Pickleball is about to go major league in Australia
The United States’ major pickleball tournament is expanding to Australia under an ambitious plan to professionalise a sport that high-profile athletes including NFL star Tom Brady and Nick Kyrgios have put money behind.
Pickleball – described as a mix of ping pong, tennis and badminton – is the fastest growing US sport and is taking off in Australia, including the Pacific Pickleball league co-founders Anthony Liveris and Adam Thompson last year.
Pacific Pickleball co-founders Adam Thompson (left) and Anthony Liveris are bringing the major US league to Australia. Glenn Campbell
Mr Liveris, the son of former Dow Chemical chief executive Andrew Liveris, and his partner want to take the sport to the next level in the region under a deal signed with Major League Pickleball, the leading US tournament that counts NBA star LeBron James, actor Eva Longoria and Slovak internet star David Dobrik as backers.
The arrangement will bring the MLP teams tournament format into the local market from this weekend. Mr Thompson, the Pacific Pickleball chief executive, said the partnership could eventually allow Australia’s best players to compete against some of the best teams in the US.
“We’ve had a couple of really successful tournaments and announced professional teams,” Mr Thompson said. “To be the first international partner for Major League Pickleball… to use their brand and format and support across the next three events.”
Played on a court that is 6.1 metres x 13.41 metres (the same size as a badminton court), Pickleball has a low net, underarm serves, and a non-volley zone known as “the kitchen”.
It has had stratospheric uptake in the US, where the number of people playing the sport grew to more than 37 million in the year to August
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