Major League Pickleball Adds Fortune 500 Owner

Wednesday, November 9th, 2022 -- 12:41 PM

Major League Pickleball has named its newest team owner, and it’s a major beer brand.

The rapidly growing sports league announced on Tuesday that Anheuser-Busch will purchase a Major League Pickleball team. The team will begin playing in the 2023 season.

In recent months, MLP has announced dozens of high-profile investors, including NBA superstars LeBron James and Kevin Durant and Tom Brady and Drew Brees of NFL fame. Anheuser-Busch is the first Fortune 500 company to purchase an MLP team.    Next year will be MLP’s biggest year to date. The league is growing from 12 to 16 teams, with events doubling to six. Player prize money and payouts will exceed $2 million. 

Pickleball — a cross between tennis, badminton and pingpong — has surged in popularity, with many people picking up the sport during the pandemic as a safe way to be social and active outdoors. In 2021, nearly 5 million people played the sport, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.

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