It's National Pickleball Day, but do we really need pickleball bobbleheads?

By Charles Passy

Pickleball mania now encompasses everything from pickleball charms to pickleball in the sky, and people spent $519 million on pickleball equipment last year.

Happy National Pickleball Day!

You don't need to hear the constant thwacking sound emanating from pickleball courts to know that the sport has become a national obsession. And there's a good chance you're already part of the pickleball bandwagon: Nearly 9 million Americans are now playing the game, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association reports -- an astounding year-over-year increase of 85.7%. Plus, global sales of pickleball equipment totaled $519 million in 2022 and are projected to top $1 billion by 2030, according to a research report.

But to mark National Pickleball Day -- yes, it's really a thing -- we've decided to look at the growth of the sport through a different lens, and take note of some unusual pickleball happenings. The kind of developments that might suggest the sport has crossed some line of commercial hysteria -- or has even jumped the shark in terms of building its fan base.

What sort of developments? Read on...

There's now a pickleball bobblehead

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Milwaukee, is naturally behind the bobbleheads. One showcases Kitchen the Pickleball Mascot, replete with a pickleball-shaped head, while the other just features a replica of a pickleball. But if you want to pony up for a pickleball bobblehead, be prepared to pay -- they cost $25-$30 each (plus shipping). The museum notes that Kitchen is in limited supply, with a production run of just 2,023 bobbleheads.

There's also now a "Hamilton"-themed pickleball paddle

We're not entirely sure what the hit musical about a founding father of this country has to do with pickleball. But Nettie, a pickleball-gear brand, sees a link and has come out with the paddle (priced at $99.99), which is emblazoned with a fitting line from the show: "I am not throwing away my shot." We guess that line speaks of the connection between show and sport, although Nettie founder Catherine Baxter says it's all about how her design-conscious brand and the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical are both "game changers."

You can play pickleball in the sky

OK, we're not talking about a pickleball court on a plane (although we're betting someone will soon come up with that). But we are talking about what's being billed as the "world's highest pickleball court," located at the Tower Club Dallas on the 48th floor of a skyscraper. This was initially a limited-time offering for the month of July, but a spokeswoman for Invited, the owner-operator of the club, says it proved so popular that it's returning in September.

Pickleball charms for your feet?

We can't make this stuff up: People are now sporting pickleball charms on their Crocs (CROX). Granted, there are plenty of other charms that can be affixed to the popular shoes, but the pickleball ones obviously speak to the fervent love some have for the sport. You can find the footwear accessories everywhere from Amazon (AMZN) to Etsy (ETSY), but if you want to go straight to the source, the Crocs website sells a set of three pickleball charms for $11.24.

A way to stifle all that pickleball noise

As much as pickleballers love to engage in the sport, they often find themselves at odds with their local communities because of the noise they create with that constant thwacking of the ball. Enter Pickleball Sound Mitigation, a company that has found ways to keep things on the quieter side (think absorbent fiberglass material, according to a report in The Hustle website). The company is reported to have worked with more than 100 clients. Still, the issue remains a sensitive one: Company founder Bob Unetich recently shared the following on the firm's Facebook group(META): "I'd like to reset the purpose of this [F]acebook group. It is about reducing the impact of pickleball sound, not simply stating that it is annoying. It is not a place to be opining that the only solution is to stop pickleball."

-Charles Passy

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08-08-23 1721ET

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