Earlier this year, Columbus was one of six cities to receive an expansion team within the National Pickleball League.
The league launched in 2022 with six teams. The expansion brings the total number to 12.
WOSU's Matthew Rand spoke with Jeff McKnight, co-owner, general manager and player with the Columbus Hotshots, as the team gears up for the 2024 season.
Matthew: How was Columbus selected for an expansion team?
McKnight: Well, it got started, really, with my love of pickleball. So I've been playing pickleball about four years, and I turned 50. The National Pickleball League is a league for champion's age, which is 50 and older professional pickleball players. So I turned 50 and started wanting to play in some higher level tournaments. And then I found out about the National Pickleball League. So we reached out to them. My father, I told him about it, and we thought it was something that would be great, for our family business, great for the city of Columbus to represent, and we were awarded one of the franchises. So we are very excited to start this season.
Matthew: What's been the response here in Columbus? Are you developing a fan base?
McKnight: Yeah, we certainly are. That's one reason why we named the team the Columbus Hotshots. And I've played pickleball with people from all over the country. I like to travel and there's a lot of great players out there, but I feel like Columbus can match up with anybody as far as players from top to bottom. So there's a lot of pickleball hot shots in Columbus. So we are the Columbus Hotshots ... and the response has been amazing, which we knew it would be. There's a lot of great places to play from my hometown of Grove City to Dublin to New Albany, and then all the amazing indoor facilities that have opened up with Pickle Shack, Pickle and Chill... and The National Pickleball League is hosting an event at the brand new Paddle Taps in Worthington in June. So everybody involved in pickleball, if they know about the team—that's kind of my mission, to get the word out about the team— that there's professional pickleball players in Columbus. There's plenty top level players around Columbus, and there's plenty of rec level players too that make Columbus an amazing pickleball community.
Matthew: When we say pro-level pickleball, are players paid and if so, how much? And, what revenue streams are you relying on?
McKnight: It's a professional league, so there is prize money awarded on a team basis for every event that we have. And there is also prize money at the year-end championship. And the players involved with the league, a lot of them are sponsored professional players. A lot of all times they get matching money for whatever they win in tournaments based on their sponsorship of paddle or athletic gear or shoes or something like that. So yeah, there are professional level pickleball players at 50 and older that make a living playing professional pickleball... Right now we're really trying to get to build a brand of the Columbus Hotshots to get the name out to the pickleball community. We're playing in clinics, pro-am tournaments. We're going to have local tryouts beginning next January. You know, there's a lot of what I call celebrity pickleball players in Columbus. So we'll have some celebrity events. So there's a lot of—some former professional athletes play pickleball in the community. So really, pickleball leads to more pickleball. The more you play, the more your pickleball network expands. And we eventually want to tap into that business community of pickleball players to partner up with some of those for revenue. And the league also will be working on additional sponsorships and TV deals and things like that.
Matthew: What's driving the explosion in popularity of this sport in recent years?
McKnight: There's a lot of things driving it. And the number one thing driving it is pickleball is a sport that really can change people's lives. So that's the most important thing. The game's easy to learn and we can learn in five minutes. It's a great exercise. If the weather's sunny outside, you grab your paddle, head to the park, meet your friends over there, play for a couple hours to get your exercise for the day. It's just an amazing sport.
