The Biggest Pickleball Prize Pool in Philippine History
Dumaguete is about to make pickleball history. PlanOut, a Dumaguete-based event management platform, is organizing a pickleball tournament with a staggering ₱1,000,000 prize pool. That makes it the biggest prize pool for a pickleball tournament in the Philippines to date.
GMA Network picked up the story, running with the headline: "This pickleball match in Dumaguete has the biggest prize pool to date." And honestly, it is not surprising that this milestone is happening in Dumaguete of all places.
Why Dumaguete? The Pickleball Capital of the Philippines
If you have been paying attention to the Philippine pickleball scene, you already know Dumaguete has earned the unofficial title of "Pickleball Capital of the Philippines." The city and surrounding areas now have dozens of dedicated pickleball facilities, and the number keeps growing. Public courts, private venues, indoor setups, outdoor spaces with night lighting. New courts seem to pop up every month.
The Dumaguete Pickleball Club has grown rapidly since 2024, pulling in players of all ages and skill levels. The community is not just casual either. Back in September 2024, the NOrSports-PlanOut Sports & Fitness Festival organized the city's first official pickleball tournament, and the response was massive.
Local celebrities have taken notice too. Beauty Gonzalez, who has ties to Dumaguete, has posted about playing pickleball, adding to the sport's growing visibility in the region.
What This Tournament Means
A ₱1 million prize pool is a statement. It signals that pickleball in the Philippines is not just a weekend hobby anymore. It is becoming a legitimate competitive sport with real investment behind it.
For Dumaguete specifically, this tournament puts the city on the map as a serious destination for pickleball in Southeast Asia. The combination of community passion, facility infrastructure, and now major tournament backing creates a flywheel effect. More players visit, more courts get built, more events get organized.
PlanOut's involvement is key here. As an event management platform already rooted in Dumaguete, they understand the local landscape and have the operational experience from running previous sporting events in the region.
The Infrastructure Challenge
With this kind of growth comes a real challenge: managing the surge in demand for court time. When a city goes from a handful of casual players to hosting million-peso tournaments, the logistics of court scheduling, availability tracking, and booking management become critical.
This is where technology steps in. As demand grows, platforms like PlayKorte are building infrastructure to help facilities manage the surge in bookings. Real-time court availability, online reservations, and streamlined scheduling are becoming essential rather than nice-to-have features for facilities trying to keep up with the pickleball boom.
Looking Ahead
The ₱1 million tournament is just the beginning. With Dumaguete leading the charge, other cities across the Philippines are likely to follow. The sport is growing fast, the community is passionate, and the investment is flowing in.
Whether you are a competitive player eyeing that prize pool or someone who just discovered pickleball last month, one thing is clear: the Philippines is becoming a pickleball hotspot, and Dumaguete is right at the center of it all.