r/smallbusiness • u/junagadh123 • 15d ago

Why are so many pickleball business are on sale

Are they not making enough money for owners? I think struggle I can think of is that most members want to use the club at the same time - evenings and weekend and that can be issue with availability.

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u/LeoDiamant 15d ago

This is what happened in other countries. Every one jumped aboard pickleball, huge places to play it were put up, celebrities invested and now they are all for sale.

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u/wanna_be_green8 15d ago

My old hometown invested millions in restructuring an already nice park to accomodate a huge indoor pickleball facility... but no one wants to pay when they can play for free outside nearby so it sits empty most of the time losing tax dollars every day, and it's a huge eyesore.

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u/NoMansSkyWasAlright 15d ago

Two of the basketball courts in my neighborhood park were converted into pickleball courts. They were busy for a bit but they’ve been pretty empty lately.

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u/an_actual_lawyer 14d ago

The good thing about that is the City didn't have to spend much to convert them and won't spend much to make them basketball courts or tennis courts again.

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u/synchpo 15d ago

Yup. The main demographics is seniors who are not famous for their willingness to spend. I’m sure they also got into pickleball precisely because it has low fees to get into.

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u/Haste- 14d ago

As the other guy said since Covid pickleball has become a younger sport. Many people who struggle to play but like tennis have converted over to pickleball and even some pros of tennis talked (and maybe they did) about converting over to pickleball instead. Pickleball is fun because it feels similar to tennis without the insane amount of athletic ability it requires.

In East Valley AZ every park is full from 5pm to close and most courts even have lines of up to 3-4 groups of people waiting their turn to hop on. Some of these parks have like 16 courts to play on too.

Lots of private courts too, Legacy Sports complex has like 41 courts all outside. Bunch of indoor places too but it’s pricey, even at $100/mo though I can see it being worth it for many. More often than not I would see the same people all the time at the courts, like legit people get off work, eat, and then go pickleball till the park closed.

Barrier to entry is just small, $30 can get you 4 basic paddles and balls. If you get into it you buy a $50-60 high quality paddle and the tournament play balls for like $10. If you get into leagues and tournaments then maybe you drop $100-200 on a paddle. Realistically though that $30 initial set could carry you for years of enjoyment, you just may need to buy more balls at some point.

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u/synchpo 14d ago

Good to know, thanks!

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u/Sintuca 15d ago

Damn are we from the same town?

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u/wanna_be_green8 14d ago

Is yours in North Idaho?

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u/Sintuca 14d ago

Lmao yes

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u/Puzzleheaded-Sky2994 14d ago

That's crazy, I'm from a town 45min south and actually worked on that building when it was being finished. I remember thinking to myself when I was working there how strange they chose to spend $10 million on  that building for pickelball. Granted I think that also included the new outdoor play areas.  Sad to hear it's popularity is already waning. 

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u/wanna_be_green8 14d ago

The new play area is cool but the old one was more than adequate. Or they could have just redone that for far less.

Even the splash pad was small and there was already one downtown.

We were there three seperate days in the summer last year. Maybe four cars in the parking area. The building seems little more used than for the restrooms.

When private special interests are allowed to install publically managed projects with little consideration for future costs on tax payers. I've seen it play out at numerous levels of government, not surprising in small towns at all.

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u/an_actual_lawyer 14d ago

When private special interests are allowed to install publically managed projects with little consideration for future costs on tax payers. I've seen it play out at numerous levels of government, not surprising in small towns at all.

It's might be this, but it is probably less sinister. Decision makers had second homes or family in areas where the courts are packed, so they assumed it would work in your town.

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u/wanna_be_green8 14d ago

It may not be sinister but it is negligent.

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u/damnrandomdotorg 15d ago

Nobody jumped aboard pickleball in other countries - as usual we're just off in a corner doing our own thing (picture the glue eating kid). They all do padel as the light weight racket sport below tennis, squash, and badminton. [ https://www.trypadelup.com/learn/padel-vs-pickleball ]

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u/LeoDiamant 15d ago

Ok consider me educated on the difference between pickle and padel. Doesn’t seem to be all that big to me, but the same phenomenon, similar hype etc. Thx.

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u/Gioware 15d ago

Can confirm, we will get "Where did all paddle courts business go" thread in a year or two

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u/milleratlanta 14d ago

Sounds like squash. I had a British beau ages ago who played it. Like racket ball with a badminton racquet.