The Pickleball revolution has now reached the Ontario sports betting market following an agreement between the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) and FanDuel Sportsbook.

The sport – a cross between tennis, badminton and ping pong – has surged in popularity over recent years, with English Premier League powerhouse Liverpool FC even installing a specialised court at their training centre to entertain global superstars such as Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

Now, fans across 11 US states and the Canadian province of Ontario have been given the opportunity to place wagers on PPA Tour events, which has become the first-ever pickleball organization available on the sports betting market.

“This is a monumental moment for the PPA Tour and the game of Pickleball as a whole,” said PPA Tour Founder and CEO Connor Pardoe. “We are excited to be paving the way in the Pickleball sports betting space, and we couldn’t be prouder to lead the sport’s leap into such an innovative industry.

“The immense growth of pickleball over the past few years has driven widespread interest in all aspects of the game, including playing as amateurs and watching the professionals in person at events and from home.

“Our venture into sports betting will bring a whole new level of engagement from current and new fans, and we continue to be excited for what the future holds for our sport.”

Pickleball’s first steps into the sports betting scene, meanwhile, came in 2021 via a partnership between the PPA and Genius Sports.

The data, technology and broadcast partner provides data and live video feeds to all participating sportsbooks and other online vendors, allowing bettors to engage with events in real time.

“Creating an official data-powered betting product for Pickleball, the fastest-growing sport in America, is a crucial platform for the PPA Tour to engage new and existing fans,” said Sean Conroy, Executive Vice President, North America at Genius Sports.

“We’re excited to offer sportsbooks with valuable new content including low latency video feeds on PPA Tour events, starting with this weekend’s Vulcan Kansas City Open.”