Josh Allen Makes Waves After Huge Partnership With Celtics Star Jayson Tatum Announced

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paul White | Last updated Aug 20, 2025 5:42 PM ET

It feels like over the last few years the pickleball craze has reached an all-time high. People are enjoying the sport more and more, so much so that it got its own league back in 2021.

For decades, we’ve seen athletes venture outside of their sport and into personal ventures like sponsorships and businesses. Recently, there has been a surge in professional athletes who own teams in other sports, such as Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant, who has a minor ity stake in the European soccer club Paris Saint-Germain.

You can add two more players to the list of owners as NBA insider Marc Stein announced that Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is teaming up with Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen to purchase the Los Angeles Mad Drops of Major League Pickleball.

Some sports business news to share: A majority stake in the @BenJohns_pb-led Los Angeles Mad Drops of @MajorLeaguePB is being sold at a franchise valuation of $13 million to a group headed by Alex Geesbreght, industry sources tell @TheSteinLine.

I'm told Celtics star Jayson… pic.twitter.com/ykXUdgXIAK
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 20, 2025

The pair of stars will be part of an ownership group that will spend $13 million to acquire the franchise. Nobody could’ve seen a pickleball team coming from either of these men, but for Tatum it makes much more sense as he recovers from a torn achilles that will sideline him for all of next season.

This seems a bit out of the ordinary for Allen, who has numerous sponsorships, but only one known business, which is a farm that he and his family owns. The reigning MVP recently took what some considered to be a discount on his recent contract extension, so this could be a way for him to recoup some of the money he passed on.

It’s tough to gauge how well the league will do since it’s so young, but considering pickleball’s rapidly growing popularity, it seems like a great investment for both Tatum and Allen.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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