Pickleball’s rise in popularity has sparked a flood of pickleball tournaments all over the country.
Tournaments range from smaller, local events with a few events to huge tournaments like the US Open with over 4,000 people participating in dozens of events over a 7 day period.
The fees for pickleball tournaments can range from a few dollars to over $300 for the most popular events. In this guide we’ll detail the fees and costs of participating in tournaments organized by:
- the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA),
- the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP),
- USA Pickleball (USAPA) including the US Nationals, and
- the US Open Pickleball Championships
How Much Do Pickleball Tournaments Cost?
For most larger amateur pickleball tournaments put on by the main pickleball tours - the PPA and the APP - you can expect to pay a registration fee (~$100), a fee (~$40) for each event you sign up for, and a service fee ($5-$20). These fees quickly add up and if you sign up for 2 events you will pay over $200 in fees and costs. For smaller, local events hosted by clubs or pickleball groups, the fees are much lower and you can expect to pay $20-75 per event.
For Pro and Senior Pro (over 50) events, the costs are even higher. The registration and service fees are the same as amateur events, but Pros and Sr. Pros pay triple the event fee ($125). So a Pro’s cost to play 2 events is almost $400.
The reason for this is that most pro events have referees (a cost to the tourney organizer) as well as prize money (which comes out of the event fees paid by the pro players).
Pickleball Tournament Cost Breakdown
The fee structures for larger, national pickleball tournaments are as follows:
|
Type |
PPA |
APP |
USA Pickleball |
US Open |
US Nationals |
|
Registration Fee |
~$100 (early bird) |
$80 ($105 for golden ticket qualifiers) |
$40 - $80 |
$130 |
$155 |
|
Event Fees (Amateur) |
$40 per event |
$40 per event |
$10 - $30 per event |
$40 per event |
$55 per event |
|
Event Fees (Pro) |
$125 per event |
$125 per event |
N/A |
$100 per event |
$140/event |
|
Event Fees (Sr. Pro) |
$125 per event |
$125 per event |
N/A |
$80 per event |
$120/event |
|
Service Fee (Amateur/Sr. Pro) |
~$30 |
$5 |
$5 |
$5/event or $10 for 2+ events ($25/event for Pro) |
$25/event |
|
Referee Fee |
Not Applicable |
Not Applicable |
N/A |
$35 |
$35 |
|
Registration/Weather Insurance |
$20 (optional) |
$23 (optional) |
Not Offered |
$25 (optional) |
$20 (optional) |
Other Pickleball Tournament Costs
For PPA, APP, and USA Pickleball, you are required to have a USA Pickleball membership to participate in the tournament. USA pickleball memberships are $35 per year.
In addition, there are costs to travel (hotel/plane/drive) to some tournaments, and you will have incremental costs like parking, incidentals, and food on the day of the tourney.
FAQs: How Much Do Pickleball Tournaments Cost?
Why are pickleball tournaments so expensive?
Pickleball event organizers have several high ticket costs that drive up fees for players. These include costs related to:
- Renting the venue
- Staff to handle registration and the litany of support questions from participants
- Staff to run the event
- Software, marketing and advertising costs
Another reason pickleball tournaments are so expensive is demand - the number of pickleball players is exploding so demand for tournaments is very high and people will pay a premium to play events.
What is the most expensive pickleball tournament?
The most expensive pickleball tournament to play is the US Nationals, put on by USA Pickleball and the PPA each November in Dallas, TX. The cost to register for and play 2 amateur events is around $350.
How much do pickleball tournaments pay?
At professional pickleball tournaments by the APP and PPA, payouts are awarded for men’s and women’s singles, doubles, and mixed doubles for the Pro and Senior Pro (over 50) events. Payouts are usually awarded for the top 6-10 finishers in the Pro division and top 3 finishers in the Sr. Pro division. In the pro division, a gold in singles will net $2,000 - $10,000 and a gold in doubles $4,000 - $20,000 (gross for the team).
Here is the APP’s promised payouts for 2024:
The US Open, which is one of the largest tournaments each year, pays out as follows:
For the Sr. Pro (over 50) division, payouts for a singles gold is in the $1,000 range and doubles $1200 - $3000.
Keep in mind the top pros also have sponsorship deals that include money sponsorships, travel reimbursement, appearance fees, free equipment and other sources of revenue.
How do you enter a pickleball tournament?
Entering a pickleball tournament is pretty straightforward, first find the tournament you want to play and register at the tournament's website. Pickleballbrackets.com is a popular site for finding and signing up for tournaments.
There are lots of tricks and tips to finding and entering tournaments, so we wrote a guide that includes intel on finding and registering tournaments, tournament formats and rules, and even how you can prepare in the weeks leading up to the event.
For a deeper dive on how pros prepare for tournaments, with 7 recommendations and actions you can take to improve tournament performance, check out our Tournament Pickleball Playbook. It incorporates pro feedback and best practices based on hundreds of professional matches.
Can anyone enter a pickleball tournament?
Yes! Most tournaments are on a first come first serve basis but anyone can enter pickleball tournaments, unless a tournament or draw requires certain qualifications or is invite only.
Many tournaments and draws sell-out so it’s important to register early and check the tournament registration requirements to ensure you are signing up for the correct event.
