The South Padre Island Special Events Committee voted to approve $10,000 in marketing support for Pickleball on Padre, a multi-day pickleball festival scheduled Jan. 26–Feb. 1, 2026, at the Isla Grande/SPI Convention Center, the committee confirmed after discussion on Oct. 22, 2025.

The event organizer, Luis Rios, an owner of local hospitality businesses and the presenter for the request, said the goal is to "make South Padre Island a pickleball destination, not just a pickleball event." He told the committee the event last year averaged about 250 participants per day and that local hotels recorded room-night activity tied to the tournament.

Committee members said they supported the idea of growing pickleball as a tourism draw but expressed concern about the amount requested and the type of expense. Several members said marketing dollars are preferred because they are more likely to produce measurable visitor exposure; others argued some of the applicant’s requested items (prize money, operational costs and swag) should not be paid by hotel-occupancy-tax-funded event money.

Discussion focused on how many incremental room nights the marketing could realistically generate in late January, a period the community described as a slow season for hotels. Rios and other presenters said the event brings visitors who otherwise would not be on the island at that time and that organizers already secured local sponsor commitments and hotel partnerships; committee members pressed for clearer post-event metrics on room nights and attendee origin.

A motion to fund $10,000 for marketing passed with one committee member recorded as abstaining. The committee’s chair and other members emphasized the award should be treated as seed money to grow the event and asked staff and the organizer to provide more detailed post-event reporting on room nights, demographic reach and marketing placements.

Organizers said the event will include clinics and free lessons targeting senior players and visiting "winter Texans," open tournaments with prize purses and live-streaming or recorded video content to raise the island’s profile among pickleball communities across Texas and beyond.

Committee direction: organizers were told to work with CVB staff on marketing placements and to return post-event data specifying room-night counts, attendee origins and sponsor contributions.

Outcome: motion approved, $10,000 allocated for marketing support for Pickleball on Padre (Jan. 26–Feb. 1, 2026).