Pickleball is here to stay. At least, that’s what professional players of the country’s fastest-growing sport said during a four-day Major League Pickleball showcase at the Washington Tennis and Educational Foundation this weekend.

The weekend event, the second competition of Major League Pickleball’s 2024 regular season, was the first professional pickleball function in the nation’s capital. League officials said they welcomed between 10,000 and 12,000 people from Thursday to Sunday.

“The fans showed up in such a cool way. This, to me, is the culmination of all the work we’ve done since we launched the club in December 2021,” Adam Behnke, COO of the D.C. Pickleball Team, said. “I’m just so humbled and impressed.”

Once considered a niche activity for retirees and former tennis players, pickleball has exploded in recent years. The sport, a cross between ping pong and tennis, boasted more than 48 million players in 2023, according to the Association of Pickleball Professionals.

Played on half of a tennis court with a paddle instead of a racket and a hollow plastic ball instead of a tennis ball, pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. for three consecutive years, with no slowdown in sight.

“This sport is an inspiration,” Beatrice Wycoff, who plays recreational pickleball in northern Virginia, said. “It’s the best thing that could ever happen to anyone, I don’t care what age you are … It balances us all out.”

Thousands of amateur players and fans from around the region braved the sweltering heat to cheer on the world’s best pickleballers. For Wycoff, it was an easy choice.

“We love pickleball. And to root for the D.C. team, come on. It’s local, it’s our home,” Wycoff said. “The atmosphere has been amazing since we got here. What surprised me was just how comfortable it was. I didn’t know what to expect. Everyone is friendly and the music is bumping. What’s not to love?

Pickleball fans are a unique bunch. Though this weekend’s event was hosted at a tennis facility, the District’s crowds had little in common with the polite gaggles at Wimbledon.

Armed with homemade signs and catchy slogans, pickleball fans rattled cowbells and trash-talked players between each point.

The Major League Pickleball organizers lean into this “music festival” atmosphere — they say it’s a feature, not a bug.

“The social connectivity of pickleball is truly the magic and the secret sauce of it,” Behnke said. “We’ve seen four-year-old kids up to 92-year-old people and everything in between cheering us on like crazy. It’s been the best crowd in Major League Pickleball to date.”

The players notice that atmosphere on the court as well. It’s hard to ignore screams, signs and cowbells, they said.

“It’s been amazing. The atmosphere has been electric, the stands have been full from the first match until the last,” Dekel Bar, a player for the D.C. PIckleball Team, said. “There’s signs for us, they’re cheering every point, it’s been really amazing.”

The biggest match of the weekend arrived on Sunday when the hometown squad faced off against the Carolina Pickleball Club and Ben Johns, considered the best player in the world.

Johns, a Laytonsville, Maryland native, is widely regarded as the world’s best player. The 25-year-old has won more than 80 titles on the Professional Pickleball Association Tour.

“I haven’t gotten to play much [professionally] in D.C. or the DMV, so it’s been really special to come back home and play in front of the fans,” Johns said. “A lot of the players have said this is the most engaged crowd they’ve ever seen.”

The Maryland graduate is pickleball’s golden child. He was the first man selected when Major League Pickleball held its inaugural draft in 2021, and Johns has dominated the league’s competition ever since.

“I mean, he’s the best thing since sliced bread,” Wycoff said of Johns.

That on-court success has led to lucrative opportunities off the field, too.

He told CNBC last month that he earned more than $2 million in 2023 from his league salary, tournament prize money and endorsement deals.

Johns said pickleball hasn’t peaked yet, he thinks it’s only beginning. This weekend’s showcase helped support his point.

“It’s clear there was a demand for this kind of event,” Johns said. “People have been thirsting for it.”

Behnke said this weekend’s event was an unprecedented success.

While the D.C. Pickleball Team’s COO is “truly sad” that the event had to end, he is already looking forward to welcoming Major League Pickleball back to the District next year.

“We’re going to need more seats,” he said.

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