As I think about the explosion of pickleball — and pickleball prize money, specifically — over the last several years, I am reminded of the theme song lyrics from the hit television show, The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice — you know, the lyrics that start out, “♫ ♫ Money money money money, money… ♫ ♫.”
Can you Make Money Playing Pickleball Tournaments?
As a pickleball addict — and, perhaps, someone quite “good” at pickleball — this is a question you may be exploring. While it’s currently doubtful that few, if any, pickleball professionals are relying solely on pickleball prize money for their income, the prize money growth — including “incentive prize pools” from brands that sponsor their players is — indeed, starting to get interesting.
With two tours — the Pro Pickleball Association (PPA) and the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) — that debuted in 2020, pickleball prize money payouts have become more common-place. While there are similarities in the two tours there are also significant differences between the two pickleball tours.
Pro Pickleball Association (PPA)
The PPA tour consists of a series of tournaments where pickleball players compete for prize money with total purses for each of the PPA stops ranging from $30,000 to $150,000! Here are the PPA Tour stops currently scheduled for 2021:
Mesa Grand Slam
February 18-21, 2021
Mesa, AZ
Prize Money: $55,000 (Tier 2)
The Lakes PPA Spring Fling
March 19-21, 2021
Palm Springs, CA
Prize Money: $55,000 (Tier 2)
Newport Beach Doubles Shootout
April 2-5, 2021
Newport Beach, CA
Prize Money: $30,000 (Tier 3)
Georgia Open
May TBD, 2021
Peachtree, GA
Prize Money: TBD
The Showcase Grand Slam
August 6-9, 2021
Newport Beach, CA
Prize Money: $100,000 (Tier 1)
Toronto Cup
September 10-12, 2021
Toronto, ON
Prize Money: TBD
Texas Open Pickleball Championships
September 30 – October 4, 2021
Dallas, TX
Prize Money: TBD
PPA Championship
October 20-24, 2021
Las Vegas, NV
Prize Money: $150,000
>>READ MORE: Pickleball on ESPN<<
Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP)
With a similar pickleball tour-type concept to the PPA, the APP is a competing “tour” for professionals and amateurs with 17 stops currently scheduled for 2021 with players competing for $550,000 in total pickleball prize money.
Punta Gorda Open
January 6-10, 2021
Prize Money: $40,000
Los Angeles Open
January 28-31, 2021
Prize Money: $35,000
Delray Beach Open
March 18-21, 2021
Prize Money: $60,000
Las Vegas Metro Open
April 29 – May 2, 2021
Prize Money: $30,000
Cincinnati Open
May 13-16, 2021
Prize Money: $30,000
Indianapolis Open
June 4-6, 2021
Prize Money: $25,000
So Cal Classic Open
June 17-20, 2021
Prize Money: $35,000
English Open
July 1-4, 2021
Prize Money: TBD
Beer City Open
July 8-11, 2021
Prize Money: $30,000
Pacific NW Classic
July 29 – August 1, 2021
Prize Money: $25,000
TBD
August 17-22, 2021
Prize Money: TBD
Chicago Open
September 2-5, 2021
Prize Money: $35,000
Atlanta Metro Open
September 16-19, 2021
Prize Money: $35,000
Northern Arizona Open
October 14-17, 2021
Prize Money: $40,000
Hilton Head Open
October 21-24, 2021
Prize Money: $35,000
World Pickleball Open
December 9-12, 2021
Prize Money: $25,000
APP Masters
January 19-23, 2022
Prize Money: $70,000
Prize Money at The U.S. Open Pickleball Championships and the USA Pickleball National Championships
Most pickleball addicts agree that — up until this point — the two marquee events on the pickleball calendar have been the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships in Naples, Florida, and the USA Pickleball National Championships at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California.
Prize Money Earned at the 2019 U.S. Open Pickleball Championships
Although it wasn’t played in 2020 because of COVID-19, total pickleball prize money available for the previous U.S. Open (2019 U.S. Open) totaled $54,000. This prize pool was split with men’s and women’s pro singles medalists pocketing $2,000, $1,000, and $500 — and the men’s, women’s, and mixed pros medalists (by team) pocketing $4,800, $2,800, and $1,800.
Senior pro medalists were awarded slightly less with senior men’s and senior women’s singles medalists earning $1,200, $600 and $350 — and the senior men’s, women’s, and mixed pro medalists (by team) tallying $2,000, $1,000, and $500.
Additionally, any triple crown winner was entitled to a $1,000 bonus at the 209 U.S. Open Pickleball Championships.
U.S. Open Tennis Championships — A Comparison to U.S. Open Pickleball
Certainly, a total pickleball purse of $54,000 is nothing to sneeze at. But how does that total prize purse compare to that of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships?
Glad you asked! At the 2019 U.S. Open Tennis Championships the total purse exceeded $57,000,000 with the men’s and women’s singles champion pocketing $3,850,000 and the men’s and women’s doubles champion pocketing $740,000 (per team). The Mixed Double Championship team earned a paltry $160,000 (per team).
It is worth noting, however, that, just 52 years ago (in 1968) the total prize purse for the U.S. Open Tennis Championships was $100,000 — very similar to today’s pickleball prize purse!
Prize Money Earned at the 2019 USA Pickleball National Championships
The total prize purse for the 2019 USA Pickleball National Championships was $80,000. Both the open and senior-open pro divisions were paid the same — and both men’s and women’s pro divisions were also paid the same. Pro singles medalists earned $2,500, $1,500 and $1,000 while pro doubles medalists earned (per team) $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000.
Prize Money at the 2019 World Pickleball Championships
From December 27-30, 2019, professional pickleball players competed in the first-ever “World Pickleball Championship” at the PicklePlex® in Punta Gorda, Florida. The total prize purse for this pickleball tournament was $100,000 — the highest pickleball tournament payout to date.
Other Tournaments with Purses of $25,000 or More
In addition to the U.S. Open, Nationals, the World Pickleball Championships, and the PPA and APP Tour stops, here are the additional tournaments that are offering $25,000 or more in total pickleball prize money in 2021:
California Open
March 5-7, 2021
Prize Money: $25,000
Minto US Open Pickleball Championships
April 17-24, 2021
Prize Money: $70,000
Atlanta Georgia Open
May 20-23, 2021
Prize Money: $65,000
USA Pickleball National Indoor Championships
June 6-13, 2021
Prize Money: $25,000
2021 Rocky Mountain Championships
August 11-15, 2021
Prize Money: $50,000
The Selkirk Incentive Prize Pool
In addition to the burgeoning tournament prize money, Selkirk (and, likely, other pickleball brands) offers an appetizing incentive prize pool for all Selkirk sponsored players for many of the major pickleball tournaments including the U.S. Open, Nationals, Tournament of Champions, and the Texas Open — to name just a few. In 2019, the Selkirk professional pickleball player incentive prize pool topped $300,000 — an approximate 50% jump from 2018.
Final Thoughts
It’s certainly getting exciting for up-and-coming “stars.” While pickleball prize money is lagging behind that of other sports, it is certainly narrowing the gap. Now get out there and drill!!! See you on the courts.
For more tournament tips be sure to check out our pickleball tournament page.
A couple of things to note (leaving aside bonuses from sponsors):
1) Winning $2400 likely will not net a lot of money. Travel costs (airfare, lodging food, etc.) might be high especially for a place like Indian Wells or Naples. Some money could be save with Air BnB and cooking own meals and sharing space with your partner or other teams even. But if you are a local, then nice payday!
2) $100K in 1968 is about $750K in buying power now so that prize money is considerably more than the current ~$54K.
Thanks, Sam, for chiming in. Appreciate the reminder about the “time value of money.” That is so true. Obviously, pickleball is not quite there yet with respect to prize money, but it is nevertheless moving forward. Especially with the launch of the PPA and APP Tours and the prize moneys associated with each.