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February 24, 2025
MENASHA – With the popularity of pickleball on the rise, Centerline Athletics – a Menasha-based company specializing in athletic apparel for pickleball players – is primed for a breakout year.
Pickleball – the fastest-growing sport in America, according to usapickleball.org – is a paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong.
It’s played with a perforated plastic ball and a paddle on a badminton-sized court with a tennis-type net.
As pickleball surges toward a $7.9 billion industry, Managing Director Scott Brown said Centerline is leading the charge with cutting-edge designs and serious momentum in the market.
“The Centerline Athletics brand was launched March 31, 2024, and we used RacquetX in Miami Beach as our platform to launch things,” he said. “The source of what we’re doing is really rooted in pickleball – that’s our passion and where we deliver our product.”
Brown said all Centerline’s products have been “vigorously tested.”
“Every one of our products has been developed over a minimum of four rounds of iterations from pickleball athletes wearing our apparel – across genders – and providing us feedback regarding the material, the fit, the movement, etc.,” he said. “From moisture-wicking fabrics to lightweight, high-performance designs, Centerline is setting a new standard for pickleball apparel.”
Brown said that’s where Centerline differentiates itself from other brands.
“There are other brands out there that might repurpose/rename some of their apparel/products they might use with tennis but then transfer that to pickleball,” he said. “Nobody is really designing, developing and bringing to market what we have, which is a pure pickleball apparel product.”
In an effort to increase name and product awareness in the industry, Centerline sponsors pickleball athlete Thomas Wilson.
“He’s a good, kind, great athlete who is a family oriented man,” he said. “He fits our brand well.”
According to Centerline’s website (centerlineathletics.com), Wilson said he is honored to wear Centerline’s apparel.
“I am honored to be the first sponsored pro pickleball athlete by Centerline Athletics,” he said. “Being the face of a new brand presents an extraordinary opportunity, and I am thrilled to contribute. The brand’s dedication to quality and performance deeply aligns with my values as an athlete. I look forward to representing a brand that shares my passion for the sport of pickleball.”
First-year growth, and beyond
Brown said Centerline’s achievements in its first year, include:
- 20% month-over-month growth over the past nine months
- Surpassed six figures in revenue
- High-profile retail partnerships with Tennis Warehouse and Pickleball Kingdom pro shops, with more to come
“Further building on its success, Centerline is kicking off multi-year apparel sponsorships this competitive season with top pickleball organizations, including the Association of Pickleball Players (APP), National Pickleball League (NPL) and Major League Pickleball,” he said. “These strategic partnerships are positioning Centerline as the go-to apparel brand for players at all levels, from recreational athletes to elite competitors.”
Brown said the NPL currently has 13 professional teams, growing to 16 or 18 by the end of this year.
“Every one of those teams will be wearing our product from head to toe,” he said. “With the APP, we’re not their exclusive provider, but we are their main apparel provider. Our apparel will be available for sale at every one of their 200 (yearly) events and also at their main facility in Ft. Lauderdale, (Florida), which recently opened.”
Though the company has found success, Brown said Centerline “had a lot of learnings in its first year.”
“It’s because we issued a new brand from scratch,” he said. “The hardest part of (launching something new) is brand awareness.”
A pickleball vision
Brown said though headquartered in Menasha, Centerline’s fulfillment facility is in Appleton.
“One of our three investors – who are all local to Wisconsin – is an avid pickleball player, and he brought this opportunity to the other two investors,” he said. “They felt there was a big opportunity out there for this. They did some market analysis and wanted to focus on pickleball apparel. It was an area of opportunity not many other brands are seeking to really penetrate and be a pure innovative apparel company such as we are.”
Brown said part of Centerline’s success is because “we listen to our customers.”
“You first have to build a great product,” he said. “We have kept in mind the consumer and the athlete and have kept them involved in the process. We’re trying to take some lessons from what the consumers are looking for – we want to do what we say we’re going to do.”
Brown said as Centerline expands, he envisions possibly adding more locations.
“That would require us to expand in (Appleton) or have multiple distribution locations,” he said. “In Menasha, it’s a small office with a few employees.”
Smashing its way to success
Though pickleball is not an Olympic sport – yet – Brown said the popularity of the game has helped Centerline “make a smash.”
According to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) website (olympics.com/ioc), the IOC has already announced new programs for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, and pickleball is not on the list.
However, consideration for 2032 could still be a possibility, Brown said.
“Whereas some sports come in, make a splash and then phase out, pickleball is not one of those sports – it’s not slowing down,” he said. “Pickleball has grown 51.8% from 2022-23, and an incredible 223.5% in four years since 2020. Because of pickleball’s success, I think we have been able to capitalize on that.”
Brown said when pickleball first started, it was a sport where ages 35 and older generally played.
“Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, you saw a lot of older folks enjoying pickleball,” he said. “It’s a low-impact sport. In the last year, we’re seeing ages 16-28 being the largest demographic segment playing.”
Brown wouldn’t go as far as saying the pickleball apparel market is saturated, but he did say there is competition.
“We feel good about our differentiation,” he said. “That’s what we feel is needed.”
For more information about Centerline Athletics, its partnerships and its pickleball apparel, visit its website and follow the brand on social media.
