Pickleball's Explosive Growth: $225M Investment Ignites New Era
Apollo Sports Capital has committed a USD $225 million structured investment into Pickleball Inc., the newly formed parent company overseeing the Carvana PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball (presented by DoorDash). This move consolidates what is now the largest single-operator pickleball ecosystem, bringing together pro competition, consumer products, technology, media, and infrastructure under one umbrella. Despite the deal, Tom Dundon and the Pardoe family remain majority owners, while also folding in additional assets spanning facilities, courts, e-commerce, and tech.
Financially, the scale is already notable. Pickleball Inc.’s combined business units generated more than $140 million in revenue in 2025. The sport itself has topped the charts as America’s fastest-growing sport for five straight years, reaching 24 million players in 2025. By 2026, the SFIA Annual Report ranked it as the fourth most-played sport in the country.
From Emerging Trend to Scalable Business
Connor Pardoe, founder of the PPA Tour and CEO of Pickleball Inc., made it clear that the investment is about building a fully unified system for the sport.
“This investment allows us to fully integrate the sport into one cohesive ecosystem—uniting professional pickleball, consumer goods, technology, and media under a single, unified platform,” he said. “By bringing together the best companies in the space, we’re creating an end-to-end experience that serves every pickleballer on their journey, whether they’re a casual enthusiast or a dedicated fanatic.”
Instead of running a pro tour alongside fragmented businesses, Pickleball Inc. aims to control the entire player journey—from beginners picking up their first paddle to athletes competing at the highest level. Backed by USD $225 million, the company now has the resources to pursue this ambitious, full-spectrum model at scale.
Investment Backed by Proven Growth
Apollo Sports Capital sees this less as a gamble and more as a next step for a sport that has already delivered results.
“We believe that the Company now has the resources it needs to get to the next level, having already proved itself as the most successful emerging sports league of the past decade,” said CEO Al Tylis.
A Built-In Gender Equity Advantage
A standout feature of Pickleball Inc.’s structure is its commitment to gender equity. Men and women compete equally at both PPA and MLP events—not as a marketing angle, but as a foundational design of the leagues. The top 60 female players earn an average of over $260,000 annually, reportedly the highest average salary across all professional women’s team sports.
Scaling the Future of the Sport
Looking ahead, Major League Pickleball Commissioner Samin Odhwani highlighted content, media, and infrastructure as key areas of growth enabled by the funding.
“The continued and dynamic year-over-year growth data has proven without a doubt that pickleball is no longer an emerging sport, and is instead quickly becoming the next tier one sport in America,” Odhwani said. “This capital raise will allow us to expand our focus into new and scalable opportunities like content, media, and the development of infrastructure to support our fast-growing events.”
Pickleball Inc.’s five-member board includes Al Tylis, Connor Pardoe, Jason Stein, Zubin Mehta, and Brian Levine.
Big Numbers, Bigger Ambitions
With 24 million players, $140 million in revenue, and $225 million in fresh capital, pickleball has come a long way from its 1965 backyard origins. Now backed by institutional investment and a fully integrated platform, the sport is entering a new phase. Becoming America’s next tier-one sport—that’s the ambition. And now, the funding is in place to see if it can deliver.
