Pickleball vs Tennis Participation in the U.S.: 2020–2025

Tennis still had more U.S. participants in 2025. But the gap narrowed from 17.4 million players in 2020 to just 3.0 million in 2025 as pickleball expanded nearly sixfold.

The participation series

Pickleball Cosmos does not insert a 2021 pickleball estimate where a reported observation has not been established in the source series used here.

Two growing sports, very different growth rates

From 2020 to 2025, pickleball increased from 4.2 million to 24.3 million participants: +478.6%. The two endpoints imply a compound annual growth rate of about 42.1%.

Tennis also grew substantially, from 21.64 million to 27.3 million participants over the same period: +26.2%, or about 4.8% compound annual growth.

The comparison therefore is not “pickleball grew while tennis declined.” Tennis added roughly 5.7 million players. Pickleball simply grew at a far faster rate from a much smaller base.

The gap collapsed

That convergence is strategically important for facilities, equipment brands and local recreation planning. It means pickleball is no longer small enough to treat as a niche add-on to the broader racquet-sports market.

Do not compare “core” counts directly

SFIA reports 7.5 million CORE pickleball participants in 2025 using a threshold of eight or more play occasions per year. USTA reports 14.5 million core tennis players using ten or more play occasions. Because the thresholds differ, presenting those two numbers as a clean engagement-rate comparison would be misleading.

Method note

The pickleball figures are reported by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. Tennis figures are reported by the USTA from participation research including the Physical Activity Council study and related annual participation work. Both cover U.S. participants age six and older, but the underlying reporting programs are not identical. This page therefore compares published participant counts and does not imply that every methodological detail is interchangeable.

Growth rates, ratios and participant gaps on this page are Pickleball Cosmos calculations from the reported observations.