The United Pickleball Affiliation is in early phases of elevating $150-200 million to merge skilled leagues with commerce, software program, and services belongings
The United Pickleball Affiliation (UPA), mum or dad firm of the PPA Tour and Main League Pickleball, is planning to lift between $150-200 million in new capital to create what would turn out to be pickleball’s first vertically built-in platform, in keeping with a report by sports activities enterprise analyst Joe Pompliano.
EXCLUSIVE: UPA — the holding firm for pickleball’s two greatest leagues — plans to lift $150–200 million in new capital.
The plan is to construct a vertically built-in platform (media, software program, actual property) serving the whole pickleball business.
READ: https://t.co/vAzAufoCH9 pic.twitter.com/pFm36VaiC1
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) February 13, 2026
The fundraising plans come on the heels of report viewership for skilled pickleball.
Final month, the Carvana PPA Masters Championship averaged 791,000 viewers on CBS — making it the most-watched pickleball occasion in historical past and outperforming an NBA recreation on Amazon Prime (528,000 viewers), Huge 12 Girls’s basketball on FOX (677,000), and Premier League soccer on USA Community (451,000) in the identical time slot.
What’s Being Proposed
Slightly than merely elevating capital for the prevailing professional leagues, sources inform Pompliano that UPA plans to merge with Pickleball Inc. and different associated pickleball belongings owned by billionaire Tom Dundon. This is able to create a single holding firm that spans the whole pickleball ecosystem.
The PPA Masters and CBS Simply Delivered the Most-Watched Pickleball Broadcast Ever
“The long run is extraordinarily vivid, and this momentum is just the start.” – PPA Tour Founder & CEO Connor Pardo
The mixed entity would come with:
- Skilled leagues: PPA Tour and Main League Pickleball
- Ecommerce: Pickleball Central, the main on-line pickleball retailer
- Software program: Pickleball Play Options for event registration and facility administration
- Development: Simply Courts Development for court docket constructing
- Services: Minority stake in Picklr, the most important franchise operator of pickleball services
- Information: Minority stake in DUPR, the worldwide pickleball scores platform
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The Numbers
UPA’s present monetary efficiency reveals sturdy development:
- 2024 income: $47 million
- 2025 income: $64 million (+36% YoY)
- 2026 projected income: $81 million
- Match attendance: 300,000+ throughout PPA and MLP occasions in 2025
- Ticket gross sales: $10 million in 2025
When mixed with Dundon’s different pickleball belongings, the brand new platform would generate roughly $140 million in annual income from sponsorships, media rights, ticketing, event registrations, ecommerce, actual property, and software program.
Present valuation estimates place UPA alone at $570-650 million based mostly on a 7-8x income a number of. The mixed entity is anticipated to lift the $150-200 million at an enterprise worth close to or exceeding $800 million.
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Reactions Throughout Sports activities
Some huge personalities, like Invoice Simmons, are already weighing in.
@BillSimmons simply salty trigger his golf equipment tennis courts received transformed over. Don’t fear – you’ll be taking part in pickleball in a number of years. Holler once you want a paddle https://t.co/MgPoiQFbIw
— Samin Odhwani (@SaminOdhwani) February 13, 2026
Income Breakdown
UPA’s present income comes from a number of sources:
- Sponsorships: ~$30 million (together with multi-year DoorDash deal)
- Ticket gross sales: $10+ million from 300,000+ attendees
- Media rights: Rising broadcast partnerships
- Newbie tournaments: Further income from 27,000+ newbie members
The UPA World Championships alone generated $4 million in income, demonstrating the potential for flagship tentpole occasions.
The Dundon Connection
Tom Dundon, proprietor of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes and shortly the NBA’s Portland Path Blazers, has been systematically constructing his pickleball portfolio since 2021. His personal fairness agency, Dundon Capital Companions, is UPA’s largest shareholder.
Dundon’s acquisition timeline:
- 2021: Acquired majority stake in Pickleball Central and PickleballTournaments.com
- 2022: Acquired the PPA Tour
- 2024: PPA merged with MLP to kind UPA (backed by $75M funding)
As a result of Dundon is the most important shareholder in each UPA and the proprietor of Pickleball Inc., he is uniquely positioned to facilitate the merger of those separate entities.
What This Means for Pickleball
The proposed construction would remodel pickleball from a set of separate companies into an built-in platform that touches gamers at each level:
For leisure gamers: A seamless expertise from shopping for tools on-line to registering for tournaments to taking part in at devoted services — all throughout the identical ecosystem.
For the game: The power to scale infrastructure, enhance manufacturing high quality, create a constant occasion calendar, and construct the game extra strategically than fragmented rivals.
For buyers: A distinct funding thesis. Slightly than betting solely on knowledgeable sports activities league, buyers could be shopping for right into a platform that captures income throughout the whole pickleball worth chain.
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For the fourth consecutive 12 months, pickleball stays America’s fastest-growing sport, and the numbers behind its meteoric rise are nothing in need of historic.
Path to Profitability
In accordance with Pompliano’s sources, the fundraising pitch contains:
- Utilizing proceeds to pay down present UPA debt
- Including recent capital for development initiatives
- Path to breakeven in 2027
- Potential to achieve $100 million in EBITDA by 2030
Trade Context
Pickleball stays America’s fastest-growing sport with roughly 19.8 million gamers in america. At present development charges, pickleball is on observe to turn out to be the nation’s fourth hottest sport by year-end — surpassing baseball (17.3 million members) and soccer (20.4 million), although nonetheless behind tennis (25.7 million), basketball (31.9 million), and golf (42.7 million).
This development has created alternatives at each the skilled and grassroots ranges, with a number of competing excursions, leagues, tools producers, and facility operators all vying for market share.
What Occurs Subsequent
The capital increase remains to be in early phases, with phrases and construction persevering with to evolve. The ultimate construction of the mixed entity, timing of the transaction, and supreme valuation will rely on investor urge for food and market circumstances.
For UPA {and professional} pickleball, the success of this fundraising effort may decide whether or not the game develops by a unified platform or continues with competing organizations serving completely different components of the ecosystem.
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