Farmers Branch staff seek council direction on hosting 2025 Pickleball World Championships

Meredith, a city presenter, told the Farmers Branch City Council on July 15 that Brookhaven Country Club will host the 2025 Pickleball World Championships and that Major League Pickleball team play and UPA world-championship events will run Oct. 31–Nov. 9.

The presentation outlined expected daily attendance of 4,000 to 9,000 people, hotel blocks at six hotels and an estimated total attendance of 57,572 for last year’s event. "It generated about 15,700,000.0 in total impact," Meredith said, adding that parking will be staged at Dallas College Brookhaven campus and that staff will propose a no-parking ordinance for select streets to reduce neighborhood disruption.

City staff said they will bring an event support agreement to council in September and will apply to the Office of the Governor’s events trust fund for a grant that "may award up to $696,000 to UPA," with the city providing a local match of up to $96,000 from the hotel-motel fund. Meredith asked the council to identify priorities for sponsorship negotiations, such as hotel promotion, logo placement and resident ticket discounts.

Councilmembers offered guidance and questions focused on resident outreach and branding. Councilwoman Roman said a town hall should be held again this year while attendance remains high: "I think the town hall, even if it's a small 1, is worthwhile." Councilwoman Bennett asked staff to push event organizers to emphasize Farmers Branch branding rather than referencing Dallas: "...can we iterate that more strongly to them that this is Farmers Branch?" Councilman Reid and others discussed town-hall attendance and cost; Reid said last year’s town hall was "dramatically smaller than year 1." Meredith answered that Brookhaven partners provide event space at no charge and that the city pays for food and related costs.

Councilmembers also suggested negotiation items to add, including council meet-and-greets with top players, council participation, and resident ticket discounts. Meredith said staff will include negotiated sponsorship benefits and resident concessions in the September event-support agreement.

The presentation closed without a formal vote. Council direction for staff included preparing a town hall for 2025, negotiating sponsorship items that emphasize Farmers Branch branding and resident benefits, and proceeding with the events trust fund grant application with a planned local match sourced from the hotel-motel fund.