The World Pickleball Tour

What The World Pickleball Tour does

The World Pickleball Tour (WPT) is a competitive amateur pickleball tour founded in 2021 and headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. It operates approximately 35 events per year across the United States and Canada and self-positions as the world's largest amateur pickleball tour. The tour is structured around standardized tournament formats covering skill brackets 3.0 through 5.0 and age groups from 19+ through 70+, with a flagship 2025 Amateur Invitational Championships carrying a $175,000 cash prize purse.

The company's core offering is tournament organization and event operations for amateur pickleball players. Tournament operations are supported by an integration with the Pickleplay digital platform for registration and player management. WPT generates revenue primarily through player registration fees for tournament entry, supplemented by sponsorship income from a portfolio of consumer brand partners including JOOLA (equipment), Chomps (snacks), HALO Hydration (beverage), AIM7 (nutrition/fitness), and Pickleplay (platform). The commercial leadership function is held by a Head of Partnerships (Corey Poches), reflecting the sponsor-driven nature of the revenue mix.

On July 9, 2024, WPT was acquired by The 1965 Group, the parent company of APA Pickleball — a tournament operator that runs approximately 100 events annually with 15,000+ participants. The acquisition places WPT within a larger pickleball event management platform, with implied potential for shared infrastructure, combined sponsorship sales, and cross-tournament player migration. No public revenue, funding history, or detailed financial disclosures are available.

Name

The World Pickleball Tour

Legal name

World Pickleball Tour

Website

https://wptevents.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The World Pickleball Tour is the world's largest amateur pickleball tour, running roughly 35 events annually across the US and Canada. Founded in 2021 and acquired by The 1965 Group in July 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Amateur Sports Events

NAICS

Spectator Sports (71121)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Amateur Event & Tournament Organizers (Meets, Invitationals, Opens) (MPAKACAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Meet & Invitational Organizers (MPAKADAC)

Keywords

• Amateur pickleball tournaments
• Pickleball tournament series
• Sports event management
• Competitive pickleball circuit
• Amateur sports tour

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbus

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Tournament Registration Fees: WPT generates revenue through participant registration fees for its amateur pickleball tournament circuit. Players pay a fee per event to register through Pickleball Brackets, gaining access to the tournament bracket, swag bag, and Round Robin format with guaranteed matches.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The World Pickleball Tour (WPT) operates the world's largest amateur pickleball tournament series, organizing Round Robin-format events across the United States and Canada. Players pay registration fees to participate in tournaments with skill brackets ranging from 3.0 to 5.0 and age categories spanning 19+ to 70+, receiving guaranteed matches (6-8), premium swag bags, and a competitive pathway to the annual WPT Amateur Invitational Championships with a $175,000 cash prize purse.

Product overview

The World Pickleball Tour (WPT) operates as the world's largest amateur pickleball tournament series, built around a core Round Robin tournament format that guarantees players 8 matches per event. The main product is the WPT Tournament Series, which spans nearly 35 annual events across the US and Canada, offering skill brackets (3.0-5.0) and age divisions (19+ through 70+). Gold medalists advance to the exclusive 2025 WPT Amateur Invitational Championships with a $175,000 cash prize. Supporting offerings include Player Swag Bags with branded merchandise, camps and clinics, luxury sports tourism experiences, and charity activations—all designed to maximize the player experience and build community at the grassroots level.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• World Pickleball Tour (WPT) Tournament Series The world's largest amateur pickleball tournament series featuring Round Robin-style events across the United States and Canada, with nearly 35 events per season offering brackets from 3.0 to 5.0 skill levels and age groups from 19+ to 70+. Players receive 6-8 guaranteed matches per event.
• 2025 WPT Amateur Invitational Championships Prestigious year-end championship event where gold medalists from WPT challenger events compete for a $175,000 cash prize purse.
• Player Swag Bags Premium player swag bags distributed to tournament participants, including branded tote bags, World Tour DRIFIT t-shirts, hydration essentials, and court fashion accessories.
• WPT Pickleball Camps and Clinics Training camps and clinics offered as part of the WPT experience, designed to develop player skills and grow the sport at the grassroots level.
• Luxury Sports Tourism Experiences Premium travel and tournament experiences offered by WPT, combining competitive pickleball with luxury amenities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Gold Medalists receive invitation to the WPT Amateur Invitational Championships featuring a $175,000 cash purse
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The 1965 GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 July 2024The 1965 Group, parent company of the Amateur Pickleball Association (APA), acquired WPT on July 9, 2024. The acquisition is aimed at enhancing player experiences nationwide by combining APA's nearly 100 annual tournaments with WPT's premier challenger event circuit. Together, APA and WPT aim to redefine the pickleball landscape for amateur players.
• AIM7minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 10 June 2024AIM7, the leading AI-powered fitness app for pickleball players, became WPT's Official Fitness and Injury Prevention App for the 2024 season. AIM7 provides WPT participants with a 1-month free trial, on-site activations at select tournaments, and educational content tailored to competitive pickleball players. AIM7's AI analyzes biometric data to deliver personalized training, injury prevention, and recovery recommendations.
• JOOLAcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 4 January 2024JOOLA became the Official Pickleball Partner of WPT for the 2024 season. JOOLA is the exclusive provider of the 2024 tour ball — the JOOLA Heleus Pickleball. The partnership includes JOOLA giveaways, on-site activations, brand discounts for participants, and kickoff at the WPT Amateur Invitational Championships (the largest amateur-only pickleball tournament to date with a $175,000 cash purse).
• HALO HydrationminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 19 December 2023HALO Hydration became the Official and Exclusive Hydration and Electrolytes Partner of WPT. HALO showcases its products (including The World's First Hydrating Latte and premium hydration powders) at dozens of WPT events nationwide with on-site sampling, giveaways, and branded activations. The partnership aligns with WPT's player-first mentality and HALO's national retail rollout.
• ChompsminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 28 September 2023Chomps, the fastest-growing meat snack brand, became the Official Snack Partner of WPT for 25 events beginning September 29, 2023. The partnership includes on-site sampling, giveaways, branded activations, and Chomps serving as the official golden ticket sponsor — each gold medalist at WPT events receives a golden ticket at the medal podium. WPT refers to Chomps as the 'Official Snack Partner' and 'Official Tournament Snack Partner.'

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Pickleball Tournaments (Pickleball Brackets): Third-party tournament registration and bracketing platform used by WPT for all event sign-ups. Ecosystem participant because it is WPT's primary distribution infrastructure rather than a competitor, but its broader marketplace could route players to rival tours.
• JOOLA: Official Pickleball Partner of WPT and exclusive tour ball provider. Ecosystem participant because it is currently a sponsor/integrator, but JOOLA also sponsors competing circuits and could redirect partnership economics toward direct or rival events.

Direct peers

• Amateur Pickleball Association (APA): Sister organization under The 1965 Group that runs nearly 100 amateur pickleball tournaments annually with 15,000+ participants. Direct peer because both brands organize amateur pickleball events for overlapping skill and age brackets, now under common ownership.
• Carvana PPA Tour: Premier professional pickleball tour in North America that also operates amateur and challenger events. Direct peer because it competes for the same pickleball player pool, sponsors, and event calendar slots that WPT targets.
• APP Tour (Association of Pickleball Players): Player-led professional pickleball tour that runs a calendar of events including amateur-accessible tournaments. Direct peer due to overlapping tournament format, sponsorship categories, and amateur-to-pro player funnel.

Emerging players

• DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating): Pickleball rating and tournament-discovery platform that increasingly integrates directly with tournament organizers. Emerging player because it sits in the player-acquisition and skill-segmentation layer adjacent to WPT's Pickleball Brackets / Pickleplay distribution stack.

Broad incumbents

• USA Pickleball: National governing body for pickleball in the US that sanctions tournaments and ratifies ratings. Broad incumbent because sanctioned USA Pickleball events compete for amateur players who might otherwise register for WPT's unsanctioned Round Robin events.
• Major League Pickleball (MLP): Team-based professional pickleball league backed by deep ownership groups. Broad incumbent because, while its core product is team-format pro play, it competes for sponsor attention and amateur mindshare that could otherwise flow to WPT-style challenger circuits.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-world-pickleball-tour

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The World Pickleball Tour