United Pickleball Association in Expansion of Pickleball Platform and Concurrent Investment Led by Apollo Sports Capital

Cleary Gottlieb represented the United Pickleball Association (UPA) in a business combination with entities that own Pickleball Central, Pickleball Play Solutions, Pickleball.com, and Just Courts and a concurrent $225 million investment in the combined business led by Apollo Sports Capital.

The transaction signed and closed on April 30, 2026. The transaction results in the largest singularly operated pickleball ecosystem in existence, integrating professional and amateur pickleball with leading technology, retail, and infrastructure platforms.

UPA is the parent company of Major League Pickleball (MLP)—the preeminent team-based professional pickleball league—and the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) Tour, which hosts world-class pickleball tournaments for top athletes as well as amateur tournaments.

Apollo Sports Capital is the specialized investment platform of the global alternative asset manager Apollo Global Management and provides capital solutions across the global sports and live events ecosystem.

The Cleary corporate team was led by partner Matthew Schwartz and associates Luke Swiderski, Moliang Jiang, and Megan Conner. Partners Meyer Fedida and Kylie Barza and associate Kathy Zhang advised on tax matters. Partner Alan Levine and associates Eitan Agagi and John Greenberg advised on executive compensation and employee benefits matter. Partner Marcela Robledo and associate Francesca Huth advised on intellectual property matters.