Pickleball Is Headed To Network TV
I think we can say it’s official. Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America, especially over the past couple of years. The pandemic may have helped. You don’t have to be too close to anyone when you’re playing. The easy-to-learn paddle sport has become so popular that it’s making its network TV debut this weekend.
CBS will broadcast the Skechers Invitational Summer Championship from the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California on Saturday, August 13th (4:00 p.m. Eastern). According to the Hollywood Reporter, the event is a stop on the Pro Pickleball Association Tour. Yes, that’s a thing.
The Skechers Invitational Summer Championship includes a celebrity competition. We don’t know who’ll be participating, but we can speculate. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson, Larry David, and Matthew Perry are all said to be avid pickleball players. I, for one, would pay to see Larry David take on Jamie Foxx.
The global pickleball takeover doesn’t stop there. A two-hour primetime celebrity tournament, Pickled, is slated to air on CBS and Paramount+ by the end of 2022. There’s also a magazine dedicated to the sport called InPickleball. All of this makes me feel like I’ve been missing out on something really fun. I might have to do something about that.
Interested in trying pickleball for yourself? It’s inexpensive to get started and there are plenty of places to play around the Charlotte area. Even the little public park in my neighborhood has pickleball lines on the tennis court now. On top of that, a world-class pickleball complex called Rally is set to open in Charlotte’s Lower South End early next year. Somebody hand me a paddle!
The @SKECHERSUSA Invitational will be 💯 LIVE ON CBS, Skechers & the PPA are bringing together the top-seeded pro pickleball players for a mid-season “made-for-tv” championship event 🙌 Aug 12th on PPA TV’s YouTube and Facebook Channels, and then live on CBS, Aug 13th at 1pm PT⏰ pic.twitter.com/eGk484ejGE
— Carvana PPA Tour (@PPAtour) August 10, 2022
