PPA’s Arizona Cup has huge viewership weekend

NASCAR’s wild finish was the most-watched event of last weekend, but pickleball and the PPA continue to enjoy record numbers.

More than 500,000 viewers checked out FOX’s broadcast of the Arizona Cup Sunday and saw Anna Leigh Waters earn a triple crown and Ben Johns earn his first gold medal in singles of 2024.

And it’s not just the amount of viewers that’s impressive. In the same Sunday noon time slot, the PPA’s event had more viewers than the Golf Channel, a pair of NCAA men’s basketball games, UNIVISION’s soccer show, and a NASCAR show on FS1.

The broadcast, which also featured Waters and Johns in the mixed doubles final, nearly doubled the number of watchers of Major League Soccer and women’s basketball from Saturday and had more viewers than the broadcast of the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training game, as well as more people watching than the NHL and English Premier League Soccer.

Not a bad weekend for the PPA and for pickleball and popularity.

On Sunday, the PPA’s mixed doubles final was third in its time slot for viewers, only behind two NCAA basketball games, one of which was on CBS and the other on ESPN.