The 2023 edition of the Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships will go down as the most successful edition in its history, according to organizers.
The event, powered by Invited and the PPA Tour, took place Nov. 5 to 12 at Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch, an inner-ring suburb of Dallas.
It saw record-breaking participation, attendance and broadcast viewership, highlighting "the biggest pickleball party ever", the PPA tour said in a news release.
Visitors to Pickleball Boulevard more than doubled initial projections, with more than 50,000 attendees entering the gates across the seven-day event.
The peak day for attendance came on semifinal Saturday (9,500+), with Sunday selling out Championship Court tickets for the finals more than two weeks in advance.
A celebrity pickleball showdown on Tuesday night also saw a capacity crowd, with roughly 3,000 spectators enjoying Dallas sports legends Dirk Nowitzki, Scottie Scheffler, Jason Kidd, Marty Turco and John Isner showing off their pickleball skills with Tony Romo in the broadcast booth in an event sponsored by Deep Eddy Vodka.
“Pickleball Boulevard was buzzing with energy all week long, with both longstanding and new fans of pickleball enjoying live music, great food, and of course, the world’s best pickleball," said Connor Pardoe, CEO and founder of the PPA Tour.
A record 3,500+ pro and amateur players from 49 states and Washington, D.C., played 6,928 matches over the course of the week.
With nearly 3,000 of those coming from out-of-state, the seven Farmers Branch partner hotels all experienced sell-outs, driving significant economic impact for the region, according to organizers.
“The event was an incredible success for the City," said Mayor of Farmers Branch Terry Lynne.
On TV, more than 2.6 million viewers tuned in to catch the action across 20+ hours of coverage on ESPN, Tennis Channel and PickleballTV.
On-site retail at Pickleball Central also broke records.
The PPA Tour wraps up its 2023 season at the CIBC PPA Tour Finals in San Clemente, Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 and returns to North Texas in May 2024 for the Texas Open at Oasis Pickleball Club in Rockwall.