As anticipation builds for the upcoming Summer Olympics, pickleball enthusiasts find themselves asking a familiar question: why hasn't pickleball earned its place in the Olympic Games?
The answer lies in the intricate process of gaining recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a journey fraught with challenges and complexities.
At the heart of pickleball's Olympic aspirations lies the need for recognition from the IOC, which meticulously evaluates several key factors before considering a sport for inclusion in the Olympics. These factors include popularity and participation, international federation recognition, global reach, and alignment with Olympic values.
Ryan Maher, Vice President of Commercial Operations at DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) presented by Delaware Life, acknowledges the hurdles facing pickleball's Olympic journey.
Despite the sport's surging popularity, Maher emphasizes that the path to Olympic recognition is far from straightforward. "There's a lot more politics and money that goes into it," Maher explains, dispelling the common misconception that popularity alone guarantees Olympic inclusion.
One significant obstacle hindering pickleball's Olympic aspirations is the absence of a unified international governing body.
On May 15, 2024, United Pickleball Association (UPA), which owns Major League Pickleball (MLP) and the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA), announced the launch of United Pickleball Association of America (UPA-A) as the new National Governing Body (NGB) of the sport.
Although USA Pickleball (USAP) has historically been the self-appointed NGB since 1984, the emergence of UPA-A challenges this status, particularly because pickleball is not yet recognized as an Olympic sport. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) would designate an official NGB if pickleball became Olympic-recognized, providing funding and legislative support while establishing a monopoly over the sport's management.
Both UPA-A and USAP aim to become the definitive authority, offering various solutions and improvements. However, this rivalry might lead to issues such as differing rating systems, paddle approval lists, and rule sets, which could create chaos and hinder the sport's unified development.
Maher elaborates, "A sport is not going to make it into the Olympics when you have so much political tension within the sport around who is the governing body internationally."
“The reality of it is that we're so early in the sport’s growth - not early in the sport, it's been around for a while - but so early on in this massive boom. We're not done seeing people coming in and trying to kind of take hold of the space. And it's just going to take a while for that all to tease out.”
DUPR, while not directly involved in federation politics, plays a pivotal role in standardizing player ratings globally, a critical aspect for Olympic consideration. Maher elucidates, "What DUPR is creating is a pathway from the amateur side all the way up to the pro side, which leads into the Olympic side."
“If a country is sending their delegation of users to the Olympics, how do they know who those people are? Those players play in local events, earn their way to regional or national events, and that is all facilitated by the programming around a rating. With DUPR being aligned with the PPA and MLP, the two largest pro organizations in the sport. That's just where the rating side of the sport is going. That is a big piece of countries around the world, all filtering into these pathways for the sport to be entered in the Olympics as well.”
Financial considerations also loom large in pickleball's quest for Olympic recognition. Maher draws parallels with squash, another sport that faced a prolonged journey to Olympic inclusion. He notes, "It wasn't until the billionaires got involved that squash made its way."
Another significant challenge highlighted by Maher is the standardization of equipment regulations, particularly paddle standards. As paddle technology advances, ensuring uniform standards becomes imperative to maintain fairness and integrity in the sport.
“We need to standardize internationally. If we don't have someone who's governing standards internationally, that could be an issue," Maher says.
Despite the obstacles, Maher remains cautiously optimistic about pickleball's Olympic prospects. He suggests a realistic timeline, indicating that Olympic inclusion might not occur before 2036 but says, "There's no doubt in my mind that it will be someday."
