Pickleball searches surge as the sport gains popularity in the United States
Pickleball is now the fastest-growing sport in the United States and the launch of a professional league has seen interest skyrocket.
According to an analysis conducted by paddle providers, Selkirk, Google searches for ‘pickleball’ have risen 219% in the United States over the past five years.
Pickleball is a sport distinct from tennis but as a racket/paddle sport there are a number of notable similarities.
Selkirk further isolated their data on pickleball interest down to each individual state to determine where the most related searches were taking place.
Pickleball experts Selkirk analyzed geographical data from Google Trends across all fifty states and how much residents from each state search for four terms related to pickleball, including ‘pickleball’, ‘what is pickleball?’, ‘pickleball rules’ and ‘pickleball lessons’.
Selkirk alloted each state a total search score out of 400 to establish which state in the US was the most interested in pickleball.
Utah is the state most interested in Pickleball, with residents in Utah searching the most for terms such as ‘pickleball’, and ‘what is pickleball?’. Therefore, Utah has a total search score of 347, the highest score across all fifty states. Interestingly, Utah is also the home to 178 pickleball courts – the 25th highest number in the world.
The state Googling pickleball-related terms at the second highest rate is Arizona with a total search score of 274.
In particular, Arizona is the state that has searched for ‘pickleball lessons’ the most in the past five years. The state third most interested in pickleball, based on Google searches, is Florida. Floridians Google ‘pickleball lessons’ at the second highest rate of any state and search for ‘what is pickleball?’ the third most of any state giving Florida a total search score of 222.
Colorado is the state fourth most interested in pickleball with a total search score of 214.
When broken down, this comes as a result of residents in Colorado searching for ‘pickleball’ at the second highest rate of any state as well as ‘pickleball rules’ at the fourth highest rate.
Minnesota ranks as the fifth most interested state in pickleball with a total search score of 207. Minnesota residents are searching for ‘pickleball lessons’ and ‘pickleball’ at the fourth highest rate as well as ‘pickleball rules’ at the fifth highest rate.
A spokesperson for Pickleball paddle maker Selkirk said: “Interest in pickleball can largely be attributed to its numerous benefits, such as having an easier learning curve and being a more social sport.
“And it’s just fun! It is encouraging to see so many Americans searching for more information about the sport. We expect to see these searches translate into uptake in participation as pickleball continues to be America’s fastest growing sport.”
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