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Tennis Channel will be airing pickleball separately on a new network named 'Pickleball Tv'. This news, however, has angered fans greatly as they don't rate the paddle sport highly.
Even though pickleball has existed since 1965, the sport has gained more traction over the last one year. Tennis Channel and the PPA Tour even announced a collaboration in September to promote the latter tour's matches on their media platforms.
The American sports cable network has now gone one step further, creating a separate avenue for the paddle sport. These developments didn't sit well with the most ardent tennis fans.
One fan on X asserted that he would rather watch Jimmy Connors and Aaron Krickstein's five-set thriller from the 1991 US Open.
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"@TennisChannel @PPAtour I'd rather watch Aaron Krickstein vs Jimmy Connors for the 311th time," they wrote.
Another fan, meanwhile, rhetorically asked which official had signed off on the deal, writing:
"LoL yeah…. Okay…. Who thought this was a good idea?"
For what its worth, a few fans were admittedly happy that the paddle sport's matches won't disrupt live tennis action anymore.
"@TennisChannel @PPAtour Excellent news if this means that activity is getting off of “tennis channel”," one fan wrote.
Here are a few more reactions from social media:
Pickleball has already attracted some of the most popular tennis players in the USA
Pickleball is a popular sport in the USA at the moment. While it has struggled to find an avid audience among tennis fans, the casuals have lapped it up. Moreover, the paddle sport has also roped in a horde of famous players from both the ATP and WTA tours.
Recently, the likes of 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard, former World No. 8 Jack Sock, American veteran Sam Querrey, and former top-50 player Donald Young signed up to play on the PPA Tour.
Past legends like Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, and Michael Chang have also endorsed the sport through their involvement in exhibition matches.
Pickleball Slam is an iconic exhibition event held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in South Florida, USA, where players compete for a prize money of $1 million. The score format is best-of-three, with a 10-point super-tiebreaker to decide the match if the first two sets are tied. The gig is broadcast live on ESPN countrywide. The next edition will be held in February, 2024.
