In early 2026, the announcement that Anna Leigh Waters had become an official Nike-sponsored athlete sent shockwaves far beyond the pickleball world.

Her historic deal made headlines across major news outlets, sparked conversations on social media, and even caught the attention of The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, who highlighted the milestone on his show.

Anna Leigh quickly became a trending topic on Twitter, cementing her moment in the spotlight.

While this was a historic milestone for the sport, it also signaled Nike’s growing investment in pickleball. In a recent interview on the Pickleballers podcast, Waters revealed that a major part of her Nike deal involves helping to design and shape their emerging pickleball product line.

“I took a trip to the Nike HQ in Portland on my birthday,” she confirmed. “We went straight from the Minnesota tournament, and when I walked in, they actually had a huge wall with my photo plastered all over it and they took me into a room and gave me this.”

Waters showcased a white bomber jacket featuring her name, personal logo, and the Nike swoosh embroidered on one side, with an “Established 2026” patch on the other. On the left shoulder, there’s a headshot of her dog, Archer, while the right sleeve proudly lists her remarkable achievements: 40 Triple Crowns, 175 career gold medals, and 200 career titles.

“It’s like a custom letterman’s jacket,” said Waters. “It’s so cool.”

Waters shared that she spent an entire day in meetings diving into every aspect of pickleball.

One of her main goals in partnering with Nike was to help expand the sport, and she emphasized that Nike is fully aligned with that mission.

“I didn’t really know what to expect, but I did know that one of the reasons they wanted to sign me was to help them with the pickleball space,” noted Waters. “Obviously Nike is amazing at everything they do, but they’ve never really done pickleball— and when they do something, they want to do it right. They’re really trying to rack my brain and get my opinions on things.”

Nike hasn’t fully committed to pickleball. So far, they’ve quietly released a pair of court shoes and rebranded some of their tennis gear.

Waters’ involvement in the design process, however, allows Nike to create high-quality gear made specifically for pickleball, just as they have for other sports.

“The one thing they did realize is that pickleball isn’t tennis and they need to do different stuff,” she said. “They can’t just take their tennis stuff, put it in pickleball, and expect people to want to buy it, so when I went to the HQ, all the meetings were about how to make their shoes and their clothes geared for pickleball, which was pretty cool.”

“This just makes pickleball feel more legit and feel more like a real professional sport, because these are the stories you hear,” concluded podcast co-host Roscoe Bellamy. “It's kind of like Michael Jordan and Roger Federer, and now you’re doing it for pickleball.”

I can’t wait to see Nike’s pickleball gear, especially with Waters’ expertise guiding the design.

It’s bound to be incredible.

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