Howdy. This is The Erne, the newsletter that’s just like your pickleball game. We get better with age.

Here’s what we've got today:

• Jack Sock has entered the chat

• MLP and DUPR partner up for the kids

• ESPN 🤝 PPA

JACK SOCK BECOMES A PICKLE PRO…SORT OF

Who is Jack Sock?

Jack Sock is a tennis professional who was ranked as high as 2nd in the world (in doubles in 2018) and is currently ranked 47th. Here are some career highlights:

• 17 career doubles titles

• Wimbledon Champion (doubles in 2016, 2022)

• US Open Champion (doubles in 2018)

• 4 career singles titles

• Won $10 million+ on tour

Yea…he is legit.

So why are we talking about him? Sock has been on the record lately talking about wanting to compete professionally in pickleball after his tennis career. He competed in his first pro pickleball tournament, the PPA tournament in Charlotte this past weekend.

Safe to say, Sock did not disappoint. He won gold in mixed doubles, partnering with Anna Leigh Waters while also reaching the quarterfinals in singles. Pretty impressive performance for his first professional tournament, and the pickleball world is watching with bated breath to see a full-time pro version of Sock.

MLP & DUPR PARTNER UP

MLP and DUPR announced a partnership that sees them teaming up to enter into the collegiate and junior pickleball markets, the first time the MLP has forayed into this space.

Other organizations like the APP and PPA already have events focused on this space (APP Next Gen and PPA Futures events) but MLP has stayed out until now.

The goal of this partnership is to create a model of competitive play in the youth/collegiate world that utilizes MLP’s structure, format, and rules and DUPR’s rankings for seeding and selections in tournaments moving forward.

Check out the press release

Can’t wait for the next generation of pro pickleballers who have been playing high-level pickleball from childhood onwards 🙅‍♂️ 

ESPN 🤝 PPA

As we discussed in our last edition, pickleball is pulling serious viewership numbers for some of their tournaments. The PPA’s Newport Shootout got more viewers than several NBA playoff games…

So, it makes total sense that ESPN and the PPA have come to an agreement to broadcast 8 tournaments throughout 2023. The first tournament to be broadcast was the North Carolina open which featured Jack Sock (as we mentioned above).

These tournaments will be broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2, signalling the absolutely massive demand there is from Americans to not only play but also watch pickleball, something we did not anticipate this quickly.

It’s obvious that pickleball is going to continue to go mainstream, and we are here for it.

We’ll also keep an eye out for the viewership numbers for the PPA North Carolina and report back 🫡 

WHAT’S COOKING IN THE KITCHEN

• Rick Reilly HATES pickleball, so we hate him

• Chicago commits to 100 pickleball courts by 2025

• Durham has a problem: too many picklers, not enough courts

THE PICKLE JAR

Check out these insane pickleball stats 🤯 

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