(KRON) -- The pickleball craze that's swept across the Bay Area and nation in recent years has apparently paid off, especially for female athletes. According to the Professional Pickleball Association, pro female players on the PPA Tour earned an average of $260,000 in 2024. That's higher than best-paid athletes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) -- about $242,000 -- and more than twice the average salary in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) -- $56,000. The PPA called the 2024 pro pickleball season a "pinnacle year" that kicked off with a merger between two major pickleball entities, Major League Pickleball and the Carvana PPA Tour. The sport's superstar, 17-year-old Anna Leigh Waters was dominant, earning PPA World No. 1 rankings in singles, doubles and mixed doubles, along with being named MLP season MVP. Brock Purdy gets his offensive line new cars for Christmas More than 320,000 fans attended PPA Tour and MLP events this year -- a 40% jump over 2023. The sport also saw explosive growth on the professional level with pro qualifier registrations for PPA events jumping from 7% in 2023 to 16% in 2024. Collectively, pro players with the MLP and PPA earned more than $30 million over the course of the season, more than the WNBA, Premier Lacrosse League, and NBA G League. Pro pickleball is also unique in that it offers equal pay and play for male and female athletes. In the Bay Area, recreational pickleball has seen explosive growth in recent years. However, that growth has not been without growing pains. In San Francisco's Presidio Heights neighborhood earlier this year, a couple started a petition complaining of noise from a nearby pickleball court. However, it was later revealed that the mansion they lived in had a pickleball court of its own.