Creator Pickleball Lineup Revealed
Creator TV Sports Reveals Initial Lineup for Inaugural VidCon Pickleball Tour
Anonymous
Creator TV Sports™ has revealed the first wave of players for its inaugural Creator Pickleball Tour, set to run June 25–27, 2026, at VidCon Anaheim. The roster includes NichLmao, who has 88.5 million YouTube subscribers, alongside Peet Montzingo, Merrick Hanna, DangMattSmith, AnythingAlexia, Nevaaadaa, and Yoangelolo, according to Shore Line Beacon.
The three-day event is produced by Emmy-winning producer Harry Cicma and will air as an episodic series on Creator TV's FAST network, which reaches 149.6 million households. It is the biggest live activation yet from Creator TV Sports™, a studio label under Los Angeles-based Sabio Holdings (TSXV: SBIO).
Who Is Playing and Why It Matters
The first wave of the 16-player roster brings serious social reach. NichLmao leads the field with 88.5 million YouTube subscribers. Merrick Hanna, known for his "glitch" dancing and an appearance on America's Got Talent, has 36.6 million TikTok followers. Peet Montzingo adds 14.6 million TikTok fans. Combined, the announced creators reach well over 100 million people across platforms, according to Stratford Beacon Herald.
Joe Ochoa, Co-Founder and GM of Creator TV®, said putting creators "in a live competition at the world's biggest creator event creates something that works everywhere: on-site, on social, and on screen." The format is built to travel — from the VidCon floor to a TV screen to a 15-second clip on social media.
Pickleball's Numbers Make It a Smart Bet
Pickleball is not a niche hobby anymore. The sport now has 22.7 million U.S. players in 2026, a 311% jump over three years, according to The Whig. It is the fourth most-searched sport on Google, behind only golf, basketball, and football. Crucially, 40% of all players are under 35 — the exact audience VidCon and Creator TV want to reach.
That age overlap is key. VidCon has historically drawn a teenage and young-adult crowd. Layering a fast, clip-friendly sport onto that audience gives brands a rare chance to reach young fans in a live setting. Creator TV plans to capture that with court signage and branded paddles tied directly to its ad-tracking system.
Sabio Holdings Uses the Tour to Sell Ads Smarter
The tour is not just entertainment. It is a test bed for Sabio's R.E.V. strategy — short for Reach, Engage, Validate — which tracks audience attention from a live event all the way to a streaming purchase. Sabio reported a 43% year-over-year revenue increase in Q1 2025, according to Chatham Daily News, and is using creator sports as its flagship ad product.
The tour will live on a FAST network — Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV — meaning viewers watch for free while ads pay the bills. Sabio's FAST channel is already on platforms like Fire TV and Sling. Moving creator content off YouTube and TikTok and onto TV interfaces is a deliberate push toward bigger brand deals and a more traditional media model.
Not Everyone Is Sold on Creator Sports as a TV Product
The concept has its skeptics. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian recently said he has "yet to see a pickleball highlight go viral," suggesting the sport's appeal as a spectator product is still unproven. Some VidCon veterans also argue the convention has shifted away from its grassroots roots and now feels like a "marketing opportunity" with wall-to-wall brand activations, according to Mitchell Advocate.
The Creator Pickleball Tour sits right at that tension point. It blends genuine creator fandom with a polished, sponsor-friendly TV format. Whether fans at the Anaheim Convention Center experience it as authentic competition or a high-gloss ad will likely define how the format scales beyond this first event in June 2026.
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