Despite the big names and headlines, recreational-level interest hasn’t yet translated to massive crowds or record television ratings for pro pickleball events. But according to Goyal, the celebrity angle—the chance to see owners like LeBron James or Tom Brady in the stands at an Anna Leigh Waters match during the next MLP season, for example—will continue to grab and keep the public’s attention.
“They both feed into each other,” Goyal says. “The investment that’s happening on the recreational-development side, as well as the investment happening on the pro side by all the celebrities naturally feed back into each other. It all really increases the interest, the demand, participation and activity around the sport.
“We definitely see that path, and we think it all comes down to the recreational player, and growing the fandom and participation on the recreational level in order to drive growth on the pro circuit.”
While pickleball’s burgeoning pro circuit continues to court the influencers, Goyal aims to keep doing the influencing—encouraging both tennis and pickleball lovers to continue engaging with the sports they love by removing as many barriers to entry as technology can solve.
“In terms of what we can do with technology, I think there’s three pieces,” she said. “There’s technology around player levels and booking platforms. That’s one space, but two other things that can really drive the growth of tennis are around sustainable infrastructure and different formats. Courts are expensive to build and take up more space, and there are people who want to play, but don’t necessarily have the appetite to compete in a full match…
“New technology in general, I think is really important to grow in this sport. Next year, we really want to invest in our tools to help our court providers empower their businesses, and do so in a really scalable and sustainable way in the process.”