Who Is Steve Kuhn? The Investor Who Helped Turn Pickleball Into a Global Sports Business
In most professional sports leagues, franchise valuations climb slowly over decades.
In pickleball, they jumped 100× in about a year.
When Major League Pickleball launched, original teams reportedly sold for about $100,000. Within roughly twelve months, those same franchises were being valued at nearly $10 million.
The surge signaled something bigger than a new sports league. It marked the moment pickleball entered the world of serious sports investment—and at the center of that shift was Steve Kuhn.
The former hedge fund manager became one of the most influential figures in pickleball’s modern development, helping accelerate the sport’s transition from grassroots recreation into a legitimate sports business. Through professional league creation, technology platforms, and global expansion initiatives, Kuhn helped shape an ecosystem that now includes professional franchises, celebrity ownership groups, and international competition.
Today, pickleball is widely recognized as the fastest-growing sport in the United States and one of the fastest-expanding sports globally.
From Finance to the Fastest-Growing Sport in America
Before entering the sports industry, Steve Kuhn built his career in finance as a successful hedge fund manager and investor. After decades in global markets, he turned his attention toward sports ventures and emerging opportunities.
Like millions of others, Kuhn first encountered pickleball recreationally. But he quickly recognized something the broader sports world had not yet fully realized: participation in the sport was exploding, but the professional infrastructure didn’t exist.
Millions of players were entering pickleball each year, yet there was no established league ecosystem, limited media exposure, and few institutional investors paying attention.
Kuhn believed the sport was positioned for something much bigger.
Launching Major League Pickleball
In 2021, Kuhn founded Major League Pickleball, introducing a team-based format designed to bring the structure and excitement of major professional sports to pickleball.
The league introduced several elements rarely seen in the sport at the time:
Team ownership groups
Player drafts
Co-ed team competition
Event-driven tournament formats
Investor-backed franchises
The model reframed pickleball not simply as a recreational pastime, but as a sports entertainment property capable of attracting investment, media rights, and long-term franchise value.
That shift quickly began drawing attention from some of the most recognizable figures in the global sports industry.
Celebrity Investors Bring Instant Credibility
When ownership groups tied to LeBron James, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Naomi Osaka, and Drew Brees entered the league, pickleball suddenly had the kind of sports-world credibility normally reserved for established professional leagues.
The presence of high-profile investors signaled that pickleball was no longer just a recreational sport—it had become an emerging asset class within the sports investment landscape.
And the franchise valuations reflected that shift.
The Valuation Surge That Caught the Sports World’s Attention
In the league’s first year, original Major League Pickleball franchises reportedly sold for approximately $100,000.
Within roughly a year, those same teams were being valued at close to $10 million.
That represents a 100× increase in franchise value—an acceleration rarely seen in modern sports economics.
To understand how unusual that rise was, it helps to compare it with other professional leagues.
When Major League Soccer launched in 1996, expansion teams cost roughly $5–10 million. Today, expansion franchises sell for $300–500 million—but that growth occurred over more than 25 years.
Similarly, the Ultimate Fighting Championship sold for $2 million in 2001 and later sold for $4 billion in 2016—one of the most successful sports investments in history. Even that transformation took 15 years, not one.
Across leagues like the National Football League, franchise valuations typically increase 10–20 percent per year—not thousands of percent in a single season.
For investors, the opportunity resembled getting involved in leagues like MLS or UFC before their major growth cycles began.
Building Pickleball’s Global Rating System
Kuhn’s influence on the sport extended beyond league development.
He also helped launch DUPR, a global technology platform designed to provide a standardized pickleball rating system.
DUPR allows players—from beginners to professionals—to track their skill level and find competitive matches anywhere in the world. The system has quickly become one of the foundational pieces of competitive pickleball infrastructure.
For a sport expanding as quickly as pickleball, that kind of global rating system plays an important role in organizing competition and connecting players across regions.
A Central Figure During Pickleball’s “Tour Wars”
As professional pickleball began attracting serious investment, the sport entered a period often referred to as the “tour wars.”
Multiple organizations were competing to shape the structure of the professional game, including Major League Pickleball, the Professional Pickleball Association, and other emerging tours.
The rapid growth of the sport meant investors, leagues, and tours were all attempting to define the professional ecosystem that would guide pickleball’s future.
While the competition occasionally created tension across the sport’s business landscape, it also accelerated innovation, investment, and media exposure.
Industry observers now often view that era as a pivotal moment—one that pushed pickleball to evolve faster than expected.
Expanding Pickleball Beyond the United States
Kuhn’s long-term vision for pickleball has always extended beyond the American market.
In recent years, attention has increasingly shifted toward Asia, where participation, facilities, and investment interest are growing rapidly.
Through initiatives such as Pickleball Champions League, professional team competition is now being introduced to new international markets.
Across its broader ecosystem, the organization now connects:
clubs across 15+ countries
more than 1,500 players competing throughout Asia
The league has already generated strong engagement metrics, including:
50,000+ peak concurrent livestream viewers
millions of livestream views across league content
millions of social media impressions across regional platforms
Alongside the league, PCL Rising Stars Academy focuses on identifying and developing young players across Asia, building a pipeline of athletes capable of competing at the professional level.
The strategy reflects a long-term approach: build grassroots participation while introducing professional competition at the same time.
The Architect of Pickleball’s Investment Era
Pickleball’s rise has been one of the most notable participation stories in modern sports.
Participation continues to surge. New facilities are opening worldwide. Investors are exploring media rights, franchise ownership, and international leagues.
Much of the foundation for that ecosystem—team leagues, global player ratings, and international development—can be traced back to Steve Kuhn’s early vision.
In many ways, he helped move pickleball from community courts into the global sports investment conversation.
And as the sport continues expanding internationally, the impact of those early bets is still shaping what pickleball may ultimately become.
