Having lived in New Orleans for six years, I was ecstatic to hear that one of the city’s most beloved sports heroes of all-time (along with the likes of Archie, Deuce, and Steve Gleason) will soon be bringing the world’s fastest growing sport to the Big Easy. Yes, that’s right, NFL legend and Super Bowl champion Drew Brees has officially joined the U.S. padel revolution.
While Brees has always been an outspoken fan of pickleball, his new venture known as “Pickle N Pins” marks his first foray into the world of padel, and according to a recent press release shared on Facebook, Pickle N Pins will feature two padel courts along with five pickleball courts, as well as axe throwing, cornhole, darts, and duck-pin bowling.
To be fair, Pickle N Pins, won’t officially be located with New Orleans, but rather in the adjacent suburb of Metarie, in the former Surge Adventure Park, just a short drive from the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
Of this new project he’s undertaking with business partner Darren Balsamo, Brees says, “Pickle N Pins is truly one of a kind, nothing like this exists in the country and we are excited to bring it to Metairie first.”
While it’s true that (at least to my knowledge) no other padel clubs in the U.S. currently feature duckpin bowling (let alone axe throwing!), Louisiana will actually be the 26th U.S. state to have publicly accessible padel courts (here are the other 25).
And given Brees’ larger-than-life stature in the entire Gulf Coast region, something tells me that these will be just the first of many padel courts to spring up in that part of the country.
According to reports, Pickle N Pins should be open by September. So please keep an eye out for further updates — and quite possibly some in-person reporting!
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