The Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) is a professional Pickleball tour for amateurs and professional players. It was found in 2019 by Ken Hermann who aligned it with the United States of America Pickleball (USAP). The organisation is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, USA and is since then known as the official pro tour partner of USA Pickleball.
The APP has players from countries of USA, Canada and certain parts of Europe. It also boosts a Next Gen series of tournaments to develop a young generation of Pickleball players. 2023 marks the fourth season of the APP tour. There are 16 tournaments scheduled by APP. These tournaments are played at intercollegiate and national levels. Eight of these tournaments will be broadcasted on ESPN and CBS Sports Network and will be produced by Intersport. 12 hours of live matches and highlights will be aired. Apart from this, matches will also be aired on the tour’s main outlet, APPTV. The tour has a total of 22 sponsors.
The number of tournaments in the APP tour has declined compared to 2022, where 32 tournaments were played in 5 countries that attracted over 800 players. The total prize money awarded by the APP is projected to be around $2 million. The tickets for viewers ranges from $10 to $70 dollars.
APP is one of the two domestic governing bodies of Pickleball in USA. The other body is their rival organization Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) about which we shall discuss in the next article.
