Franklin Pickleball Signs JW, Jorja, and Julie Johnson

It’s a family affair! Franklin Sports has been a hot brand in pickleball since our sport started gaining popularity, and rightfully so. With premium pickleball paddles under $100 and several big names repping the brand, including Zane Navratil, Aspen Kern, Christine McGrath, and many others, Franklin has been a strong player in the game for years. 

At the start of 2022, Ben Johns, the #1 player on the PPA Tour moved to another brand, which undoubtedly put Franklin on the hunt for a player, or players, to fill the hole left by his exit. Fast forward a few months and here we are. In the late summer of 2022, Franklin made a big move to lock in one of the most talented and influential families in pickleball - the Johnsons. Between JW, Jorja, and Julie Johnson, there are enough gold medals to build a castle, and if we counted their wins, there might be two commas in the number, not just one. As of right now, JW is the #1 men’s player (and alone medaled 47 times in 2021), Jorja is the #1 women’s player, and Julie is the #2 ranked senior women’s player on the APP Tour. Yeah, you heard that right. This insanely-talented pickleball family all but owns the APP Tour rankings and has a long and bright pickleball future ahead of them! 

The Johnson family brings so many wonderful things to the Franklin family. Putting aside the on-court accomplishments from this gold-medal family, their experience in the game, knowledge of the sport and its players, and product knowledge are an invaluable addition to the Franklin team. We can’t wait to see what’s coming next for the Johnsons and Franklin. A new Franklin model for each of the highly-accomplished athletes? A singles-focused shape for JW?! We can speculate, but we’ll all have to wait and see.