Burger King Launches Pickleball Burger to Celebrate Sponsorship Deal with Japan Pickleball Federation

Picklers, are you up for a pickleball-inspired burger?

No, we’re not pulling your leg. There really is a pickleball-inspired burger, though you’d have to travel to Japan for it.

That’s because Burger King is jumping head-first into the pickleball train by throwing its full support to the sport via a sponsorship agreement with the Japan Pickleball Federation (PJF).

The new sponsorship will formally be launched at the PJF Pickleball Japan Open in Sasebo, Nagasaki that is set to take place in June, and at the PJF Pickleball Japan League Burger King Cup in Tokyo’s Ariake district scheduled for August. But, even before those two big tournaments, Burger King has decided to celebrate the newly minted deal already by releasing a special burger.

This special burger is aptly called the Pickleball Burger, and it’s a “large, American-style rice burger” complete with three flame-grilled 100-percent beef patties sandwiched by special rice patties co-developed by Burger King and Hachidaime Gihey, a long-established rice shop in Kyoto.

These special rice patties are made up of carefully selected white rice and a type of brown rice known as Kin-no-Ibuki. This combination is said to be the perfect partner for the beef patties, enhancing the flavour of the meat while showcasing the natural sweetness of rice.

Of course, what’s a pickleball burger without, well, pickles? Burger King’s new offering unsurprisingly uses pickles—11 of them to be exact—to add more flavour to an already flavourful concoction that’s guaranteed to be a mouthful—picklers or not.

Burger King’s Pickleball Burger may have only three ingredients—beef, rice, and pickles—but it’s guaranteed to be a treat as each component is able to take centre court with every bit. ‘

The Pickleball Burger is now available in Japan for a limited time. It costs 1,790 yen (USD $12.28).