Drew Brees is bringing pickleball to Seattle with new indoor facility

Former NFL star quarterback Drew Brees’ pickleball company, Picklr, is coming to Seattle.

The fast-growing sport is finding a home in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, with a pickleball center moving into a 26,500-square-foot warehouse previously occupied by Theo Chocolate, according to The Puget Sound Business Journal. The space is located at 124 N. 35th Street.

The pickleball center will have tournaments, leagues of various skill levels and sizes, clinics and training, and events both public and private. Year-long memberships will be available for those who want to join, in addition to single-day passes. The estimated construction cost is $1 million, per The Puget Sound Business Journal.

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“It’s no secret that the game of pickleball has exploded in popularity,” Picklr CEO Jorge Barragan said in a prepared statement. “Guided by strong corporate leadership and inspired by our enthusiastic team of franchise owners, The Picklr heads into this next chapter with an eye on bringing even more courts and a strong, like-minded community to pickleball players worldwide.”

For the third year in a row, pickleball, which origins hail from Bainbridge Island just outside of Seattle when it was invented in 1965, was crowned as the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., according to SFIA’s Topline Participation Report. Pickleball has grown 51.8% from 2022 to 2023, and by 224% over the last three years. Every age demographic saw a growth in participation during this span.

The skyrocketing sport caught the eye of Super Bowl MVP and future NFL Hall of Famer Drew Brees, who joined Picklr as a franchise co-owner and ambassador early last year.

“My mission in business and franchising is to work with top-tier organizations and people to create a best-in-class culture and provide exceptional experiences. I saw that immediately with Picklr,” Drew Brees said when he became co-owner. “We have created a community and environment where everyone can build relationships, compete, develop skills and have fun while promoting a healthy and active lifestyle through one of the most popular sports in the world. Pickleball is for everyone, and there is no better place to be than The Picklr.”

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Seattle has had a burgeoning pickleball movement over the last five years. In May 2023, it was announced that Seattle had the most pickleball courts per 100,000 people in the U.S., though it has since been passed up by Louisville, Kentucky, Madison, Wisconsin and Honolulu, Hawaii. But pickleball enthusiasts in the Puget Sound region have struggled to enjoy the sport as most of the courts for pickleball are outdoors, conflicting with the region’s rainy climate.

Last December, Side Out Pickleball Centers opened the first indoor facility dedicated to pickleball in the Seattle metro area, with plans to open a 26-court center later this year in South Seattle.

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.