Pickleball is growing super fast. On the business side of the industry, it’s very segmented and relatively immature. There are several leagues, lots of tournaments, a few industry websites (built on old technology), some bloggers, etc. Recently, a billionaire name Tom Dundon purchased the PPA, Pickleball Central and Pickleball Tournaments. This was big news – exciting to some and frustrating to others. Top pickleball pros, Ben Johns and Rob Nunnery, interviewed Tom Dundon on a recent Freestyle Boys podcast. Listen to Tom, in his own words, talk about the major business movements in pickleball and why he’s leading the investment.
Tom Dundon Background
Tom is an American businessman, specializing in financial services and entertainment. He generated his wealth is the subprime automobile financing space. He understands generating content and value in sports, as he’s the sole owner of the Carolina Hurricanes, an NHL Hockey Team. He also co-founded a golf course in Dallas while also being an investor in Top Golf.
In the podcast, it’s great to hear Tom explain why he’s investing in pickleball and why he’s going about it in a potentially polarizing way for others in the industry.
Major Pickleball Acquisitions
Tom Dundon mentions he’s looking to create an environment with better venues, better content, improved technologies and to bring bigger sponsorships / advertisers to the industry. One of the most controversial elements of his plan is to sign top pickleball professional players to 3 year PPA contacts. Where does this leave the APP, MLP and other non-PPA related leagues and events?
PPA – Professional Pickleball Association. The PPA Tour invites amateurs to come and play at the same venues as the top professionals in the sport of pickleball. No memberships are required to play at the best venues alongside the most exciting pickleball available in the sport.
Pickleball Tournaments – this website hosting hundreds of pickleball tournaments each year. It is built on old technology and is not super intuitive to use. One of Tom’s strategies is to invest in improving this website’s experiences.
Pickleball Central – this ecommerce website is one of the biggest, if not the biggest in the industry. On this website, consumers can purchase pickleball paddles, pickleball balls, pickleball bags, pickleball accessories, etc.