Major League Pickleball (MLP) and the PPA Tour, the two largest professional organizations for the US-based racket sport, will operate under a new parent company after a $225 million investment into both led by Apollo Sports Capital (ASC), a dedicated arm of the US private equity firm.
The new parent company will be known as Pickleball Inc. following the capital raise, which the parties have said will result in “the largest singularly operated pickleball ecosystem in existence, integrating professional and amateur pickleball with leading technology, retail, and infrastructure platforms.”
Pickleball Inc.’s new business verticals (which originally came together in 2024) generated over $140 million in 2025 revenue on a combined basis, the company said.
As well as Apollo, the investment was made by Dundon Capital Partners, owned by US financial services businessman Tom Dundon.
Dundon, who recently acquired the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team and also owns the Carolina Hurricanes NHL franchise, was an early investor in pickleball.
He and the Pardoe family will remain majority shareholders in the business, rolling in several additional pickleball assets across facilities, courts, ecommerce, and technology.
Pickleball Inc. will also take on a portfolio of pickleball assets previously owned by Dundon, including Pickleball Central, a pickleball equipment site founded in 2006. The portfolio also includes PickleballTournaments.com, software that powers thousands of tournaments across all levels of play, as well as Just Courts, a pickleball court installer.
The company’s business verticals now include professional play (PPA Tour and MLP), retail, software, court construction, media (Pickleball.com and Pickleball TV platforms), and investments in pickleball facility brand Picklr and pickleball rating platform DUPR.
The five-person board includes PPA Tour founder and Pickleball Inc. CEO Connor Pardoe, Al Tylis, Jason Stein, Zubin Mehta, and Brian Levine.
Pardoe said: “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.
“By bringing together the best companies in the space, we’re creating an end-to-end experience that serves every pickleballer on their journey, whether they’re a casual enthusiast or a dedicated fanatic. At its core, this is still about building and delivering the culture, fun, and community that define pickleball’s DNA.”
The fresh capital brings the total investment in Pickleball Inc. to $315 million and values Pickleball Inc. at $750 million, according to CNBC.
The PPA Tour and MLP first merged in 2024, to become a unified body.
Pickleball has been named the fastest-growing sport in America in each of the last five years (24 million players in 2025) and is the fourth-most played sport in the country, according to the 2026 SFIA Annual Report.
The MLP and PPA Tour have seen significant growth with a combined $30 million in sponsorship revenue in 2025 and $60 million in combined overall revenue in 2025, according to the United Pickleball Association, which operates both leagues. The competitions are projecting $74 million in combined revenue in 2026.
Apollo Global Management launched its sports-based investment venture in September 2025 and hired Tylis, an experienced sports investor and executive, to lead the business as chief executive.
On the investment, Tylis said: “Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, appealing to players and fans of all ages, and we are excited to be making this structured investment.
“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.”
The Pickleball investment is among the first deals closed by ASC in the sports market.
Late last year, Apollo purchased a majority stake in Spanish soccer giants Atletico Madrid.
ASC will build on Apollo’s established presence in sports, with the firm claiming its managed funds have deployed approximately $17 billion in the broader space, including investments in sports and entertainment companies, media rights, and stadium and league financings.
Founded in 1990, the firm has around $500 billion of assets under management and 17 offices around the world.
The company’s sports work includes financing for some of Europe’s biggest soccer teams, and major US leagues like the NFL, NBA, and NHL.
