Cleveland’s biggest pickleball weekend wrapped up on Sunday, as Pickle in the Land finished its fourth annual run at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and Rock Entertainment Group hosted the four-day tournament, presented by Akron Children’s, from November 5 through November 8, the Sports Commission said.
More than 450 players from 10 states, Canada, Brazil and Australia competed, Cleveland Magazine reported, calling it the largest pickleball tournament in the Midwest. Cleveland.com reported the same field — more than 450 players from 10 states and four countries — as the tournament got underway on Thursday.
The schedule built through the weekend by age and skill, the Sports Commission said: senior brackets for players in their 60s and 70s and older opened play on Thursday, men’s and women’s singles followed on Friday, doubles on Saturday, and mixed doubles closed the tournament on Sunday. Daily Open divisions for players 18 and older competed for cash prizes Friday through Sunday.
The Open divisions carried a $6,400 total prize purse, the Sports Commission said, and the game ball for the weekend was the Franklin X-40. Spectators were admitted free, and the venue floor included a vendor village and interactive activities alongside the courts, Cleveland Magazine reported.
Pickleball’s growth is the backdrop for the weekend: a sport once associated with recreation centers now fills a downtown convention center for four days, draws international players to Cleveland in November, and sends its Open-division winners home with prize money. For downtown, the tournament also meant hundreds of players, families and spectators spending the weekend around Lakeside Avenue, the Sports Commission said in its event listing.
The tournament also crowned a Club Cup champion — the pickleball club earning the most combined points across the weekend — with the winning club receiving the official Club Cup Championship Trophy, the Sports Commission said. Cleveland Premier Pickleball won the Club Cup in 2025, according to the Sports Commission.
What happens next: Pickle in the Land has now run four straight years in downtown Cleveland, growing into a fixture of the city’s fall sports calendar. The Sports Commission lists the tournament among its signature owned events, and players who traveled from across the country — and three other nations — head home after Sunday’s mixed-doubles finale.
Photo: Cards84664, CC BY-SA