$225M Just Went Into Pickleball. Canada Doesn't Need to Follow the US — We're Building Our Own.
Apollo Sports Capital just invested $225 million into pickleball. That's a big deal for the sport globally. But here at Apollo Pickleball, it raised a bigger question for us: what does the future of pickleball look like in Canada? Because we don't think it should look like a copy of the United States. We think it should look like us.
What just happened
On May 1, 2026, Apollo Sports Capital — a sports investment platform launched by Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO) on September 29, 2025 — led a landmark $225 million structured investment into Pickleball Inc., the newly formed parent company of the Carvana PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball (MLP presented by DoorDash). The deal was co-led with Dundon Capital Partners, owned by billionaire Tom Dundon, who also holds ownership stakes in the Portland Trail Blazers and the Carolina Hurricanes.
Combined with earlier funding, Pickleball Inc. has now raised $315 million total, valuing the organization at $750 million. Tom Dundon and the Pardoe family remain majority shareholders. The investment creates what Pickleball Inc. describes as the largest singularly-operated pickleball ecosystem in existence — integrating professional tours, retail, media, software, and court infrastructure under one roof.
The newly merged business verticals generated over $140 million in combined revenue in 2025, including $30 million in sponsorships. They're projecting $74 million in combined revenue for 2026 from the two tours alone. Apollo Sports Capital CEO Al Tylis — himself a co-owner of the Brooklyn Pickleball Team in MLP — called pickleball "the most successful emerging sports league of the past decade." Apollo Sports Capital also recently became the majority shareholder of Atletico Madrid, one of Europe's largest football clubs.
The deal also folds in several major pickleball assets: Pickleball Central (the world's largest pickleball retailer, with over 1 million orders shipped and 100+ US pro shops), Pickleball Play Solutions (powering 90% of organized tournament play — 4,500 tournaments in 2025), Just Courts (official court installer for MLP and PPA events), Pickleball TV (a 24/7 network joint venture with Tennis Channel), Picklr (500+ indoor pickleball locations worldwide), and DUPR (the world's most widely used pickleball rating system, with over 1 million rated players).
It proves what players across Canada have known for years: this sport is real, it is serious, and it is not going away.
"Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, appealing to players and fans of all ages. This is a unique opportunity to support the combination of these assets — effectively reimagining how to create a professional sports league under a single ecosystem and platform for growth. We believe that the Company now has the resources it needs to get to the next level, having already proved itself as the most successful emerging sports league of the past decade."
— Al Tylis, CEO of Apollo Sports Capital
"This is a seismic day for the rapidly growing business of pickleball at all levels. This investment allows us to fully integrate the sport into one cohesive ecosystem — uniting professional pickleball, consumer goods, technology, and media under a single, unified platform."
— Connor Pardoe, Founder of the PPA Tour and CEO of Pickleball Inc.
The growth of pickleball in Canada
Pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in North America for five consecutive years. From Vancouver to Halifax, community courts are filling up, recreation centres are adding dedicated pickleball hours, and leagues are forming in cities that didn't have a single court just two years ago.
Canada has every ingredient to be a world leader in this sport — passionate players, strong community infrastructure, a culture that embraces accessible, all-ages athletics. What we've lacked is a homegrown ecosystem to match that passion. That's exactly what Apollo Pickleball was built to help create.
Canada doesn't need to follow the US — we need our own path
We've seen this story play out before. Hockey, basketball, even tennis — Canada produces incredible athletes, builds talent at the grassroots level, and then watches those athletes leave for the United States to find the leagues, the money, and the visibility they deserve. The infrastructure was never built here. The investment never came. So the talent followed the money south.
We refuse to let that happen with pickleball. And while it might seem ironic that a US investment fund called Apollo Sports Capital — launched just months after we opened our doors — is now making headlines in the sport we've been building for Canadians, we see it as validation, not competition. Their fund is chasing returns. We're building a community.
🇨🇦 Our vision: A thriving, self-sustaining Canadian pickleball ecosystem — with Canadian leagues, Canadian events, Canadian athletes competing and winning at home, supported by Canadian brands that keep the money and the momentum within our borders.
The $225M Apollo Sports Capital investment is a signal that professional pickleball is real and permanent. But signals from the US don't build Canadian leagues. We do. Canadian players do. Canadian communities do. And Canadian brands like ours do — by keeping dollars in Canada, by backing local growth, and by making world-class equipment accessible to Canadian players without shipping it from across the border.
Meet our athlete — Canada's #1 ranked women's pro
When we say we're committed to growing Canadian pickleball through Canadian talent, we back it up. Apollo Pickleball is proud to be partnered with Maria Klokotzky — the #1 ranked women's singles player in Canada according to the Canadian Pickleball Association (CPA), based out of Ottawa, Ontario.
Maria isn't just the top-ranked Canadian woman in the sport — she's proving that Canadian athletes can compete and win at the highest levels of professional pickleball without leaving the country to do it. Her game, her mindset, and her commitment to representing Canada on the world stage is exactly the kind of story Apollo Pickleball was built to support.
Maria and her partner Etienne Blaszkewycz entered the Pickleball World Championships as the No. 52 seeds. They left having upset No. 14 seeds Callie Smith and Jack Sock — two of the biggest names in professional pickleball — winning 11-8, 11-4 in the final two games after dropping the opener.
— Pickleball World Championships, Mixed Doubles
The wins don't stop there. Maria has taken down major names on the professional circuit including Eugenie Bouchard, Jack Sock, Callie Smith, and more — names that North American sports fans know well, proving that Canadian pickleball athletes are ready to compete at the top level of the game.
🇨🇦 This is exactly the vision: A Canadian athlete, ranked #1 in Canada, competing against and beating the world's best — without needing to relocate to the United States to be taken seriously. Maria's success is proof that the infrastructure, the talent, and the drive exist right here. Apollo Pickleball is proud to have her carrying our paddles.
CPA Women's Singles #1 ranking with 1,000 CPA points and 700 PWR points — the dominant force in Canadian women's pickleball.
Competed at the Pickleball World Championships as a qualifier from Canada, advancing deep into the draw and making headlines with a stunning upset win.
Knocked out No. 14 seeds Callie Smith and Jack Sock at the World Championships as the No. 52 seed — one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.
Based in Ottawa, Ontario. Competing at the highest level of the sport while staying rooted in Canada — the exact model we want to see more of.
What we're building — and why it matters
Apollo Pickleball was founded in Edmonton, Alberta with a single mission: grow pickleball in Canada, for Canadians, on Canadian terms. Not as a satellite of the American game. Not as a market for US brands to tap into. As our own sport, with our own culture, our own leagues, and our own champions.
We actively support the growth of Canadian-based pickleball leagues and tournaments. Every paddle we sell funds a brand committed to building the local competitive scene — not feeding a US-based league structure.
We want Canadian pickleball players to have a career path that doesn't require moving to the United States. That means building the infrastructure, the events, and the support system right here.
The foundation of Canadian pickleball is recreational players — people showing up at community centres in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, and Halifax. We serve them first. The pro game follows the grassroots.
When you buy from a US brand, your money leaves the country. When you buy from Apollo, it stays here — reinvested into the Canadian pickleball community, not a US corporation's bottom line.
We're committed to supporting youth pickleball programs, school initiatives, and accessible entry-level equipment so the next wave of Canadian players starts strong — and stays here.
Same time zone. Same currency. Same weather. We understand what Canadian players need because we are Canadian players. That's not a marketing line — it's why we exist.
The real cost of buying American
Most Canadian pickleball players have been forced to buy from US brands. And it costs them — a lot more than the sticker price.
When you order from an American brand, you're hit with currency conversion (the Canadian dollar typically sits 25–35% below USD), then import duties, then Canada Border Services Agency brokerage fees, then provincial taxes on the inflated import value. A paddle listed at $200 USD can land at your door costing $320–$360 CAD all-in. And if something goes wrong? You're dealing with US-based support and shipping a paddle back across the border at your own expense.
Every dollar lost to those fees is a dollar that doesn't go back into your game, your local club, or the Canadian pickleball community. We built Apollo specifically to change that.
🇨🇦 The Apollo difference: Prices in Canadian dollars. No import fees. No duty. No CBSA brokerage charges. No currency conversion. The price you see is the price you pay — shipped from Edmonton to your door, with Canadian customer support if you ever need us.
How the $225M investment affects us — and you
We'll be direct: Apollo Sports Capital's investment goes into Pickleball Inc., not into Canadian grassroots pickleball. The US pro tour will grow. American broadcasters will benefit. US-based brands will get a boost.
But here's what it means for Canada: legitimacy. When $225 million validates pickleball as a serious sport globally, it's easier to get Canadian municipalities to build courts. It's easier to get Canadian broadcasters to cover local tournaments. It's easier to get Canadian athletes to commit to the sport — knowing it has a real future. And it's easier for a Canadian brand like ours to make the case that this community deserves homegrown support.
The US investment is a rising tide. We're building the Canadian boat.
World-class performance. Canadian pricing. Free shipping coast to coast. No import fees, no duties, no surprises.
