Are you ready for some pickleball?

If you are a college football fan you know about "naming rights"...  So what used to be the Fiesta Bowl suddenly became the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, and the LA Bowl became the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl, and so on.  Brands and people pay a lot of money to have their brand or name associated with a big event.  

It is a form of advertising, right?  So, would it be ethical for a law firm to buy naming rights.  It has been done for law schools, of course.  Temple University Law School (where I got my Masters degree) is now the James Beasly Law School, for example.

But have you seen a sports event named after a law firm?

And then there are "official partners" associated with leagues. Different leagues have official partners, and they promote them as such.  Thus, you have "the official car of the NFL" (it's Toyota, in case you did not know), or the "official pizza of the NFL" (as of two years ago it was Little Ceasars, which is embarrassing if you like pizza!)

But one thing the NFL does not have is an official law firm.  

So, why am I babbling about this?  Because, other than naming rights on a law school, I have never seen a law firm have naming rights or an official partnership claim with a sports league or event.  

Until now.  Enter pickleball, the self proclaimed fastest growing sport in the US today and the firm of Lerner & Rowe, which was recently announced as the "official personal injury attorneys" of USA Pickleball:

USA Pickleball, the National Governing Body for pickleball in the U.S., today announced personal injury law firm Lerner & Rowe as its Official Injury Attorney in a year-round partnership that welcomes the firm into America’s fastest-growing sport, with nearly 50 million pickleball players in the United States according to the Association of Pickleball Players in 2023.

Lerner & Rowe will serve as the Presenting Partner of the USA Pickleball Golden Ticket tournament in Mesa, Arizona this April. The firm will have a strong presence throughout the event that is expected to host 1,200 of the best players from Arizona and surrounding areas competing for their spot at Nationals. Additionally, Lerner & Rowe will continue supporting USA Pickleball’s mission in the community through community clinics, introducing underserved children to the game of pickleball and providing them with equipment to continue playing upon completion of the program.

Here is the full announcement in USA Pickleball's website.