An Aerial View of America's Pickleball-Tennis Takeover

The New York Times analyzed more than 100,000 aerial photographs from across the country and came to one undeniable conclusion: 'There’s only so much ready asphalt to go around, and pickleball can’t get enough of it.'

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this breathtaking aerial analysis of pickleball's nationwide tennis court takeover might leave you speechless.

Ethan Singer of The New York Times looked at tens of thousands of aerial photographs from the past seven years, focusing on real estate that was once devoted to tennis courts but has since been switched over the pickleball.

His conclusion: From Oakland, ME, to Bakersfield, CA, "There’s only so much ready asphalt to go around, and pickleball can’t get enough of it."

Four courts is better than one

The turf war between tennis and pickleball, we all know, isn't new news.

But this analysis visualizes it in a compelling way, depicting the before and after and proving one of pickleball's biggest advantages when it comes to the real estate land grab – you can easily fit two, three, and even four pickleball courts within the footprint allocated to a single tennis court.

More from Singer:

In total, he says, "we found more than 8,000 tennis courts that had been transformed for pickleball."

Here, for example, is Cincinnati's Sawyer Point Park circa 2019:

And the same site in 2024:

Explosive growth but plateauing participation

The visuals are stunning, to be sure, but Singer concedes they're not comprehensive: "By trade group estimates, there are more than 270,000 tennis courts — and now 68,000 pickleball courts — in the United States, including indoor courts that we were not able to track."

Tracking every pickleball court in America isn't exactly an exact science. And it's not like every outdoor pickleball court being built is going in where a tennis court once stood. Far from it.

But the sport's growth is undeniable, especially when looked at from just before the COVID pandemic up to now.

According to the August issue of the Business of Pickleball newsletter, which uses data that goes further back than the NYT's analysis, there are actually about 50,000 outdoor courts spread across America and a total closer to 75,000.

One thing we do know: U.S. participation at the recreational level appears to be leveling off.

So can this pace continue? Or, put another way, should it?

"By 2024," says Singer, "14 pickleball courts were being built or drawn each day, on average, across the country."

For many more aerial photos, go check out Singer's piece in the New York Times.

Feature image via NYT