The 2023 USA Pickleball National Championships are headed to North Texas.
The tournament is moving from Indian Wells Tennis Club in California to Invited’s Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch, with an increased capacity of more than 3,500 amateur players and all of pickleball’s top pros set to compete.
USA Pickleball, the national governing body for the sport of pickleball, and the Carvana Professional Pickleball Association (PPA Tour), made the announcement of the location change.
The national championships, which will now be presented by the PPA Tour, will take place November 4-12 as originally scheduled. Also, top amateur players across the country will have more opportunities to qualify because of USA Pickleball’s addition of three new Golden Ticket events designated on the PPA Tour calendar for the first time.
For the uninitiated, pickleball is an indoor or outdoor sport in which two or four players hit a perforated hollow plastic ball over a 36-inch-high net using solid-faced paddles.
Hosting ‘the biggest pickleball party in the world’
Pro pickleball players Jessie Irvine and Jay Devilliers. [Photo: Professional Pickleball Association/PR Newswire]
The Farmers Branch event will represent the world’s largest-ever pickleball tournament and facility, serving an expanded field of more than 3,500 amateur and professional players. That’s a 50% increase over the event’s capacity last year—utilizing up to 65 courts.
Event organizers said the overall 2023 prize money for professional divisions will be revealed later this year but will exceed the 2022 total of $150,000. That’s the largest prize purse in the tournament’s history.
Total event attendees are estimated to reach 25,000, organizers said. The National Championships remains USA Pickleball-owned, but the PPA Tour will support event operations and logistics.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the PPA Tour in our ongoing efforts to enhance the USA Pickleball National Championships and further cement its position as the premier pickleball tournament in the world,” Robert Quicksilver, chairman of the USA Pickleball board of directors, said in a statement. “Given the PPA Tour’s proven track record of running exceptional pickleball tournaments and the added involvement of Invited—a leading operator of professional sporting events and country clubs around the world—USA Pickleball is confident that the 2023 National Championships will be the best tournament ever for our amateur and professional players, as well as for our fans, sponsors, and media partners.”
“The move to Dallas, one of the great cities in the U.S., will make the 2023 National Championships more accessible geographically for players seeking to qualify among our membership that is more than 70,000 strong,” Quicksilver added.
PPA Tour lead investor Tom Dundon on how Dallas has ‘rallied’ around pickleball
Tom Dundon is an investor in Pickleball.com. He’s also chairman and managing partner of Dallas’ Dundon Capital Partners and owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. [Photo: Carolina Hurricanes]
Dallas businessman Tom Dundon, a lead investor in the PPA Tour, said moving the championship helps with pickleball’s visibility.
“It’s been special to see the Dallas community rally around pickleball—from the city itself, to the Dallas Sports Commission, to our partners at Invited,” Dundon said. “Partnering with USA Pickleball to bring its National Championships to a central hub is important to us as we continue making pickleball more accessible for everyone. We look forward to working in conjunction with USA Pickleball to create an incredibly exciting and historic event that will be the biggest pickleball party in the world.”
Featuring ‘Taste of Pickle’ on ‘Pickleball Boulevard’
Connor Pardoe, CEO of the PPA Tour lauded the Dallas area for snagging the tournament.
“After a competitive bidding process that encompassed proposals from multiple city governances, Dallas and the Dallas Sports Commission presented the best combination to take the National Championships to the next level,” Pardoe said in a statement. “Furthermore, Invited’s Brookhaven Country Club, as one of the state’s premier golf and tennis resorts for more than six decades and situated as it is in the city of Farmers Branch, which is an inner-ring suburb of Dallas, was marked as the ideal locale to host an event of this size and prestige.”
Invited CEO David Pillsbury said the pickleball’s attraction is spreading.
“During the past three years, Invited has made substantial investments in pickleball facilities and programming to provide more opportunities for our members and guests to play the fastest growing sport on Earth,” Pillsbury said in a statement. “We are incredibly proud and excited to expand our partnership with the PPA Tour to create the world’s largest pickleball party at Brookhaven Country Club and host the historic National Championships.”
Organizers said that upgrades planned for the 2023 National Championships include designating the street outside of Brookhaven Country Club as “Pickleball Boulevard” to make space for a stage, live music, and family-friendly activities with sponsors and local businesses.
Food and beverage vendors from across Texas will be on-site as part of the “Taste of Pickle” exhibit that will give tournament attendees the chance to experience traditional southwestern cuisine. Nightly musical performances also are planned, as well as various interactive events.
USA Pickleball said the following three tournaments on the 2023 Carvana PPA Tour will be sanctioned by USA Pickleball as Golden Ticket events and serve as qualifiers for the USA Pickleball National Championships: the Selkirk Texas Open in Rockwall (rescheduled to May 31-June 4), the Seattle Open (July 27-30) and the Kansas City Open (August 24-27).
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