CNN
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Tom Brady may or may not have retirement in mind, but he’s certainly expanding his portfolio of extracurricular interests — this time he’s putting his money into Pickleball.
Last month, the seven-time Super Bowl champion twice hinted that retirement wasn’t far off, saying he was “close to the end” of his NFL career.
Now, the 45-year-old quarterback has joined former world No. 1 tennis player Kim Clijsters in an ownership group that has bought an expansion team for the 2023 Major League Pickleball (MLP) season.
MLP founder Steve Kuhn said he was “thrilled” to add the Stars to the league’s list of strategic partners, adding that they “are champions in their fields and will now be champions for Major League Pickleball.”
Brady and Clijsters are following in the footsteps of other sports titans, including LeBron James and fellow NBA players Draymond Green and Kevin Love, who were revealed earlier this year to have joined a consortium buying an expansion franchise in MLP while the Competition from 12 grows to 16 teams.
“We are thrilled to welcome them to our unrivaled roster of strategic partners who, individually and collectively, are committed to helping us improve professional pickleball, and to show millions of people around the world the joy it brings.” , and driving our 40 x 30 campaign — our mission to reach 40 million pickleball players by 2030,” Kuhn added in a press release.
The basic goal of pickleball, like other racquet sports, is to hit the ball over the net and prevent an opponent from hitting it back.
It can be played in singles or doubles, indoors or outdoors on a 20 x 44 foot court – about the size of a badminton court – and lasts until a side reaches 11 points, with a two-point cushion.
Pickleball’s popularity has skyrocketed in North America, due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic, as it offers a safe, socially distanced form of exercise.
It had originally found a solid footing in retirement communities, where it was popular for its sociable aspect, moderate exercise and just because it was fun.
However, between 2018 and 2021, pickleball membership in the United States nearly doubled, and the organization estimates that 4.8 million Americans play the sport today.
The New Yorker even asked if Pickleball could save America, Ellen DeGeneres featured on her eponymous TV show about her “obsession” with it, Vanity Fair wondered how it had won everyone over, and the Kardashians played it in their own reality -Show.
Financial terms of Brady’s Clijsters’ investment were not disclosed.