Pickleball: New Sport Trend

Pickleball – a New Sport Trend that receives a lot of attention

As the fastest-growing sport in the US with a growth rate of 39.3% in just 2 years 2022, 2023, Pickleball has now become popular worldwide and is loved by a large number of players from many different ages.

Pickleball, for example, has become increasingly popular with Match Group users over the past few years. Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and OkCupid users have shared pickleball in their bios more than 300% since the beginning of 2023. Pickleball became the top hobby among users in 2024.

The boom of Pickleball has been greatly contributed by Social Media platforms. In fact, the younger generation is increasingly paying attention to a healthy and active lifestyle by learning about sports through: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X… Health-related content is consumed more, showing the popularity of this hobby among users. And Pickleball is no exception when it has become a prominent search content recently.

Many Brands quickly grasp the trend of Pickleball

With the strong Pickleball wave, no Brand wants to stay out of the “trend” race. According to SponsorUnited, a sports and entertainment information platform, up to 150 brands have cooperated with pickleball organizations from April 2022 to April 2023. The special interest in Pickleball has also made the Advertising market more bustling with many media campaigns inspired by this sport.

For example, brokerage firm E-Trade is known for its ads featuring adorable babies with adult voices. The brand recently launched an ad campaign called “Picklebabies.”

Still the adorable baby characters with adult voices – which the company has faithfully built since 2008, in “Picklebabies” these babies both play sports and talk about financial investments, making viewers extremely excited. Through that, E-Trade wants to metaphorically say that participating in financial investments is as easy as playing Pickleball.

Pickleball apparel brand J. Pritchard, founded by Steve and Darren Gable, has also seized the opportunity to capitalize on the popularity of the sport in their campaigns. The brand has found that a key element of their influencer strategy is to target influential individuals who embody the “Play Proper” spirit.

J. Pritchard has gone big by designing limited edition sports caps exclusively for VIP customers such as tech CEOs, brand founders and famous investors who play pickleball. In addition, J. Pritchard also offers items such as leggings, crewneck sweaters and pickleball skirts for influential content creators. Positive feedback from influencers helps the brand products spread strongly. But social media is not the only communication channel as J. Pritchard has expanded to a variety of different marketing methods from experiential marketing, outdoor advertising to word of mouth.

Pickleball is not only popular in the fashion industry, but it is also popular in entertainment establishments. Many places take advantage of this sport to develop additional services such as building playgrounds, organizing courses or tournaments… to attract a large number of players. Although it has only recently become a trend, Pickleball is increasingly asserting its position and owning a large community of players.

Why Pickleball so attractive with young people

It is not by chance that Pickleball, although it has been present for many years, has only recently become “hot”. The reason comes from the increasing need for physical and mental health care among young people. However, in the midst of a busy life, they want to find a sport that is both entertaining and good for their health, but also requires optimal time and effort. And Pickleball can meet those needs perfectly.

Unlike traditional sports such as table tennis and badminton, which require many factors such as skills, physical strength, finance, time, etc. to practice and compete, playing Pickleball is much simpler. To play Pickleball at a basic level, players only need 2-3 practice sessions to get acquainted, understand the rules and practice. The flexibility of the game with the ability to play anywhere from the home field to the parking lot makes this game an advantage compared to other sports that require strict practice fields.

In addition, the cost of training equipment and tools is also very affordable. Compared to the general level of other racket sports, Pickleball is much cheaper – value of money. Saving time and money are probably the key factors for Pickleball to quickly conquer young people.

In terms of health, Pickleball is not inferior when compared to other competitive sports. According to calculations, the amount of calories burned in 1 hour of playing Pickleball is about 400-500 while soccer is only slightly higher at 500-600 calories. This sport helps train endurance and flexibility, and is suitable for many ages. Beautiful playing equipment and exercise clothes are also one of the reasons why Pickleball is “popular” with young people. Going to the field to check-in with a “trendy” interface becomes the motivation for young people to join this sport.

From a media perspective, marketers say Pickleball is an accessible sport that engages people of all ages, abilities, and skill levels. Additionally, the dynamic nature of the sport makes it easy to create content like instructional videos.

Conclusion:

It can be seen that the attraction of Pickleball comes not only from a social media boom but also from the rational benefits of health, time, effort, and money. The boom of Pickleball brings opportunities for fashion and entertainment brands to take advantage of it to reach users widely and effectively. At the same time, it shows that the trend of accessing health-related content is increasingly being promoted strongly on social media platforms. Brands should not miss this trend to catch up and orient their communication strategies appropriately and effectively.

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