Anika Begay
Fitness club company Life Time says it has created the “ultimate” ball for the booming sport of pickleball.
Courtesy: Life Time
Tired of playing with pickleballs that he found inconsistent in bounce and durability, All my lifeBahram Akradi founder and CEO has decided to take matters into his own hands.
On Friday, the upscale fitness and lifestyle company announced it has created what it calls “the ultimate pickleball.” Life Time will debut the ball exclusively at the company’s clubs later in August.
“This was a problem in sports and it needed to be solved, so we basically stepped in and solved it,” Akradi said.
Akradi has put all his money on the fastest-growing sport in America since 2021, and remains bullish on its potential. It’s a key part of the growth strategy for Life Time, which has seen its shares rise 57% year-to-date. On August 1, the company raised its full-year outlook after a solid second-quarter performance.
Life Time will soon sell the ball in its racquet shops and online. The company is still deciding on its price.
Life Time’s “athletic country clubs” boast more than 700 permanent pickleball courts. The company plans to expand that to 1,000 courts by the end of 2025.
“Our goal is to give people the right places to play, the right experience, the right consistency,” Akradi added.
Akradi said the company has already invested between $50 million and $100 million in pickleball, and that the sport has brought in between 6% and 7% of Life Time’s membership fees.
Life Time also hosts professional tournaments at its clubs for Major League Pickleball and the Professional Pickleball Association. Professional organizations use Vulcan as their “official ball,” but Akradi hopes to change that in the future.
In May, the company announced that Lululemon would be its official tennis and pickleball apparel sponsor.
The company has also partnered with tennis legend Andre Agassi and top-rated pickleball player Ben Johns to further grow the sport.
