Pickleball surge petering out nationwide
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Fun at Chicken N Pickle. Photo: Jill Toyoshiba/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The pickleball craze — which saw widespread rapid growth in the pandemic and immediately afterwards — may be cooling off.
The big picture: The number of pickleball courts across the 100 most populous U.S. cities increased just 4% from 2025 to 2026. That's compared to 13% growth in 2025, and 14% in 2024.
- But the nationwide total is still up 900% from 2017, and cities are still adding courts.
Zoom in: Kansas City has several pickleball institutions, including Chicken N Pickle, Serv and KC Pickle Club.
- You can join a league like KC Crew or keep it low-key at one of the many courts around town.
Zoom out: Kansas City's court count is low compared to the other side of the state: St. Louis ranks No. 4 in the nation with nearly two courts per 10,000 people.
💭 Travis' thought bubble: I'm a semi-regular at Macken Park in North Kansas City, but I still prefer tennis.
- What's this I'm hearing about the game Padel? Let me know where I can play in KC.
💭 Abbey's thought bubble: Have I ever played pickleball? Once. Do I know the rules? Vaguely. Do I want this community activity to make it anyway? Absolutely! We need more third places.