St. Pete Among U.S. Cities Most Obsessed With Pickleball: List

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — With the American obsession with pickleball exploding in recent years, St. Petersburg has been named among the U.S. cities “most obsessed” with the sport, data from Offers.Bet, a sports betting and online casino guide.

The website created a top 50 list of cities most interested in pickleball by analyzing Google searches.

St. Petersburg landed at No. 14 on the list.

The four Florida cities that ranked among the top 50 are:

• No. 6 – Port St. Lucie
• No. 10 – Tallahassee
• No. 14 – St. Petersburg
• No. 18 – Orlando

Nationally, searches for “How to play pickleball” increased 284 percent between January 2020 and January 2023, according to Offers.Bet. And nearly one in six Americans of all ages playing the sport.

Overland Park, Kansas nabbed the No. 1 spot on the list. The top five is rounded out by:

• No. 2 – Salt Lake City, Utah
• No. 3 – Grand Rapids, Michigan
• No. 4 – Tempe, Arizona
• No. 5 – Birmingham, Alabama

In St. Petersburg, a new 16-court pickleball club — including nine professional courts — called St. Pete Athletic is planned for downtown. It will also include a full-service restaurant and bar, gym equipment, green space, a pro shop, and lockers and showers, and will offer table tennis and Padel. A proposed boutique hotel is also in the works for the property,

“Currently, there are few pickleball courts in St. Petersburg, and no location with more than six courts,” St. Pete Athletic said in a news release. “These existing courts are isolated in city parks and lack amenities such as restrooms and lighting, making it difficult for new players and families to participate in the sport.”

The Pickleball Club, which develops and operates private membership-based indoor pickleball facilities throughout Florida, recently secured a location for a new club in nearby Pinellas Park.

The company is under a contract to build its seventh pickleball club on an 8.07-acre parcel in Gateway Centre Business Park for $1.75 million. The land purchase should be completed by the end of the year and the club is expected to be completed by early 2025.

The 40,000-square-foot climate-controlled facility will offer members 16 indoor pickleball courts. It will also feature an outside activity area, a players’ lounge mezzanine, Dink’s Pro Shop and Pickle’s Café.