That familiar “pock, pock, pock” of pickleball is turning into “ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching” for players and team owners in the nation’s fast-growing professional sport.

Major League Pickleball brings its hybrid of ping-pong and tennis to the District beginning Thursday for a four-day event showcasing the burgeoning sport’s best players and teams — while also flexing the league’s growing box-office muscle. 

The Washington Tennis and Education Foundation in Southeast will host 15 of the 22 teams from the nascent league that has attracted big-name owners like NBA superstar Lebron James and two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes. 

League CEO Julio DePietro told one network recently that MLP team values have grown 100-fold since the league began in 2021 and are now fetching up to $10 million per team.

“This is a rocket ship right now,” the league’s chief operating officer, Bruce Popko, told The Washington Times.

Pickleball, played on half of a tennis court with a paddle instead of a racket and a hollow plastic ball instead of a tennis ball, has been the fastest-growing sport in the United States for three consecutive years now with no slowdown in sight.

The Association of Pickleball Professionals counted 48.3 million pickleball players in 2023, a 35% increase from 2022.

“It’s easy to jump in and play,” Allyce Jones, a professional player with the D.C. Pickleball Team, told The Times.

Jones said a welcoming community is what sets pickleball apart. Most courts use an open-play format where players of all skill levels take turns on courts, meet new people and play with different partners.  

“A key piece of it is the social connectivity for all ages getting out and being able to interact with people, whether they’re your age or not,” Adam Behnke, the COO for D.C. Pickleball Team, told The Times. “Pickleball brings everybody together.”

It also comes without some of the social and physical barriers that keep people away from similar sports like tennis.

“It’s an equalizer — a grandma can play it with her young grandson and it can be competitive,” Bob Bryan, a 16-time Grand Slam doubles champion in tennis, said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans wanted to find a new social activity, but they needed to be outdoors and socially distant.
Enter pickleball.

Jones, a former high school health teacher, said she was one of many who picked up pickleball during the pandemic. She’d virtually teach students in the morning before heading to her high school’s gym with her family.

“I started getting addicted,” the 36-year-old mother of three said. “I have a personality that has to give 120%.”

In the four years since the pandemic began, pickleball has grown exponentially. 

As pickleball has grown at the community level, the professional opportunities for top-end players have blossomed as well. What began as a hobby for players like Jones quickly became a way to make money — astounding money, for some players.

Ben Johns, 25, is the top-ranked pickleball player in the world. Six years ago, the Maryland native said he earned $50,000 annually playing the game. That jumped to $250,000 in 2021. Last year, the 25-year-old reported $2.5 million in pay from his playing salary and endorsements.

“We haven’t reached the top,” Johns told CNBC last month. “I think there’s still an upward trend.”

There are still skeptics out there, though.

Some see the game as a low-impact sport for the retired crowd or as a second option for former tennis players. After all, AARP is the biggest sponsor for this weekend’s event and several pickleball pros boast tennis backgrounds.

But those who live and breathe pickleball say they know how intense the competition is.

“You should expect a lot of rowdiness from players and fans. It’s not tennis, so people get really chirpy and the crowd gets really into it,” Jones said about this weekend’s event. “You’ll be surprised by how many players get so fired up.”

Popko said he’s regularly amazed by the prowess of pickleball professionals.

“These are folks that work very hard at training to be the best players in the world, but they still have a lot of fun doing it,” he said. “That comes across on and off the court.”

Major League Pickleball expects between 2,500 and 3,000 fans to attend each day of this weekend’s event. Fans will see most of the league’s teams square off in a round-robin format, gaining points for the regular season standings.

D.C. Pickleball Team executives said they expect a rambunctious crowd to give them a home-court advantage when the team opens play on Friday.

“There’s a super intimate feel, like courtside seats in basketball, where you’re really right there,” Behnke said. “You can hear all the players, you can trash talk a little bit at the opposing team.”

Organizers said this weekend might not resemble a traditional sporting event. It will likely feel more like a block party than a country club.

“We don’t even have to try to have that social aspect translate, it just presents itself. We just try to augment it and turn the volume up wherever we can,” Popko said. “It’s almost as if you took a music festival and put sports against it.”

A successful event this weekend could create even more pickleball fans in the D.C. area. While the competition has already sold thousands of tickets, organizers say they’re expecting a healthy amount of casual fans who might purchase tickets on the day of the event.

“You either bring new fans into the equation, or you bring fans further into the paradigm,” Popko said. “Maybe they were a casual fan before, they become a more avid fan if they’re able to experience the product live.”

Behnke is counting on those “more avid fans.” He noted that he sees the D.C. Pickleball Team becoming a community fixture as the city hosts more events like this.

“We hope to be one of those teams that brings a lot of joy and pride to people’s lives representing D.C.,” he said. “This is just the beginning.”

This article was based in part on wire-service reports.

• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.