Apollo Sports Capital is pouring $225 million into pickleball's parent company

The raise values Pickleball Inc. at $750 million and brings total investment in the company to $315 million

2 min readUpdated May 1, 2026

Pickleball Inc., the new parent company of the Carvana PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball, has raised $225 million in a structured investment led by Apollo Sports Capital, an investment platform of Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO), and Dundon Capital Partners.

With the new funds, total capital raised by Pickleball Inc. reaches $315 million, and the round pegs the company's valuation at $750 million, per CNBC. Dundon Capital Partners is owned by billionaire Tom Dundon, who also holds ownership stakes in the Portland Trail Blazers and the Carolina Hurricanes.

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Among the assets folded into Pickleball Inc. are Pickleball Central, an equipment retail destination that has operated since 2006; PickleballTournaments.com, a platform that manages events at every level of play; and Just Courts, a company specializing in court construction. Across those integrated business lines, Pickleball Inc. reported more than $140 million in total revenue for 2025.

Ownership control of Pickleball Inc. will stay with the Pardoe family and Tom Dundon, who together retain a majority stake. The five-person Pickleball Inc. board includes Apollo Sports Capital CEO Al Tylis, Pickleball Inc. CEO Connor Pardoe, Jason Stein, Zubin Mehta, and Brian Levine.

"This investment allows us to fully integrate the sport into one cohesive ecosystem — uniting professional pickleball, consumer goods, technology, and media under a single, unified platform," Pardoe said in a statement.

Tylis framed the deal as a chance to reimagine how a professional sports league operates. "We believe that the Company now has the resources it needs to get to the next level, having already proved itself as the most successful emerging sports league of the past decade," he said in a statement.

On the professional side, the two leagues together recorded $60 million in revenue last year, including $30 million from sponsorships alone, and have set a combined target of $74 million for the current year, per Yahoo Sports.

According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association's Annual Report, the U.S. pickleball player base surpassed 24 million in 2025, a figure that reflects the sport's sustained run as the country's fastest-growing athletic pastime. The sport is the fourth-most played in the country, the company said.

MLP Commissioner Samin Odhwani pointed to content creation, media deals, and event infrastructure as the primary areas where the fresh capital will be deployed.

Apollo Sports Capital is pouring $225 million into pickleball's parent company

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