For years broker Dan Granot, a longtime fan and player of racket sports, avoided pickleball because he felt the sport popularized by retirees meant the end was near. But picking up a paddle actually led to new things, including clients seeking real estate for courts across the country.
"I perceived pickleball to be the last racket sport to play before you die," Granot, a principal of Atlanta-based brokerage Joel & Granot Commercial Real Estate, said in an interview.
But when Granot stepped on a pickleball court he couldn't stop having fun. Sure, he lost every game at first, but the failures motivated him to play better. Soon enough, he was beating his playing partners regularly, emboldening him to take the next step: professional tournaments.
Despite setbacks, including a ruptured Achilles in 2019, Granot has risen to become one of the top players nationally among players over 50, ranked these days in the top 10.
He said he earned several top 5 rankings last month in national senior pickleball categories including professional mixed doubles and men's doubles.
Granot appears to have timed the market well as a pickleball player. The sport, which resembles tennis but is played on a smaller court, counted 4.8 million active players in the country last year, according to industry group USA Pickleball Association.
Real estate investors have followed the game's rising popularity, installing pickleball courts in apartment and office buildings across the United States as an amenity for tenants.
Before playing pickleball, he excelled at tennis. Granot, who's won the Atlanta City Open doubles title six times, played varsity tennis at the University of Georgia and the University of Arkansas.
Known for his gregarious nature and real estate market expertise, Granot accomplished his pickleball ranking while working full-time at the boutique brokerage he owns with Alan Joel, a fellow athlete and swimmer in the south Buckhead neighborhood where Granot lives.
Granot said he achieved his pickleball ranking through efficient time management and dedication. His days usually start at 5 a.m. when he wakes up to squeeze in practice before getting to the office by 9 a.m.
He then works until 5 p.m. before heading home for dinner with his family.
"I've learned how to say no to things better in past two to three years," Granot said.
Pickleball Means Business
Professionally, Granot's interest in the sport has led to some new business and a few clients seeking to build pickleball courts in Atlanta and elsewhere. He's also been invited to broker functions where pickleball is featured. Outside of playing, the sport is a topic he brings up with clients. And that indirectly could lead to deals, he said.
"It's no longer a fringe sport," Granot said. "We've passed the point of competing with cornhole on ESPN the Ocho."
But don't expect Granot to quit his day job for pickleball. He didn't say how much money he's winning from playing the popular sport, but he said his earnings allow him to come out even, or slightly ahead, of the money he's investing into the game.
While he once associated pickleball with death, the game may have given Granot a new perspective on life. He enjoys the competition, which he said is similar to the competitive thrill of working in real estate.
And he has no plans to quit.
"I'd like to play it until I can't," Granot said. "I have no idea when that would be. It would take a significant injury or losing my mental capacities to not want to play pickleball."