Pickleball is more than just a fun sport to Steven Morrison.
The Bettendorf man and Quad Cities Pickleball Club president calls the sport a great social event. He recently made his point to the QCBJ during a trip to the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline. There, dozens of people were playing pickleball on a series of indoor courts. Mr. Morrison was quick to mention that many of the players did not have a pickleball game set up when they arrived at the courts. They simply showed up and got invited to play.
“This is what I mean. You just show up and get in a game. … It’s the most social sport I’ve ever been involved with,” he said. In fact, the “social sport” has been called the fastest growing sport in the world. According to the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA), the sport has grown by 223% in the past three years and now has almost 50 million players just in the U.S.
That growing popularity also is having a big impact on many local economies. Pickleball-related goods, infrastructure and tourism has turned the sport into an economic powerhouse. For instance, the pickleball paddle market alone exceeds $152 million and is expected to have an annual growth rate of 7.7%, the association reports.
The global pickleball market is expected to grow from about $1.45 billion in 2023 to $4.4 billion in 2033, according to the news website Market.us News.
Source: https://quadcitiesbusiness.com/pickleball-power-sport-spurs-economic-boost-in-the-qc/