Shutterstock Studios Presents a New Look at the World of Pickleball

Pickleball Takes Center Stage with New Reality Series

In a significant development for the sport, a new reality series titled Partners is set to showcase the inner workings of the professional pickleball tour. Produced by Shutterstock Studios, this six-part series will provide an exclusive look at the lives of over 25 players, coaches, and executives involved in the Carvana Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) tour.

Partners is the first series to delve behind the scenes of what is rapidly becoming America’s fastest-growing sport. It will chronicle a full season on tour, capturing moments of training, social interaction, relationships, and the challenges players face—whether dealing with a loss, navigating a breakup, or managing contract disputes.

Currently played in 78 countries, pickleball boasts nearly 20 million players in the United States alone, with prize money exceeding $30 million annually.

The series will premiere on May 5, airing on Prime Video in the U.S., alongside the Carvana PPA Tour YouTube channel and PickleballTV. This release forms part of Shutterstock Studios’ broader long-form programming slate, which also includes projects like We Are King and the documentary Surfing Through the Odds. Partners is funded by Carvana.

Shutterstock Studios partnered with Wavelength, known for documentaries such as Won’t You Be My Neighbor and Netflix’s Rather. Key executive producers include Mark Infante, Michele Gauthier, Aiden Darne, and Jon Weidman, with Dan Bradley serving as showrunner.

"Pickleball is certainly having a moment, but most people still haven’t seen what it actually feels like inside that world,” said Mark Infante of Shutterstock Studios. He emphasized that the access granted by the Carvana PPA Tour was transformative, enabling the production team to be intimately involved with the players and their experiences. "We’re telling real stories that core fans will recognize, while new audiences can easily engage without needing a primer."

Connor Pardoe, Founder and CEO of the Carvana PPA Tour, echoed this sentiment. “The Carvana PPA Tour continues to showcase professional pickleball on the world’s biggest stages, and Partners gives the world a front-row seat to everything that goes on behind the scenes—the drama, the competition, the passion, and much more," he remarked. "Pickleball is exploding, and Mark, Dan, and their team have delivered a series that meets it head-on as they share these amazing stories with the world.”