In keeping with a brand new mid-year report from SFIA, “Pickleball stays the fastest-growing sport, although early indicators recommend its explosive development could also be slowing.”
Again in March, we advised you that some 19.8 million individuals have been taking part in pickleball within the U.S.—a forty five.8% improve from 2023.
That determine represented a formidable 311% development over the three years prior, crowning pickleball because the fastest-growing sport for the fourth yr operating.
The accolades got here from the Sports activities & Health Trade Affiliation’s (SFIA), a sports activities market analysis agency based mostly in Washington, DC., and its 2025 Topline Participation Report, essentially the most complete supply out there for pickleball participation knowledge.
New this yr, SFIA is checking in with its first-ever mid-year report, monitoring the participation knowledge of greater than 30 sports activities, from baseball to lacrosse, browsing to yoga.
Pickleball’s explosive development slows down
Pickleball continues to dominate the headlines:
Among the many 30 sports activities with up to date participation knowledge, Pickleball stays the fastest-growing, with a 14.7% improve in participation.
Report: Pickleball Participation Surges to Almost 20 Million in 2024
For the fourth consecutive yr, pickleball stays America’s fastest-growing sport, and the numbers behind its meteoric rise are nothing wanting historic.
Nevertheless, for what looks like the primary time because the sport’s mid-COVID explosion, there are indicators of its momentum cooling off.
For perspective, this is a take a look at pickleball’s five-year trajectory heading into 2025:
- 2019: 3.46 million gamers
- 2020: 4.20 million gamers
- 2021: 4.82 million gamers
- 2022: 8.95 million gamers
- 2023: 13.58 million gamers
- 2024: 19.81 million gamers
Now, in keeping with SFIA, whereas particular person sports activities have proven a combined efficiency thus far in 2025. :
Pickleball stays the fastest-growing sport, although early indicators recommend its explosive development could also be slowing. After a exceptional 45% improve in 2024, the projected development price for 2024-2025 is 14.7%, doubtlessly signaling a brand new section of stabilization for the game.
It is value noting that SFIA extrapolates this knowledge and associated tendencies from a pattern of roughly 20,000 on-line interviews performed nationwide and weighted alongside a number of variables, together with gender, age, earnings, ethnicity, family measurement, area, and inhabitants density.
As such, the SFIA states, “that is solely an early snapshot. As a result of many sports activities and actions are seasonal, there’s nonetheless time for these numbers to shift.”
What’s subsequent for Pickleball?
We predicted this participation slowdown again in March.
This is not trigger for any alarm; pickleball’s reputation is right here to remain.
And if latest MLP knowledge is any indication—one Saturday match on the MLP Finals in NYC drew 433,000 common viewers on CBS—individuals aren’t simply taking part in pickleball at a voracious clip, they’re beginning to devour the skilled product with extra curiosity, too.
To this point, our outlook stays the identical: The subsequent problem isn’t convincing extra individuals to play—they’re hooked sufficient already—it’s constructing sufficient infrastructure to help the demand.
Function picture through Shutterstock
