Apollo Sports Capital, an investment platform of Apollo, has led a landmark $225 million structured investment in Pickleball Inc., the newly formed parent company of the Carvana PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball. The capital raise creates the largest, singularly operated pickleball ecosystem, integrating professional and amateur play with leading technology, retail, and infrastructure platforms. Pickleball Inc.’s newly merged business verticals generated over $140 million in combined revenue in 2025. Tom Dundon and the Pardoe family will remain the majority shareholders, adding several additional pickleball assets spanning facilities, courts, ecommerce, and technology.
The investment arrives as pickleball continues its remarkable ascent in American sports culture. The sport has been named the fastest-growing in America for each of the last five years, boasting 24 million players in 2025 and ranking fourth among the most-played sports in the country, according to the 2026 SFIA Annual Report. Pickleball Inc.’s professional properties have set viewership milestones to match, with the PPA Tour averaging 791,000 viewers on CBS in January 2026 and MLP presented by DoorDash drawing 499,000 average viewers on CBS in August 2025, both all-time linear records for their respective properties.
Beyond audience growth, Pickleball Inc. has positioned itself as a model for gender equity in professional sports. Men and women compete on court equally during both PPA and MLP events, and the top 60 women in the sport average over $260,000 in annual salary, the highest average pay in all of professional women’s team sports. Total prize money and payouts across PPA and MLP athletes exceed $33 million annually. The five-person board of Pickleball Inc. includes Apollo Sports Capital CEO Al Tylis, Pickleball Inc. CEO Connor Pardoe, Jason Stein, Zubin Mehta, and Brian Levine.
The combined entity spans every level of the sport through six core business verticals. Pickleball Central, the world’s largest pickleball retailer, has shipped over one million orders since its 2006 founding and operates more than 100 pro shops across the United States. Pickleball Play Solutions powers 90% of organized tournament and league play, hosting 4,500 tournaments and 2,000 league seasons in 2025 across its properties, which average approximately five million visits per month. Court construction arm Just Courts serves as the official court installer for MLP and PPA events, schools, and community centers. Pickleball TV, a joint venture with Tennis Channel, is the only 24/7 digital network dedicated to the sport. Pickleball Inc. also holds investments in Picklr, the leading indoor pickleball facility brand with over 500 locations worldwide, and DUPR, the world’s most widely used pickleball rating system with over one million rated players.
KEY QUOTES:
“This is a seismic day for the rapidly growing business of pickleball at all levels. This investment allows us to fully integrate the sport into one cohesive ecosystem — uniting professional pickleball, consumer goods, technology, and media under a single, unified platform.”
Connor Pardoe, founder of the PPA Tour and CEO of Pickleball Inc.
“Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, appealing to players and fans of all ages. This is a unique opportunity to support the combination of these assets, effectively reimagining how to create a professional sports league under a single ecosystem and platform for growth.”
Al Tylis, CEO of Apollo Sports Capital
“The continued and dynamic year-over-year growth data has proven without a doubt that pickleball is no longer an emerging sport, and is instead quickly becoming the next tier one sport in America.”
Samin Odhwani, Commissioner of Major League Pickleball
