Overview The USA Pickleball National Championships is the sport's nine-day national tournament, played in San Diego in 2025 and 2026, and its 2025 draw ran from an 11-year-old junior to an 87-year-old, with pro, wheelchair and collegiate brackets on the same 48 courts at Barnes Tennis Center. Amateurs earn their way in by winning a Golden Ticket at a qualifying tournament or piling up points in sanctioned events; the event's own tagline reads 'The stage is EARNED Not Given.' USA Pickleball, founded in 1984 as the United States Amateur Pickleball Association, runs it, and counted 104,828 members in January 2025. On site Juniors open the week. In 2026 the APP Selkirk U.S. Collegiate Series and wheelchair doubles shared that first Saturday, and then the draw worked through age brackets from 65-and-over down to 19 to 49, while the pro draws ran from the round of 32 on Wednesday to gold medal matches on the last Sunday. General admission is free and seats people first come, first served at Championship Court; reserved and VIP seats sit on that court, and the VIP lounge serves drinks. A Fan Village carries interactive experiences and merchandise, and a Concert on the Court filled the Tuesday night in 2026. Medalists drop their match-winning balls into the Founder's Legacy Cup, a trophy for the sport's founders Barney McCallum, Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell. Audience The 2025 championships drew 2,500 players from 47 states and 20 countries, and for 2026 players aged 70 and over got first-tier registration alongside Golden Ticket winners and the 2025 gold medalists. Children 5 and under get in free, and an off-site shuttle runs every 15 minutes from the SeaWorld area from 6 a.m. Talent and Influencers Anna Leigh Waters won at 14 in 2021, the youngest champion in the event's history. In 2025 Drew Brees played an exhibition and Gerry Turner of The Golden Bachelor came out to the courts. Track record The first Nationals, at Sun City Festival, Arizona in 2009, drew nearly 400 players from 26 states and Canadian provinces. Registration was capped from 2016 when demand passed court space, and in 2017 more than 1,300 players registered in the first hour. The event added its first presenting sponsor and livestream in 2015 and a CBS Sports Network broadcast in 2017, and in 2023 it reached 2.6 million TV viewers across more than 20 hours on ESPN and Tennis Channel. In 2025 it counted 3,910 matches and an estimated $3 million economic impact on San Diego, and USA Pickleball Serves gave Barnes Tennis Center four renovated courts. Brand presence Partners attach to pieces of the week. Oceanview was presenting partner for the 2026 championships, QVC presented Championship Court and carried 2025 replays on QVC+, DePuy Synthes and QVC were on the 2026 Masters Pro Doubles, and Numotion on the wheelchair events.