State development agency touts pickleball grants as a way to grow the economy

Pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in the country for three years running, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. In Michigan, the entity responsible for handing out subsidies to select corporations thinks that building more pickleball courts with the help of taxpayer funds will foster economic development.

Over the last few years, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation has issued various press releases announcing it will give $50,000 grants to various municipalities so they may build pickleball facilities. Local governments chosen for the grants include those in Alpena, East Lansing, Eaton Rapids, Fowler, Frankenmuth, Gladstone, Mackinac Island, Marshall, Plymouth and Traverse City. Grants are contingent on the governments collecting donations through the crowdsourcing website Patronicity.

The pickleball grants from the economic development organization, which also distributes state taxpayer funds to a variety of businesses, are part of its “Public Spaces Public Places” initiative, according to a press release posted online by the Michigan Municipal League.

A representative for the MEDC told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email that the initiative uses local knowledge to promote economic development. “The Public Spaces Community Places program is one of several opportunities the MEDC offers for local communities to create a vision of their community they feel best suits them and is part of the ‘places’ component of our Make it in Michigan economic development strategy,” wrote Danielle Emerson, public relations manager.

The state’s economic development agency is not the only entity to distribute taxpayer funds for pickleball. Clinton, a village in Lenawee County, received $394,100 from the Department of Natural Resources in 2024 for pickleball courts. The department made the grant part of its Sparks program, it described as a way to ”remove barriers to creating, renovating or redeveloping community-informed public recreation opportunities.” Clinton used a social media post to provide an update on the project, saying it “used 0 tax payer dollars.”

While pickleball players may enjoy the new courts, some of the sport’s enthusiasts are skeptical of providing taxpayer support.

Kristen Brown owns Brighton Pickleball club, an indoor facility in Brighton. She told Michigan Capitol Confidential in a text message that pickleball players want to grow the game organically and voluntarily, not through public subsidies.

“We believe the best way is bottom-up entrepreneurship not top-down control from the city or state government,” Brown wrote.

She added that the last thing pickleball enthusiasts want is for people who do not partake of pickleball to pay for their opportunity to play.