Professional Pickleball's Equal Pay Power Move Should Be The Standard

Forbes

6 hours ago

Catherine Parenteau extends for a shot at the Atlanta Open.
Two-time WNBA champion Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces leads the League in earnings, making $252,450 annually under a two-year, $504,900 contract extension. Professional female athletes have made significant strides toward achieving equal pay, but the gap remains substantial.
In an unexpected twist, it's not basketball or soccer that's pushing the envelope on compensation. It's pickleball, a fast-rising sport where women are earning more than ever before. The average annual salary for contracted professional female pickleball players now sits at $260,000 a year.
In an industry where female athletes often fight just to be paid at all, Major League Pickleball is rewriting the economics of women's sports. Additionally, the League also hosts coed double competitions.
A Sport Built On Equity From Day One
Unlike legacy sports leagues with outdated pay structures and male-dominated hierarchies, pro pickleball was built in the digital era. This gave its founders a clean slate and a business incentive to promote parity. The PPA and MLP aren't bound by legacy media deals or decades of ingrained bias. They're agile, investor-backed and eager to grow a coed audience.
As a result, women's matches receive nearly equal broadcast time and promotional attention. Sponsorships aren't filtered through a 'men-first' lens.
As Commissioner of MLP, Samin Odhwani brings a strategy-first lens shaped by years at the NBA and in athlete investment. But what sets his leadership apart is a radical idea in pro sports: gender equity doesn't need to be gradual. It can be immediate.
'You can just pay them equally,' he states. 'You don't have to ask questions about it.'
MESA, ARIZONA - MAY 31: Former professional tennis and current professional pickleball player Jack ... More Sock of the Phoenix Flames hits a forehand volley shot during the mixed doubles match against the Dallas Flash Pickleball at the Arizona Athletic Grounds on May 31, 2025 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by)
Why This Matters Beyond The Court
Women's sports have long been positioned as a financial risk. Pickleball proves otherwise. It didn't have to overhaul a century of inequity or navigate entrenched bureaucracies. It built something new during the pandemic, and it did so with women on equal footing from the start.
In doing so, professional pickleball has quietly become a model of pay equity in sports, not with press releases or public pledges, but with actual paychecks. And in a sports economy overdue for disruption, that's a game-changer.
Odhwani argues that by paying women enough to go full-time, they're able to invest in training, improve performance and deliver a better product for fans. It's a self-reinforcing loop that benefits everyone.
'If the athlete can invest in themselves,' the commissioner explains, 'they become better players, and then we receive the benefit.'
This could set a precedent for other emerging leagues. If pickleball can prioritize pay equity and still grow its brand, what's stopping the top four leagues from doing the same? The uncomfortable answer: tradition.
Veolia North Carolina Open Championship match Catherine Pareneteau/Anna Leigh Waters versus Tina ... More Pisnik/Kate Fahey.
The Talent Magnet Effect
Competition is attracting a new wave of elite athletes who might have once targeted tennis. Former NCAA stars and Olympic hopefuls are now pivoting toward pickleball, drawn not just by dollars but by the promise of a platform that sees them as equal players.
Catherine Parenteau, currently ranked fourth in women's singles and a top-five contender across doubles and mixed doubles, didn't set out to become a professional pickleball player. A shoulder injury derailed her post-college tennis plans until her coach and mentor, Simone Jardim, introduced her to the fast-paced world of pickleball. What began as a casual league match quickly turned into a full-fledged career.
Since that first game nearly a decade ago, Parenteau has watched—and helped—pickleball evolve into a legitimate professional sport. With MLP's coed format and equal team slots for men and women, she sees a structural commitment to parity that most sports still lack.
'It's pretty amazing for female athletes,' she comments. 'They get the same number [of spots] as males that can play on a team. The number of professional athletes getting involved in our sport is huge. It helps promote your sport.'
Parenteau's team, the L.A. Mad Drops, includes celebrity investors like Drew Brees and WNBA star Haley Jones. These types of investors help drive visibility and legitimacy. Yet it's not just star power moving the needle; it's the culture of inclusion that sets the sport apart.
That inclusion extends beyond the court. As a veteran athlete and role model, Parenteau views her leadership style as grounded in experience and mentorship. She uses her platform to mentor younger players, promote the sport in new communities and participate in charitable clinics.
Her rise also coincided with pickleball's surge during the pandemic—a moment when social distancing made it one of the few sports that felt accessible and safe. The simplicity, low cost and intergenerational appeal of the game helped it explode in popularity.
'Start competing as early as you can,' she explains. 'Enter lower-level tournaments and eventually work your way up. Don't put yourself higher than your level so that you don't get too upset with your result. Gradually go from there.'
MLP leans into its strengths: explosive participation, low barriers to entry and a culture that treats women as full participants from day one. It's a different kind of playbook and one that corporate America might do well to study.
'You don't have to do a phased rollout,' Odhwani concludes about building growing Major League Pickleball. 'You can just hit 'go' and accept that this is the right thing to do.'