Cleaning out the Kitchen: Anti-Competitive Agreements in Professional Pickleball 22 Virginia Sports and Entertainment Law Journal 2023-2024

22 Va. Sports & Ent. L.J. 94 (2023-2024)
Cleaning out the Kitchen: Anti-Competitive Agreements in Professional Pickleball

handle is hein.journals/virspelj22 and id is 96 raw text is:

SPRING 2023 CLEANING OUT THE KITCHEN: ANTI-COMPETITIVE AGREEMENTS VOL. 22:1
IN PROFESSIONAL PICKLEBALL

CLEANING OUT THE KITCHEN: ANTI-COMPETITIVE
AGREEMENTS IN PROFESSIONAL PICKLEBALL

By: Jackson Lindquist1

I. In tro d u ctio n .........................................................................................................94
II. Pickleball, a Brief Background .................................................................. . 95
III. Tour Wars: The Professional Pickleball Landscape ...................................97
IV. An Introduction and Application of the Relevant Law .................................107
A . A n titrust L a w ..................................................................................................107
1. Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherm an A ct..........................................................107
2 . T h e C lay to n A ct .........................................................................................1 15
B. Professional Pickleball Players' Employment Classification.........................117
C. Professional Pickleball Players: Unions and Trade Associations .................123
V . C o n clu sion .........................................................................................................12 6

I. INTRODUCTION

To the surprise of many, the burgeoning sport of pickleball could be the topic
of countless scholarly legal articles. Such topics could include pickleball's path to
adoption as an Olympic sport, nuisance lawsuits over the loud thwack of the hard
plastic ball the sport is played with, or the inevitable role and regulation of gambling in
the sport's near future. This Note, consistent with the personal and professional
interests of the Author, explores the current regulatory layout of professional pickleball
- a new and contested industry in which questions surrounding antitrust law,
employment classification, and player unification have recently emerged. Section I of
this Note provides general background information on the sport of pickleball, its

'Jackson Lindquist is a third-year law student at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of
Law. Jackson is also an avid pickleball player. He is an advanced 5.0 player, sponsored by Selkirk Sport, and
dabbles in professional events. Jackson has been playing pickleball for about seven years, which is longer
than the sport has been mainstream. For years, Jackson has been interested in the professional pickleball
scene. As this Note will depict, competing tours, billionaires, and celebrities have propelled the growth of
professional pickleball in an almost movie-like fashion. However, rapid growth rarely connotes smooth
sailing, and the pro pickleball landscape has not been immune to anti-competitive actions, back-stabbing, and
controversy. In the spirit of full disclosure, Jackson dates one of the best female pickleball players in the
world, MLP player and Gold Tour Card holder Jackie Kawamoto.
94

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