Pickleball is a sport that is starting to take the nation by storm, it is the ideal sport for those who find some other racket-based sports a bit overwhelming, or too much.
It is often played by older people but is starting to gain popularity in all age groups.
At the center of this exciting and budding sport is Pickleball Central. It is a superstore for pickleball, specializing in paddles, balls, nets, shoes, accessories, and everything else pickleball.
They are fairly recent in the pickleball world but have made leaps and bounds in the growth of this sport, making equipment more readily available for enthusiasts.
However, in recent years, the pickleball world has seen new involvement from an interested buyer. Yes, Pickleball Central got bought and is now owned by someone you may not have considered.
So, who exactly owns Pickleball Central now?
Any guesses before we tell you?
NHL & Pickleball
Pickleball broke the news not all that long ago. News was circulated that the Pro Pickleball Association, Pickleball Central, and pickleballtournaments.com were all sold to Dundon Capital Partners.
This was led by Tom Dundon, who is also the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL.
Dundon was also the chairman of the Alliance of American Football league, although this was a short-lived endeavor back in 2019.
However, it would seem that Dundon does see an appeal in other sports now, and is eagerly sinking his teeth into Pickleball.
It is no surprise, however, as pickleball has been rapidly growing since its inception, and it may well be one of the most rapidly growing sports in history!
The purchase of Pickleball Central is actually quite groundbreaking, especially for pickleball, as it unites two of the biggest forces in the sport.
It brings Pickleball Central, and pickleballtournaments.com together under the same roof with the PPA.
This gives Dundon group quite the powerful controlling stake in what pro pickleball should look like as it goes forward in the future.
Tom Dundon – Pickleball Central Owner
Tom Dundon is quite the pickleball fanatic, so we cannot help but presume that the game is in safe hands here.
Of course, the commissioner and tour co-founder, by the name of Connor Pardoe, is still going to stay on and help to run the league for a good 3 years or so.
With the helpful guidance of Connor Pardoe, the game has been brought into the spotlight and gained the popularity it is known for. With this financial backing also, the game will be brought to even greater heights.
Pickleball, overall, now has a major owner from one of the major 4 sports, which can only mean big things for pickleball in the years to come, but let’s talk about this some more in detail…
What Does This Mean For Pickleball?
The Hurricanes, who are owned by Tom Dundon, are sponsored by PNC Bank, Invisalign, Lenovo, and some other local sponsors as well.
The connections of the Dundon Capital group may actually help Pickleball to gain some big sponsors too.
It could bring in some big sponsors, as well as members of their portfolio such as Carvana into the pickleball scene. This would skyrocket the success that PPA has already experienced.
However, pickleball does want more, the more attention it gets the more it grows, and this is just the ticket it needed to further succeed.
Big Changes Ahead?
We are also expecting to see some big changes when it comes to pickleballtournaments.com after we saw the press release from Pickleball Central last (see also: How Long Do Pickleballs Last?)year (2022).
The release has stated that there was a multi-million dollar commitment to extend and enhance the capabilities of Pickleball (see also: 10 Best States For Pickleball)Tournament’s state-of-the-art technology platform.
So, all players in the community around pickleball could be able to benefit from experiencing an enhancement in their use of pickleballtournaments.com, allowing more room for improvement.
The announcement itself is massive news for this sport and the owners have already done great things in the 2022 year, now we just need to see great things from them in the years following.
About Dundon Capital Partners
Dundon Capital Partners is a private investment firm based in Dallas. They were founded back in 2015 by Tom Dundon, who is the chairman and managing partner.
He brings over 25 years of experience as an investor and operator in many industries into the firm.
He has experience in financial services, entertainment, sport, hospitality, and even real estate, so his experience is vast and impressive.
What We Know About PPA
If you are not always aware of the Professional Pickleball Association, this is the professional tour for pickleball as a sport.
They organize events and rankings for those in the top male and female divisions in the sport. They award over $2.5 million in prize money every year.
They had over 20 events in 2022 at their world-class facilities, such as the Aviva center in Toronto, and the Linder Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati.
The PPA tour is also the primary premier provider of amateur and professional events for the sport of pickleball.
They expect to welcome more than a quarter of a million fans on their sites, and they also expect to gain over half a million in overall viewership for every single event.
This is partially thanks to their partnerships with some of the biggest broadcasting powerhouses such as Tennis Channel, ESPN+, Fox, and EBS Sport.
The PPA was founded back in 2018, and it is primarily based in Salt Lake City in Utah.
The PPA Tour gives a totally unparalleled experience for everyone, they even invite players to compete and play where professionals play.
They offer up unrivaled venues, live DJs, entertainment, food and beverages, giveaways, pro-player-meet and greets, games, vendors, shopping, and so much more.
They are essentially the big dog of Pickleball as a sport.
While the purchase by such an influential sporting firm has certainly raised the profile of pickleball, the PPA was already in the process of increasing the profile of the sport and making it more popular.
How Does Pickleball Central Feel About This?
Back in 2022, Pickleball Central stated that they were excited to partner with Dundon Capital Partners, noting that they knew it would help to drive growth.
The sport grew by an astronomical 20% in 2021, and there are now over 4 million people playing in the U.S. alone.
Dundon Capital Partners are sure to help them scale to meet demands with the sport, and since they have a good track record when it comes to sport-related businesses, the outlook for the long-term is very positive, and they believe it will help the sport massively.
Overall
Dundon Capital Partners are now the owners of Pickleball Central and PickleballTournaments.com, and this is a positive thing for the sport as a whole since it has seen a lot of growth in recent years.
The involvement of such influential buyers can only mean good things for Pickleball Central, and pickleball as a whole.
Hi, I’m Michael Walter, and I am a Pickleball enthusiast. I work as a High School Physical Education Teacher, so I have an expansive knowledge of sports and its impact on physical health.
When I first took a position at my current school, one of the many things I wanted to implement in the curriculum was Pickleball.
Pickleball is a fantastic sport to keep yourself active, healthy, keep your blood pumping, and to start a good sense of competitiveness and team work.
