Pickleball’s pop culture invasion continues to grow among celebrities everywhere

Pickleball has invaded pop culture.

If you have any doubts about this, just turn on your TV, and watch for the commercials, which – sooner or later – will have a pickleball theme.

Take, for example, the beer ad where well-known character actors Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara are depicted as aging pickleball hustlers. That duo beats real-life athletes Randy Moss and Sabrina Ionescu, confiscating their Michelob Ultras as their refreshing prize.

“That was fun,” O’Hara’s character said while sharing an Ultra with Dafoe.

Later in the ad, an exasperated/demoralized Moss yells out: “You know we’re professional athletes, right?”

Then there’s the E-Trade commercial featuring the talking babies who are wearing headbands while whipping adults in a game of pickleball.

“So this is pickleball?” one baby asks.

The second baby replies: “It’s basically tennis for babies … but for adults.”

First baby: “It should be called whiffle tennis.”

After the babies win, they taunt the adults with a classic line: “Thanks for coming to our clinic. First one’s free!”

Both the “Ultra Hustle” and the “Pickle-babies” were Super Bowl ads, giving the sport enormous exposure. It’s hard to overstate how important these ads are in terms of bringing pickleball into the mainstream.

Pickleball has also been featured in ads for Ozempic; the Washington Lottery; and Target.

In the Washington Lottery commercial, Seattle Seahawks legends Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor are featured. “Find your inner boom,” is the tagline.

The Target ad is epic as it features WNBA stars Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson. The cast plays pickleball in a Target parking lot.

“I never say no to parking lot pickleball,” Plum says, “unless I’m in season.”

The ad features a vendor for pickle-flavored-cashews, the wave and a halftime show.

“I don’t get pickleball,” one ‘fan’ said, “the tiny court, the kitchen you can’t even eat in ...”

There’s also a pickleball ad for Pantalones Organic Tequila, with the tasty line of: “the best serve of the day.”

Also, there’s an ad for Engage in which a player drops a tennis racquet and picks up a pickleball paddle, presumably leaving his old sport behind.

In addition, actor Ben Stiller is planning a pickleball movie called “The Dink” in which a washed-up tennis player tries to save his club by embracing pickleball. The film is expected to feature Mary Steenburgen, Ed Harris and former tennis star Andy Roddick.

Two other movies – “Pickleheads” and “In a Pickle” are reportedly in the works.

Here are more examples of pickleball invading pop culture:

▪ Stephen Colbert has hosted a TV special about pickleball called “Pickled.” The special included Will Ferrell; Sugar Ray Leonard; Kenny Loggins; Emma Watson; and Aisha Tyler.

▪ The Golden Bachelor had a five-minute segment called … the Golden Bachelor Pickleball Championship.

▪ In November of 2024, the cast of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” filmed scenes in Arizona at the National Pickleball Championships in Mesa, Arizona.

▪ Pickleball has been featured on several episodes of “Keeping up with the Kardashians.”

▪ Among the long list of celebrities who play pickleball are George Clooney; Tom Brady; Bill Gates; John McEnroe; Andre Agassi and his wife Steffi Graf.

▪ Jamie Foxx plays pickleball often at the Miami Beach Golf Club. In Los Angeles, his estate includes three courts that get lots of use during his epic eight-hour pickleball parties.

▪ Leonardo DiCaprio is reportedly such a fan that he won’t start filming until he’s had his daily game of pickleball.

Mike Nealy, the CEO of USA Pickleball, said his organization hosted the Golden Bachelor at the national finals in 2023. USA pickleball also hosted the cast members of “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” in 2024.

“Pickleball is so prevalent in our culture now,” Nealy said in an interview with The Herald. “It just shows the incredible growth of the sport over the past three or four years.”

Another sign of pickleball’s rapid growth is the fact that they were able to hire Nealy, 59.

After all, Nealy’s two previous posts were as CEO of the Fiesta Bowl and as the team president of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes.

“The more I looked into pickleball,” said Nealy, who was hired in June of 2023, “the more I got excited about the job.”

There are an estimated 20 million regular pickleball players in the U.S., according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.

Once known as a game for senior citizens, pickleball’s biggest area of growth are players between the ages of 25 and 39.

“An indication of that is the fact that Sandals Resorts is investing heavily in building pickleball courts,” Nealy said.

“We know this because they have talked to us about doing it right. They want to attract large groups of people who want to play pickleball while on vacation.

“Pickleball is not a fad. It’s here to stay.”