JOOLA is one of the most fascinating brand stories in all of racquet sports. A German company with roots going back to 1952, JOOLA dominated the table tennis world for seven decades — sponsoring three Olympic Games — before making one of the boldest pivots in sports equipment history: a full-scale entry into pickleball that immediately shook the industry to its core.
Here’s the full story of how JOOLA went from Ping-Pong tables in post-war Germany to the hottest brand in America’s fastest-growing sport.
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The German Origins: Karl Frey and Landau, 1952
JOOLA was founded in 1952 in Landau, Germany, by Karl Frey. The name itself is a clever mashup: “Joo” from “Jooss,” the name of the department store whose sports division birthed the company, and “la” from Landau, the city where it all began.
From its earliest days, JOOLA established itself as a serious, quality-first table tennis equipment manufacturer. The sport was gaining significant traction in postwar Europe, and JOOLA rode that wave with premium products that professional players trusted.
(Note: JOOLA is pronounced “YOH-lah” — the German “J” sounds like English “Y.” If you’ve been saying it differently, you’re not alone.)
Growth Through the Decades
In 1968, Michael Bachtler became the managing director of JOOLA, a role he would hold for over a decade before taking over as CEO in 1979. Under his leadership, JOOLA expanded its international footprint and cemented its reputation as one of the premier table tennis brands in the world.
The company’s Olympic history is remarkable. JOOLA served as the official table tennis table provider for three consecutive Summer Olympics: the 1996 Atlanta Games, the 2000 Sydney Games, and the 2004 Athens Games. When the world’s best table tennis players competed on the biggest stage, they were playing on JOOLA tables.
This Olympic sponsorship was transformative for the brand’s global prestige. It cemented JOOLA as the gold standard in table tennis equipment at the highest level.
Coming to North America
JOOLA’s entry into the North American market happened through partnerships with organizations like North American Table Tennis (NATT) and eventually USA Table Tennis (USATT). They became the most visible table tennis brand in U.S. competitive circuits, serving as the official table sponsor for the U.S. Open and U.S. National Championships from 2012 to 2019.
The 2019 Acquisition: Richard Lee and Sport Squad
The turning point in JOOLA’s modern story came in 2019, when Sport Squad, Inc. — a Rockville, Maryland-based company founded by Richard Lee in 2006 — acquired JOOLA Tischtennis GmbH. Lee, himself a table tennis enthusiast who began by hosting table tennis competitions, had been Sport Squad’s CEO and had a long distribution relationship with JOOLA before making the full acquisition.
Lee’s acquisition injected significant fresh energy. In 2020, JOOLA refreshed its brand identity with a new stylized “J” logo symbolizing a new era and the brand’s three pillars of values. The company was now positioned to grow beyond its established base.
The Pandemic Discovery: Finding Pickleball
When COVID-19 hit in 2020 and table tennis clubs temporarily closed, the JOOLA team needed an outdoor alternative to stay active. They started playing pickleball on courts near their office.
Then something remarkable happened. Watching two men play on the adjacent court at a blistering pace, the JOOLA team was transfixed. Those two players turned out to be Ben Johns and Collin Johns — the most dominant brother duo in professional pickleball.
That chance encounter changed everything. The JOOLA team made a decision: they were going to make a pickleball paddle. Drawing on seven decades of expertise in table tennis paddle construction — face textures, core materials, edge profiles, handle ergonomics — they began development immediately.
When Ben Johns tried the prototype for the first time, his reaction was clear: “Hey, I think you got something going here.”
2022: JOOLA Pickleball Launches With a Bang
On April 1, 2022, JOOLA officially launched JOOLA Pickleball. They didn’t enter quietly. They entered by announcing Ben Johns — the world’s #1 ranked player in singles, doubles, AND mixed doubles — as their signature athlete and co-developer.
The Ben Johns Hyperion paddle series, developed collaboratively with Ben himself, hit the market with advanced carbon fiber surfaces, innovative foam-injected cores, and hybrid-ply technology combining carbon and fiberglass characteristics. The paddles were a revelation for serious players.
The industry compared it to Roger Federer leaving Wilson for Uniqlo — a seismic event that immediately validated JOOLA’s pickleball credentials.
Within months, JOOLA’s paddles were everywhere: on professional tours, at neighborhood courts, in big-box retailers. Their strategy of leading with technology, backed by a world-class professional endorsement, worked spectacularly.
Continued Growth and Evolution
Following their entry, JOOLA expanded their professional roster significantly. Collin Johns (Ben’s brother), Anna Bright, and in 2024, tennis legends Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf all joined the JOOLA family through various collaborations. In 2024, JOOLA relocated their headquarters to North Bethesda, Maryland, positioning themselves closer to the heart of the U.S. pickleball boom.
JOOLA faced some turbulence between 2023 and 2025 when several Gen 3 paddle models encountered certification challenges with USA Pickleball around power limits, leading to temporary delistings and legal disputes. The company addressed these issues directly, refining their testing processes and launching updated models that met regulatory standards.
Their Gen 4 lineup — including the Ben Johns Hyperion Pro IV and the Collin Johns Scorpeus Pro IV — represents the current state of their art: advanced foam-enhanced cores, carbon friction surfaces for maximum spin, and years of iterative refinement.
JOOLA Today
JOOLA now stands as one of pickleball’s most recognized and respected brands, carrying the credibility of its seven-decade table tennis heritage into a sport that shares enough paddle-sport DNA to make the transition natural — and the innovations profound.
For Austin pickleball players looking to explore JOOLA’s lineup or improve their game at the highest level, Pickleland is your Austin home court. Want to see how your skills measure up? Check out our DUPR events and open play to compete in a fun, welcoming environment.
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