Pickleball power

Sport spurs economic boost in the QC

Steve Morrison gets ready to serve during a game of pickleball at the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline. Pickleball, which has been called the fastest growing sport in the world, is having a big economic impact in the Quad Cities. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON

Pickleball is more than just a fun sport to Steven Morrison.

The Bettendorf man and Quad Cities Pickleball Club president calls the sport a great social event. He recently made his point to the QCBJ during a trip to the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline. There, dozens of people were playing pickleball on a series of indoor courts. Mr. Morrison was quick to mention that many of the players did not have a pickleball game set up when they arrived at the courts. They simply showed up and got invited to play.

“This is what I mean. You just show up and get in a game. … It’s the most social sport I’ve ever been involved with,” he said.

In fact, the “social sport” has been called the fastest growing sport in the world. According to the  Professional Pickleball Association (PPA), the sport has grown by 223% in the past three years and now has almost 50 million players just in the U.S.

That growing popularity also is having a big impact on many local economies. Pickleball-related goods, infrastructure and tourism has turned the sport into an economic powerhouse. For instance, the pickleball paddle market alone exceeds $152 million and is expected to have an annual growth rate of 7.7%, the association reports.

The global pickleball market is expected to grow from about $1.45 billion in 2023 to $4.4 billion in 2033, according to the news website Market.us News.

Dylan Wiemers, operations manager at the Quad City Tennis Club, holds a pickleball paddle on Wednesday, Dec. 11, as the Moline club announces it will host a pro pickleball tournament this summer from Friday-Sunday, Aug. 8-10. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON

‘Win-win for sports and our local economy’ 

On the Quad Cities front, pickleball’s economic boost may not be measured in billions of dollars, but it does reach into the millions. For example, a professional pickleball tournament is headed to the Quad Cities this summer, which will mean a lot of visitors, hundreds of hotel rooms booked and filled, and an expected $1.2 million pumped into the local economy, according to local tourism and the tournament officials.

The upcoming tournament, part of the inaugural session of the PPA Tour Challenger Series, will be called the Quad Cities PPA Challenger Powered by JOOLA. Spanning the nation with more than a dozen stops in 2025, the series will feature amateur and aspiring professional players. They will compete for a $10,000 prize pool and a shot at joining the Carvana PPA Tour.

“This will be a win-win for sports and our local economy,” Joan Kranovich, Visit Quad Cities’ vice president of business growth and the Sports QC director, said during a news conference in December announcing the QC’s first-time professional pickleball tournament.

The PPA Challenger will be played from Friday to Sunday, Aug. 8-10. at the Quad City Tennis Club, 1522 47th Ave., Moline.

Dylan Wiemers, the Quad City Tennis Club’s operations manager, said the facility is ready for the national tournament. The club has six indoor hard-surface tennis courts that can be adapted for pickleball; nine indoor pickleball courts designed for year-round play; and two outdoor tennis courts that can be converted into four pickleball courts.

The popularity of pickleball also can be seen in the membership numbers at the growing tennis club near Moline’s SouthPark Mall. The club currently has about 530 members, with about half that membership being pickleball players and the number continues to grow. 

Mr. Wiemers said that about a year ago, the club had about 190 pickleball players. Today, it has jumped to 270. “You see pickleball growing in all aspects,” he added.

Also, Visit Quad Cities partners with the QC Pickleball Club to assist in hosting the club’s Quad Cities Pickleball Classic each September. This annual event draws more than 400 players from across the Midwest to compete for rankings and cash prizes. Known as one of the largest amateur pickleball events in the Midwest, the Quad Cities Pickleball Classic generates a direct economic impact of more than $153,000, according to statistics from Visit Quad Cities.

Pickleball nets widespread interest across the QC 

The sport’s growth and popularity can be seen all around the region. For instance, the City of Bettendorf has 23 outdoor and two indoor courts, plus courts at the TBK Bank Sports Complex. Leaders with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department estimate Bettendorf has more than 1,000 pickleball players. In addition to Moline and Bettendorf, there also are pickleball courts in Davenport, Rock Island and other area communities. 

Also, a $7 million indoor sports complex – to be called the Musco Sports Center – is now under construction downriver in Muscatine, Iowa. It will feature six pickleball courts and a multi-use artificial turf field that can be used for many sports and non-sports activities.

When it comes to pickleball having a possible economic impact on the region, there is a $50 million project that is being proposed that could put the Quad Cities on the international pickleball map, the supporter behind the project says.

Local businessman and pickleball fan Steven A. Szalo has spent the past couple of years getting that project – called Pickleball Frenzy – off the ground and turning his dream into a reality.

Pickleball Frenzy could raise QC’s profile  

The Pickleball Frenzy project will be a state-of-the-art, five-acre facility that will feature all things associated with pickleball, he said. 

During a recent stop at the Quad City Tennis Club to play a few games of pickleball, Mr. Szalo shared with the QCBJ his ideas and views for Pickleball Frenzy and why he has been pushing for the massive sports facility project.

As a pickleball enthusiast, he has seen the sport grow by leaps and bounds in the past several years. He also has seen communities get big money from the sport, its many players and its tournaments. 

The Quad Cities could host those national pickleball tournaments, but there’s a problem: the region lacks the tournament-level facilities, Mr. Szalo said. That’s where the Pickleball Frenzy project comes in, he said. It will create those facilities and help spur the local economy.

“The local community will realize a steady stream of tourism revenues positively affecting hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and other retail and service providers. It will provide good paying jobs

and careers. This will spark unimaginable economic growth for the area,” according to Mr. Szalo’s project proposal.

Mr. Szalo works for the Small Business Administration (SBA); is founder of the SAS Group, a small business providing on-site and in-office workplace drug and alcohol collection and testing services; is a contract specialist with the Army Contracting Command; and an avid national pickleball tournament player.

Some of the Pickleball Frenzy’s features he outlined in his proposal include:

  • An 80,000-square-foot indoor arena and 40,000-square-foot outdoor facility.
  • It will consist of an arena with 28 dedicated indoor courts and 12 dedicated outdoor courts that will be surrounded by plenty of vendor space, player lounges, retail shops and spectator areas.
  • A “pickleball village” will feature a recreational vehicle parking area, restaurants, retail shops and much more.
  • The entire project will cost $50 million. It will need $12 million to get the project moving, and $30 million to build the main facility, Mr. Szalo said.
  • If all goes according to plan, construction on the facility will begin next year.
  • The plans, which have been presented to business leaders and potential investors,  do not list a potential site. However, during discussions with the QCBJ, Mr. Szalo said he has been looking at several potential sites, including the former Quad City Downs horse racing track property in East Moline, as well as land in Milan, Moline and Rock Island.

“This infrastructure will be in a high-visibility location with ease of transportation, parking, access to hotels and restaurants, and capable of meeting current and future demand for event-driven and community-based regional pickleball,” according to the project plan.

The plan adds: “Getting this project established now in the Quad City area, while this window of opportunity exists, will provide a stable anchor for the intrastate region hosting fierce competitive and softer recreational state events. As the pickleball memberships and new entrants come in, they will eventually stabilize local and bi-state programming and generate more Midwest region

non-national tournaments to sustain this project with a great place to play, excellent tourism, and a nice profit.”

Pickleball attracting all ages, abilities

A huge part of the economic appeal of pickleball goes back to its status as a “social sport” that attracts people from all walks of life, said Mr. Morrison, the area club’s president.

“This brings people together from all areas of the communities,” he added.

Visit Quad Cities, the region’s destination marketing organization, agrees. “Pickleball is a growing sport that fosters community, promotes health and well-being, and enhances the quality of life for residents. The sport’s accessibility and inclusive nature appeal to a broad audience – from casual players to competitive athletes – creating opportunities for engagement and connection across the QC region,” Visit Quad Cities said in a statement.

For much of its brief history, pickleball’s connections have largely focused on the senior citizen  set. That’s changing. Mr. Morrison said the sport is attracting people from all age groups – especially younger people.

“People used to think of it as a geezer sport. Now, a lot of younger people are starting to play,” he added.

 

 

Two people play pickleball at the Quad City Tennis Club in Moline. Called the fastest growing sport in the world, pickleball’s popularity is positively impacting the Quad Cities’ economy. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON

PICKLEBALL: AT A GLANCE

  • History: The game was created in 1965 by Joel Pritchard, a Washington state politician, and his friends, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum. The game was born out of necessity. They intended to play badminton but lacked shuttlecocks, so they improvised with a whiffle ball, used a badminton net, and initially used ping pong bats and later crafted oversized paddles from plywood. – Pickleball Americas
  • The name: The name was suggested by Joel Pritchard’s wife, inspired by the “pickle boat” in rowing. A “pickle boat” is a thrown together crew, sometimes drawn at random from available rowers. Similarly, pickleball is a sport that features thrown together elements from various racquet sports such as badminton, tennis and table tennis. – Pickleball Americas
  • What is pickleball? It is a racket or paddle sport in which two players (singles) or four players (doubles) use a smooth-faced paddle to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball. Aspects of the sport resemble tennis and table tennis, but pickleball has specific rules, paddles and court dimensions. –  Association of Pickleball Professionals
  • The court: A pickleball court is 20-by-44 feet for both singles and doubles. The net is hung at 34 inches in the middle. A non-volley zone extends seven inches back from the net on each side, commonly called “the kitchen.”  In 2017, USA Pickleball and the American Sports Builders Association co-produced and released an official pickleball courts construction and maintenance manual for the industry. – USA Pickleball
  • Number of players: There are an estimated 48 million pickleball players in the U.S. The sport has grown by 223% in the past three years. – Association of Pickleball Professionals
  • Pickleball courts: There are nearly 14,000 courts in the U.S. – Association of Pickleball Professionals
  • Pickleball paddles: The pickleball paddle market was estimated at $152.8 million in 2022, with some of the most expensive paddles costing more than $200 each. The market is expected to grow at a 7.7% rate through 2028. – Association of Pickleball Professionals
  • Economic impact: Pickleball’s overall economic impact was estimated at $1.3 billion in 2022 with projects to soar to $2.3 billion by 2028. – Push Sports
  • Pickleball in the QC: “Pickleball is a rapidly growing sport in the Quad Cities, with increasing participation and its corresponding economic impact. While we don’t have exact financial figures specific to the sport overall, its influence is clear through memberships in local clubs like the QC Pickleball Club, which has over 500 members, purchases of equipment at local retailers, and participation in local leagues and tournaments. Beyond club participants, many recreational players across the region take advantage of the 34 outdoor courts and multiple indoor facilities available in communities such as Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, Rock Island, and more. … According to local pickleball leaders and enthusiasts, there are an estimated 33,000 pickleball players within a short drive of the Quad Cities.” – Visit Quad Cities

 

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