Whatever Happened to Racquetball

April 5th is the 107th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Sobek, a professional tennis and handball player who invented racquetball in 1950. His new game incorporated aspects of paddleball, squash and handball. The popularity of Sobek’s game sport skyrocketed in the 1970s due to that decade’s fitness boom. Racquetball’s growth was aided by the existence of thousands of handball courts which could also serve as racquetball courts at YMCAs and Jewish Community Centers. As the game became popular, entrepreneurs started building racquetball clubs. By 1980, it seemed like everyone was playing the sport and the Olympic Committee recognized it as a “developing” Olympic sport. By the mid -1980s, investors realized that they could reap bigger profits by converting space reserved for two racquetball players into rooms that could facilitate aerobics classes or exercise equipment. Many players switched to other physical activities. This had a multiplier effect since racquetball enthusiasts started losing their partners.  Finding new participants had many obstacles including high membership costs and the fact that many people prefer outdoor sports. Another challenge was that many novices were intimidated by the speed of the game and potential for injury. The number of racquetball participants peaked at 12 million in the early eighties. Today there are supposedly 3.5 million players but if you find one, please let me know. New Phenomenon The newest craze is pickleball, a sport that is very appealing to former racquetball and tennis players.  Pickleball has less movement, a smaller court and is easier on aging bodies. The sport was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington as a backyard game for children. Joel Pritchard and a couple of his golfing buddies created the game utilizing spare equipment from several sports: a badminton court, paddleball paddles, a net the height of a tennis net, and a wiffleball.  Pritchard’s wife, Joan, explains that “The name of the game became Pickle Ball after I said it reminded me of the pickle boat in crew where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of other boats.” Pickleball has been named the fastest-growing sport in the United States for four consecutive years. There are approximately 20 million participants in the U.S, an almost 50% increase from 2023. The 25-34 age group has the most players (4.6M) while seniors over 65 were the second largest bracket (3.8M). Major League Pickleball (MLP) and the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) generate significant revenue from various television networks including Pickleball TV. Professional players with the MLP and PPA tours collectively earn in excess of $30 Million per season, more than the WNBA and the Premiere Lacrosse League. Contrast those numbers with the ill-fated, once extremely popular racquetball. Unlike pickleball which is played in bright sunshine, television networks found that racquetball didn’t translate to the screen because of the dark, confined space in which it was played. And as if racquetball doesn’t have enough problems, Kevin Klipstein, CEO of U.S. Squash has announced that his organization is going to “quickly and aggressively” cannibalize America’s racquetball courts in order to grow participation in squash. Using pickleball’s current threat to tennis as an example, Klipstein vowed to mount a similar takeover of an existing player base and court inventory. Klipstein stated, “Racquetball once did the same thing to handball” The Survivors Squash is as popular as ever due to organized programs at many high schools and colleges. There are approximately 20 million participants spread across 130 countries. An estimated 1.5 million players enjoy squash in the U.S. And what about the sport that was supposedly supplanted by racquetball? Surprisingly. handball’s popularity estimates are almost identical to those of Squash -an estimated 20 million participants worldwide, 1.5 million of whom live in the U.S. The good news is that if you want to stay physically fit and mentally alert there are plenty of sports from which to choose. So far, I have avoided the siren call of the pickleball court. However, I expect it will be around for a while because unlike racquetball it is outdoors (usually), inexpensive and relatively easy on aging bones. Now if I could only find an alternative to golf! Have a great weekend.   .

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