MSG Networks Is Latest To Catch Pickleball Fever

By Jon Lafayette
( Broadcasting & Cable )
last updated

Major League Pickleball tournament to air this weekend

Pickleball MSG Networks
(Image credit: MSG Networks)

MSG Networks, the home of the storied New York Knicks and New York Rangers, will be televising a pickleball tournament this weekend, cashing in on the surprising popularity of what MSG bills as one of the fastest-growing sports in the country.

MSG Networks will be televising the final Major League Pickleball tournament of the year this weekend, which will feature 48 players and 12 teams competing in Columbus, Ohio.

Also: Tennis Channel Serves Up Celebrity Pickleball

The winner walks away with $100,000, the largest prize purse in pickleball history.

MSG SportsNet will feature live wall-to-wall coverage of the tournament starting Friday with the preliminary rounds. Quarterfinals will appear Saturday with the semifinal and final matches on Sunday.

Also: CBS To Air Celeb Pickleball Tournament Special

According to USA Pickleball, the sports combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong. It can be played indoors or outdoors on a badminton-sized court with a slightly modified tennis net. It is played with a paddle and a plastic ball with holes. There are singles matches and doubles matches. ■

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.