{"id":17344,"date":"2023-10-13T13:46:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-13T13:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/marketing\/brands-cant-get-enough-of-pickleball\/"},"modified":"2023-10-13T13:46:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T13:46:02","slug":"brands-cant-get-enough-of-pickleball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344","title":{"rendered":"Brands can\u2019t get enough of pickleball"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

Pickleball, a sport originally associated with an older crowd, is now a favorite pastime among players of all ages. It\u2019s also quickly become a priority for brands, from startups to some of the biggest companies in the world.<\/p>\n

More than 150 brands tied up with various pickleball properties from April 2022 to April 2023, according to sports and entertainment intelligence platform SponsorUnited. Major League Pickleball (MLP), which was founded in 2021, has 17 sponsors\u2014a number that has quadrupled since the end of last year.<\/p>\n

The PPA Tour, pickleball\u2019s global governing body and bracket-based pro tour, has about 60 sponsors, a roughly fivefold increase compared to last year, according to PPA President Bryce Morgan. Almost all of them are returning for 2024, he said. The association got its start in early 2020, and by the end of that year, its sponsorship contact form \u201ckind of started to go crazy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp until that point, that was our third-smallest bucket of revenue, and now it\u2019s by far our biggest,\u201d Morgan told Marketing Brew. The PPA, which recently agreed to merge with MLP, also generates revenue via registrations and ticket sales.<\/p>\n

That rapid growth is good for the leagues and the sport, but it presents something of a dilemma for sponsors: They might have to work harder to stand out as brands continue to flood the space.<\/p>\n

Inside the house<\/h2>\n

Considering pickleball is America\u2019s fastest-growing sport, many companies have employees who\u2019ve recently taken up the game\u2014or at least taken an interest in it. In some cases, it\u2019s these employees who\u2019ve jumpstarted sponsorship deals.<\/p>\n

Carvana, the title sponsor of the PPA Tour, used to have a pickleball court at one of its headquarters in Arizona, according to Makena Berchem, its brand manager overseeing partnerships. Molson Coors, the parent company of PPA Tour sponsors including Vizzy and Miller Lite, got its start in pickleball because of an \u201cavid\u201d player on its sponsorships team, according to Joy Ghosh, VP of above premium flavor. Os1st, the \u201cofficial sock\u201d of the PPA and MLP, got involved after its president attended a tournament, according to Director of Marketing Stephanie Lee.<\/p>\n

In other cases, marketers simply found the sport appealing from a sponsorship perspective. Jim Gunning, CMO of Best Day Brewing, the \u201cofficial non-alcoholic beer of the PPA,\u201d said it had \u201call of the attributes we were looking for.\u201d For instance, he said the sport has a fairly even gender split, with players largely coming from upper-income backgrounds.<\/p>\n

For Sanzo, the \u201cofficial sparkling water of the PPA,\u201d the fact that the sport holds appeal across generations was a selling point, according to Senior Director of Marketing Kimberly Lam.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Get marketing news you’ll actually want to read<\/h5>\n

Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Tamara Baldanza-Dekker, CMO of Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffet\u2019s global lifestyle brand and MLP\u2019s title sponsor, also noted the sport\u2019s cross-generational appeal. \u201cIt is communal; it\u2019s friendly; it\u2019s fun; it\u2019s for all ages; it is so inclusive; it\u2019s exactly who we are,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we were like, \u2018Oh my gosh, this is a sport for us\u2019…We can\u2019t get enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Too many cooks in the kitchen?<\/h2>\n

As brands glom onto pickleball, some are finding that they have to go above and beyond to make an impact in a sea of sponsors.<\/p>\n

In fact, the PPA has had to turn some brands away, Morgan said, largely because of preexisting deals with competitors. While there\u2019s no specific number cap in place, he said there\u2019s probably something of a natural cap. \u201cWe don\u2019t want the sport to be overpopulated with sponsors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The number of sponsors, though, is already significant, something several marketers said was on their minds. To help it stand out, Anheuser-Busch InBev made its first swing at pickleball a big one. Last year, the brewer announced that it purchased its own MLP team (the Atlanta Bouncers) about a month after Molson Coors\u2019s Vizzy announced its deal to become the exclusive hard seltzer of the PPA Tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ownership gives us unique access, creativity, and control\u2014including everything from who our team drafts to who we bring on as sponsors,\u201d Matt Davis, VP of partnerships at Anheuser-Busch, told us. The company is also leveraging some star power, bringing on Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young as the team\u2019s \u201csole celebrity-athlete investor,\u201d Davis added.<\/p>\n

Ghosh noted that Vizzy\u2019s vibrant orange branding \u201ccompliments\u201d the PPA\u2019s logo, something which could help catch the eyes of spectators at events, on broadcasts, and via retail displays.<\/p>\n

Goodr, the official sunglasses sponsor of the PPA Tour, is also relying on a pop of color, according to CMO Kelley Puckett. \u201cIf we\u2019re tabling at an event and have a fully grown man in a pink Carl the Flamingo mascot costume giving away free pairs of sunglasses, that tends to stand out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Many pickleball sponsors also recognize the importance of engaging with the sport\u2019s community beyond having their logos on the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cLogos are important, but that\u2019s not who we are\u2026I\u2019ve got a team of people that go to every one of these tournaments. We don\u2019t just want to see a logo,\u201d Baldanza-Dekker said, later adding that, \u201cWhat\u2019s most important is that we bring the fun and the energy, and that we continue to help grow the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pickleball, a sport originally associated with an older crowd, is now a favorite pastime among players of all ages. It\u2019s also quickly become a priority for brands, from startups to some of the biggest companies in the world. More than 150 brands tied up with various pickleball properties from April 2022 to April 2023, according […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17344","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-marketing"},"yoast_head":"\nBrands can\u2019t get enough of pickleball | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pickleball, a sport originally associated with an older crowd, is now a favorite pastime among players of all ages. It\u2019s also quickly become a priority\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brands can\u2019t get enough of pickleball | Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pickleball, a sport originally associated with an older crowd, is now a favorite pastime among players of all ages. It\u2019s also quickly become a priority\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-13T13:46:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-13T13:46:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1697204761_aa129ac29ba2fb313d92d73945abec4011887baf-3919x2201.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\"},\"headline\":\"Brands can\u2019t get enough of pickleball\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-13T13:46:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-13T13:46:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344\"},\"wordCount\":931,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Marketing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344\",\"name\":\"Brands can\u2019t get enough of pickleball | Brandiary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-13T13:46:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-13T13:46:02+00:00\",\"description\":\"Pickleball, a sport originally associated with an older crowd, is now a favorite pastime among players of all ages. It\u2019s also quickly become a priority\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Brands can\u2019t get enough of pickleball\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"description\":\"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"width\":381,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Brandiary\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\",\"name\":\"News Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"News Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Brands can\u2019t get enough of pickleball | Brandiary","description":"Pickleball, a sport originally associated with an older crowd, is now a favorite pastime among players of all ages. It\u2019s also quickly become a priority","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Brands can\u2019t get enough of pickleball | Brandiary","og_description":"Pickleball, a sport originally associated with an older crowd, is now a favorite pastime among players of all ages. It\u2019s also quickly become a priority","og_url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344","og_site_name":"Brandiary","article_published_time":"2023-10-13T13:46:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-13T13:46:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1697204761_aa129ac29ba2fb313d92d73945abec4011887baf-3919x2201.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Room","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344"},"author":{"name":"News Room","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4"},"headline":"Brands can\u2019t get enough of pickleball","datePublished":"2023-10-13T13:46:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-13T13:46:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344"},"wordCount":931,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Marketing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344","name":"Brands can\u2019t get enough of pickleball | Brandiary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-10-13T13:46:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-13T13:46:02+00:00","description":"Pickleball, a sport originally associated with an older crowd, is now a favorite pastime among players of all ages. It\u2019s also quickly become a priority","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=17344#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Brands can\u2019t get enough of pickleball"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","name":"Brandiary","description":"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization","name":"Brandiary","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","width":381,"height":100,"caption":"Brandiary"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4","name":"News Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","caption":"News Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com"],"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17344"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17346,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17344\/revisions\/17346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}