The Growth of PickleBall 2020 & 2019

Estimated Pickleball Players Within the United States

Pickleball grew in 2020 to 4.2 million players in the US, an incredible growth rate of 21.3% from 2019 per the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s (SFIA) 2020 Pickleball Participant Report, released in Feb. 2021. 
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Here are a few details from the 2019 SFIA full report  (Note - the full 2020 report will come out in the summer of 2021):

• Of the 3.3 million players, 2.2 million or 62% were “Casual” participants who play 1-7 times a year
• 1.3 million or 38% were “Core” participants who play 8 or more times a year
• The Average Annual Growth Rate (AAGR) for all players from 2016 to 2019 was 7.2%, for a total growth rate of 23% over three years
• 64% of participants are men; the percentage of participants who are women grew from 33% to 36% over three years
• The average age for all players is 41 years old
• The average age for Core players is 54 and Casual players 33 years old
• 67% of Core players are 55 or older
• 79% of Casual players are 54 or younger
• From 2015-2018:
  • the percentage of Core players ages 54 and younger grew from 25% to 36%
  • the percentage of Casual players ages 54 and younger grew from 78% to 84%
  • these increases in the percentages of both Core and Casual less than 55 years of age reflect faster growth among younger players
• The 3.5 million participants represent 1.1% of the US population of 301M people ages 6+. The 1.3M Core players represent 0.43% of that population.
• The US regions with the largest number of Core participants were:
• • South Atlantic (FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, WV, DC) = 276,000
  • East North Central (WI, MI, IL, OH, IN) = 268,000
  • Pacific (CA, OR, WA) = 260,000
  • Mountain (AZ, NV, NM, UT, CO, ID, WY, MT) = 164,000
  • These four regions account for 74% of Core players
• The fastest growing regions are the South Atlantic and Mountain with AAGR of 19.5% and 18.0% respectively.
• 58% of Core players live east of the Mississippi River (750K)

Any citation of this data should reference the SFIA report as its source.

Pickleball Participation Report 2020
​www.sfia.org/reports/888_Pickleball-Participation-Report-2020 - In Depth Report $295

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/01/28/pickleball-is-the-fastest-growing-sport-in-america

HTTPS://MONEY.COM/PICKLEBALL-SPORT-RETIREMENT-GROWTH/ - 

​https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/pickleball-fastest-growing-sport-you-ve-never-heard-ncna992106