to move in the right direction.
"We’re going to open three or four more of the best centres in Australia, but we need another 20 to 30 that will support what we’re doing and the marketing/media push to the 99 per cent who aren’t playing the sport."
Speaking about his other key focus - marketing – Shell highlighted social media as a critical tool to reach a younger audience – the average age among pickleballers is currently 56-years-old in Australia.
"Our main social media platform is Instagram where the demographic sits, and everything is done to look young and fun, so it becomes shareable and aspirational (given) it was once considered uncool," Shell explained.
"We’ve focused on how we can make it cool enough so tennis players and other people growing up actually see it as a viable option to choose as a sport."
Tom Evans and Helena Spiridis, both former tennis players, have played an important role in portraying the sport through that lens.
The pair were ambassadors for the NPL before being picked up by American professional teams, showcasing what’s possible to fellow Aussies.
Another element of marketing is considering how to best showcase the sport to attract a new audience, and by extension, potential non-endemic sponsors.
As participation continues to grow, the standard of the professional league is increasing meteorically. However, there remains a gap between participation and spectatorship.
"We’ve introduced a broadcast which showcases the best of what’s happening around the country rather than forcing people to watch just a singular match or event," Shell said.
"There is still a lot to play out even in the US before we get it, but because it is such a large participation sport, you only really need to get a small percentage of that for it to be commercially viable as a watching product."
Adding further context and relevance to the sport, players can now earn points towards their pickleball world ranking (PWR) when competing in NPL tournaments.
Established in July 2024, the ranking system mimics that of the ATP, and Australia’s tournaments being sanctioned by a unified world ranking further entrenches it as the epicentre of pickleball in the southern hemisphere.
Further supporting the development of the NPL, an academy has been introduced in 2025 to provide a clear path into the sport.
Coaching, waived entry fees for tournaments and marketing exposure are all part of the investment to attract young talent to a sport whose population currently consists 70 per cent of former tennis players.
"As venues grow, we will continue to grow the academy program," Shell stated.
"There will be more cadence in terms of skills and drills.
"We want them to have a pathway where, when players' talent and age match it, they can be drafted into our professional league."
The NPL also runs events and activations, most recently at Melbourne’s Grand Prix. The sport also got exposure at Melbourne Park during the Australian Open, with a Pickleball Slam held in the second week on Showcourt 3.
Given the foot traffic, such events have provided another clear route into the Australian sporting psyche, while it has also proven to be a wildly popular sport for corporate gatherings.
"The appeal is there’s no trepidation," said Shell.
"Every single person can pick up pickleball; I’ve never seen someone not be able to get it over the net after five minutes, where it can be hit and miss with new sports. It shatters the barrier of embarrassment."
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