Opinion: Anna Leigh Waters had plenty of sponsorship offers. So why Franklin?
Last Edited
Jan 08 2026
Category
News
Thursday's announcement that Anna Leigh Waters is joining Franklin Sports ends several weeks of speculation about which paddle she will use going forward.
When it became clear that she wasn't going to sign a new deal with longtime sponsor Paddletek, there were a few logical landing spots. JOOLA, Selkirk and even Holbrook were thrown around as possibilities as fans and pundits wondered what might come next, but in the end it was Franklin who won out.
Waters' public statements that went out in a news release Thursday give some clues as to what led her to go with Franklin, and we have some of our own thoughts on why that ended up being the best fit.
Why this partnership works for both sides
FRANKLIN GETS THE BIGGEST STAR (AGAIN)
Ben Johns was the face of Franklin for several years as he was making his rise to the No. 1 ranking on the men's side. His signature Franklin paddle, which at the time was $100 (crazy to think about that now), was one of the most popular paddles on rec courts across the country. Ben Johns was Franklin Pickleball.
When he left Franklin for JOOLA in 2022, the brand pivoted to rising young stars JW and Jorja Johnson. The Johnsons are great players and have been great ambassadors for Franklin, as have newer Franklin signees Hayden Patriquin and Parris Todd, but let's be honest: Those players don't come with the same level of star power as Ben Johns or Anna Leigh Waters.
With Waters, Franklin again has the biggest name in the sport on their roster. Waters gets more national media attention than all other pro players combined, and her career shows no sign of slowing down. She can be the face of Franklin for the next decade or more, and that's clearly something that the brand thinks is valuable.
WATERS' REACH NOW EXTENDS INTERNATIONALLY
Waters mentioned in Thursday's news release that she and Franklin have a "shared vision for international growth."
A few months ago Parris Todd and Hayden Patriquin visited Malaysia for a series of events hosted by Franklin to promote their new signature paddles. It seems like a safe bet that Waters will now go on a similar press tour overseas, allowing her to get in front of millions of new pickleball fans in budding pickleball markets.
While JOOLA and Selkirk are big brands in the pickleball world and JOOLA also does a lot of promotion internationally, Franklin's reach extends beyond just pickleball. They've been a big player in the sports equipment industry for decades, and Waters will now have access to a much broader sports audience.
FRANKLIN MAKES GOOD PADDLES, AND PROBABLY ALWAYS WILL
The Franklin C45 series paddles have been in our Top 10 paddles list since their release last year. They are among the best Gen 3 paddles and Franklin has already released signature C45 models for Parris Todd and Hayden Patriquin that look and play great.
In photos provided to The Kitchen, Waters is shown using an unreleased C45 model called the Aurelius, which is a Latin word meaning golden. The paddle has Waters' familiar crown logo on the face and has a thickness of 12.7mm, which would be the thinnest paddle in the C45 line and likely would make it the most poppy. It also appears to be a widebody paddle -- similar to what she has used previously -- although exact dimensions haven't been released.
Read next: Expert review of the Franklin C45 series pickleball paddles
Waters was almost certainly fielding offers from multiple paddle companies, and she said a key factor in the decision was the existing paddle and how well she thinks she can perform with it.
There's also this: Franklin has proven over the past five years that they will almost always be at or near the top of the paddle market in terms of technology. The original Ben Johns signature paddle was among the grittiest paddles at the time, and now the C45 paddles are competitive with most other brands. We've heard that Franklin is also working on something new for 2026, and it seems like a safe bet that whatever they come out with next will also be a top-performing paddle.
FRANKLIN COULD OFFER TOP DOLLAR
Waters is easily the most polished pickleball player from a PR standpoint, so of course she said all the right things in announcing the decision on Thursday.
But let's not be naive -- money was undoubtedly a big factor here. The contract is said to be worth millions of dollars, and Franklin was probably willing to spend more than anybody else.
That's because JOOLA has a lot of money tied up in its contract with Ben Johns (which is a lifetime deal) and Selkirk is paying Jack Sock quite a bit to be the face of its brand. So maybe those companies just weren't willing to take on another huge pro player contract at this point.
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