What do you get when you cross tennis with badminton and ping-pong? One of the hottest games to hit the courts. And this month, Miami is playing host to what is being billed as the world’s largest pickleball festival.
The Pickle Games Miami, a two-day tournament and festival celebrating all things pickleball, is taking place Jan. 13-14 at Miami Marine Stadium. It will feature novice and professional tournaments. In addition, there will be food vendors, musical performances and VIP experiences.
Steve Suarez, the founder of Black Stage Productions and the fitness festival Wodapalooza, is the organizer. Suarez said he was putting in 100 courts on the stadium grounds.
Pickleball has been named the fastest-growing sport for the third year in a row according to the 2023 Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA). Participation almost doubled in 2022 and increased 158.6% over three years.
According to the 2023 Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) Pickleball Participation Report, 48.3 million people have played pickleball at least once in the last year. That’s 19% of the adult population. According to Places2Play (the official USA Pickleball (the game’s national governing body) website that keeps track of places to play pickleball), there are 10,724 locations to play pickleball, with the addition of 130 locations per month.
California has the highest number of places to play pickleball at 794, followed by Florida at 770 and Texas at 519. Still, Naples, Fla. is considered the Pickleball Capital of the World, hosting the Minto US Open Pickleball Championships Powered by Margaritaville, the largest pickleball championship in North America.
And while you might think it’s a game for older folks, the average age of a pickleball player is 38.1 years old, down from 41 years old in 2020.
Visit thepicklegames.com