In North America, Mid-July is considered the worst month for sports fans. The NBA finals are done, and there’s no NFL or NHL.
So it’s the perfect time of year to talk about alternative sports.
It seems like Pickleball is sucking up all the oxygen in the room. But there’s lots of other cool stuff out there gaining traction which you may not have heard of.
In this issue, we’ll explore some of these alternatives. How many people play? What is the largest governing body? What does viewership look like? And how much money is sloshing around?
Let’s go 👇
Table of Contents
What are alternative sports?
What makes a sport “alternative” is hard to pin down.
They often have roots in mainstream sports, but with a bastardization twist:
- Pickleball uses a smaller court than tennis, but a larger one than table tennis
- Disc Golf is basically golf using a frisbee
- Underwater Hockey is like hockey, but played at the bottom of a swimming pool
- Dodgeball is self-explanatory (and was also a pretty funny film)
- BASEketball is a fake sport (and less funny film) combining basketball and baseball
- etc.
Alternative sports receive minimal media coverage. They feel unserious, but have small groups of hardcore, dedicated fans.
ESPN regularly broadcasts axe throwing, dodgeball and bratwurst eating on ESPN 8: THE OCHO (which is just a temporarily rebranded ESPN 2, inspired by a joke from Dodgeball.)
Lately, some alternative sports have gained a lot more buzz than others.
Pickleball
According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Organization (SFIA), Pickleball is the fastest-growing alternative sport in America.
- Founded: 1965 in Washington, USA
- Growth: 85.7% YoY (2022, US)
- Popularity: 70,000 official and 8.9 million unofficial players (2022, US) across 63 member countries
- Highest governing body: International Federation of Pickleball
- Highest championship: World Pickleball Championship
At first glance, Pickleball looks a lot like tennis. In reality, it’s a combination of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong.
You have four players on a badminton court, hitting a hollow ball over a tennis net, using table tennis-like paddles.
For whatever reason, Pickleball has curried favor with celebrities. Tom Brady, Kevin Durant, Eva Longoria, and Michael Phelps have all rushed in to buy clubs in Major League Pickleball
If it seems like Pickleball came out of nowhere, you’re half right. The International Pickleball Federation (IPF) was officially established in 2020. But Pickleball has actually been around for over 50 years.
It was invented in 1965 by Joel Pritchard, a Washington Senator (congressman, not NHL player) who created it as a less-intensive alternative to racket sports.
By 1976, the first official Pickleball tournament had arrived. David Lester reigned supreme, with Hall-of-Famer Steve Paranto coming in second.
Things became serious in 1984, when the US Amateur Pickleball Association (USAPA) was established to grow the sport nationally. This led to the first official rulebook that would dictate tournaments for decades.
