New York Times Report: More Tennis Courts in US Being Repurposed for Pickleball
Despite the meteoric rise of pickleball, it probably will not be overtaking tennis—at least not yet. But if a recent New York Times report is any indication, pickleball is fast looking like a very serious threat to tennis.
According to the New York Times report, over 26,000 tennis courts in the US have been repurposed into pickleball courts. The respected publication came to this startling conclusion after conducting aerial inspections, and the findings indicate that pickleball is, indeed, taking over US real estate—sometimes at the expense of tennis courts.
“We were able to identify more than 26,000 outdoor pickleball courts made in the last seven years—a majority of them at the expense of once-exclusive tennis spaces, and created since the onset of the pandemic in 2020,” said Ethan Singer, the reporter who conducted the aerial survey.
If anything, the findings of these aerial inspections are in line with standing estimates as to the number of tennis courts in the US versus the number of pickleball courts.
“By trade group estimates, there are more than 270,000 tennis courts—and now 68,000 pickleball courts—in the United States, including indoor courts that we were not able to track,” said Singer.
More Courts, More Fun, Brighter Future for Pickleball
In other words, the number of pickleball courts in the US is certainly growing exponentially. Additionally, a case can be made that these facilities might be causing a decline in the number of tennis courts as a result.
But does this mean pickleball is on the verge of overtaking tennis in popularity, at least in the US specifically? Probably not. It does, however, open the possibility that the gap between the two sports will be much smaller in five to ten years if the above-mentioned trend continues unabated. It is also worth noting that the same trend is happening in other parts of the world, like in Vietnam and Malaysia, where tennis players are making the switch to pickleball.
So, is pickleball overtaking tennis? It’s too soon to tell, to be honest. But the future certainly looks bright.
