The Paddletek One Point Slam put 80 players on seven courts in Times Square, where every match came down to a single rally and the last team standing took home $5,000.
Most pickleball matches take time to build. At CityPickle Times Square, they lasted one rally. CityPickle and paddle maker Paddletek recently hosted the Paddletek One Point Slam, a single-elimination doubles tournament where every match was decided by a single point. The event was open to the public, and the winning team walked away with a $5,000 grand prize.
Eighty players took the courts across seven courts and six rounds, with the field cut in half after every point until one championship point decided the title. The whole tournament ran about two hours.
Paddletek, the title sponsor, added a twist of its own. In each round, the team using more Paddletek paddles than its opponent won the coin toss automatically, a small edge in a format where serving first can matter. Beverage brand Beyond Immerse also sampled its sparkling protein drink on site.
CityPickle co-founder and co-CEO Mary Cannon said the unpredictability is the point, since any player is one rally away from $5,000. Ron Saslow, founder and managing partner of Thirty-5 Capital, which manages the Paddletek Group, said the event lets everyday players feel the pressure usually reserved for the pros.
The One Point Slam fits a broader strategy at CityPickle, which positions itself as a social and lifestyle brand as much as a place to play. Co-founder and co-CEO Erica Desai said events like this raise the stakes of the sport while building the social connections CityPickle wants to be known for.
The company opened New York’s first indoor pickleball club in Long Island City before launching a 37,000-square-foot flagship in the Paramount Building in Times Square, complete with climate-controlled courts and a full bar and restaurant. It also runs 14 seasonal outdoor courts at Central Park’s Wollman Rink and has staged pop-up activations at Hudson Yards, Atlantic Terminal and Philadelphia’s City Hall.
CityPickle’s growth is continuing outside New York, with a large racquet sports club in Boca Raton, Fla., on the way that will add padel courts to its pickleball lineup. Back in Manhattan, the PickleBowl: Heisman Edition is set for Dec. 12 at CityPickle Times Square, featuring celebrities, athletes and Heisman Trophy winners in support of the Wuerffel Foundation. A 60,000-square-foot, 11-court venue in DUMBO, CityPickle Brooklyn Bridge, is slated to open in early spring.
