Arizona moves to make pickleball the official state sport

Arizona moved to put pickleball on the state’s official seal of approval, a recognition push that matched how deeply the sport has already taken root across the Valley and beyond. SCR 1021 would declare pickleball the official state sport, and the resolution tied that bid to hard numbers: the game was invented in 1965, Arizona has the highest number of dedicated pickleball courts per capita in the United States, and USA Pickleball, the sport’s national governing body, is headquartered in the state.

That symbolic step came with a practical backdrop. Scottsdale has become a centerpiece of Arizona’s pickleball expansion, with PURE Pickleball & Padel planning 50 indoor courts in what supporters have described as the biggest venue of its kind in the state. The project near Loop 101 and Via de Ventura on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community reflects how far the sport has moved beyond park play and into major recreational development. Arizona’s pickleball footprint already includes big tournament history, too: USA Pickleball’s first National Tournament was held in the state at Sun City Festival and drew just under 400 participants from 26 states and several Canadian provinces.

The state’s growth has also been built on public access. Tempe Sports Complex opened its pickleball courts in 2019 as the first ADA-accessible pickleball courts in Arizona, and the city later added eight more courts, bringing the complex to 16. That kind of expansion matters in a sport where open play, league traffic and casual drop-in hours can overwhelm limited space fast. The broader court map has also helped Arizona rise in national conversations, with Goodyear and Surprise frequently cited among the large cities with the highest court density per resident.

The competitive side of the sport has grown just as quickly. Major League Pickleball opened its 2023 season in Mesa with 24 teams, bringing celebrity-backed attention from names including Larry Fitzgerald, Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Kevin Durant into the Arizona market. At the amateur-to-pro edge of the sport, Phoenix teen Kelly Goodnow turned pro in less than two years and reached No. 88 in singles on the PPA Tour, a sign that Arizona is producing more than casual players. Youth names such as JZ Holmes and Mercado have also become part of the state’s developing pipeline, while high school clubs and sanctioning efforts have pushed the game further into Arizona’s athletic mainstream. For a state trying to formalize its relationship with the sport, the argument is no longer just cultural. It is about courts, tournaments, access and a growth curve that shows no sign of flattening.