Dallas, Texas and Sydney, Australia – The Carvana PPA Tour, the elite pickleball tour where top athletes go head-to-head to determine the best players in the world, has announced a partnership with Pacific Pickleball to bring the gold standard of pro pickleball to Australia. The tour will henceforth be known as PPA Tour Australia and will showcase Australia’s top pickleball players alongside amateur play across all ages and skill levels in six markets throughout the Asia Pacific region.
“We are thrilled to join the PPA Tour family and to bring their world-class product to our region.” said CEO and co-founder Adam Thompson. “This partnership solidifies our tour, the PPA Tour Australia, as the home of professional pickleball.
“Over the last 18 months we have grown exponentially, and this partnership is a landmark moment for our tour format. As an organization, we are so excited to be able to showcase the incredible talent our region has to offer.”
The first event of the partnership will take place February 23-25 at the Pacific Pro Sydney, aligning with the look, feel and format of the PPA Tour. PPA Tour Australia will continue to showcase the traditional “tour” style of pro pickleball, where players compete in singles, doubles and mixed doubles for gold, silver and bronze medals. Each tour stop also features an amateur competition. The PPA Tour and PPA Tour Australia are also planning on holding a combined event in February 2025 in Melbourne, with more details to be announced.
Additionally, PPA Tour Australia competition will be broadcast on PickleballTV, the newly-launched 24/7/365 dedicated pickleball channel, in the future. This will bring PPA Tour Australia and its players to an international broadcast audience for the very first time.
The Dink Media Team
“The PPA Tour is going global! And we are ecstatic to be partnering with PPL to launch the PPA Tour Australia,” said Carvana PPA Tour Founder and CEO Connor Pardoe. “Our partners have shown that they are the premier pro and amateur pickleball organization in Australia, and the alignment with the PPA Tour brand further solidifies their standing. We are very much looking forward to the first event in Sydney and beyond!”
In partnership with Pickleball’s governing body in Australia; Pickleball Australia Association, which celebrated a milestone of 10,000 members this week, PPA Tour Australia is focused on showcasing elite talent and promoting the sport. The organization hosted five events in 2023 with a total prize pool of over AUD $200,000 and has committed to a total prize purse of AUD $700,000 for the 2024 calendar of Professional events across Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.
