the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Village of Ridgewood’s war on Pickleball has been well documented on this blog however the game of Pickleball is sweeping the nation, and creating what many are calling a full-blown gold rush.
Pickleball was once reserved for high school gym class, but these days, the tennis/ping-pong/badminton hybrid is experiencing a renaissance that has catapulted the sport to the big leagues, per Bloomberg.
A number of factors have led to the pickleball explosion. For residents unfamiliar with the game , pickleball is played with a square paddle that’s slightly larger than a ping-pong paddle on a court ~⅓ the size of a tennis court. The balls are plastic with scattered holes, similar to a wiffle ball. The game’s simple rules and slower pace make it easier to master than tennis, offering players a solid workout with lower injury risk. This helped the sport build steam among retirees in the Sunbelt .
It’s quickly outgrown the retiree image. In 2020, 4.2m people played pickleball, a 21% increase year over year.
The Pickleball Business is booming . This influx of interest has the pickleball economy hitting on all angles, including:
Events: The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) held 16 tournaments in 2021, 2x the 2019 total — and grew prize money from $500k to $2.5m.
Media: Fox Sports signed an agreement with the PPA to air pickleball tournaments nationally, while other tournaments have been featured on CBS Sports Network, Tennis Channel, and ESPN3.
Sponsorships: The PPA has signed on Hyundai and Guaranteed Rate, among other corporate sponsors.
Adam Franklin, president of Franklin Sports, maker of a popular ball called the X-40, calls the sport “a bit of a unicorn business.”
Looking to join the pickleverse? New courts are popping up at public parks and schools across the country — and if you want to study up, you can choose from a wide selection of podcasts, books, and even magazines.
The best thing about it? There’s no such thing as being too old for pickleball.
“Looking to join the pickleverse? New courts are popping up at public parks and schools across the country”
All you have to do is move.
but who will buy your food stamps ?
Are we going to have pickle ball courts on W. Saddle Rd.
I heard the new garage is the place for pocketpool
Ironically the tennis courts are empty these days.
I can remember long waits to get court time in 1970s.
But of we needed a new sports field the town would be all over it.
Rethink sports. It’s not just about the kids. What happened to “Age Friendly” Ridgewood?
Good point..
Ridgewood is NOT age friendly.
Seniors don’t get anything except for increased taxes to fund the wish lists of the newbies who bail after their last kid graduates RHS.
Every senior citizen subsidizes those with school age children, and not all of them ever utilized schools here.
The ONLY way to keep your taxes from skyrocketing is to NOT chase seniors out of town.
Good god this is a news flash for you?
Ridgewood is a transient community…junior graduates
and everybody is gone. That’s how the taxes get jacked
and how the union slobs pad their payrolls. Nobody’s around long enough to bitch about it and the cycle continues.
Everybody’s rich and stupid and think the schools are awesome. Rinse and repeat as above. If you rock the boat you’ll b asked to leave. Butter yet…get out while you can.