Initial Thoughts on Pickle4's Ballpark Series

Pickle4’s Ballpark Series

The Setup: Braxton was in San Francisco last week, so, naturally, he spent time checking out the local pickleball scene. Huge thanks to Ben and the team from Pickle4’s Ballpark Series for hosting a great tournament and taking time out of their day to chat. Some accumulated thoughts from the event. While there, I had the chance to play in the tournament held at Oracle Park (SF Giants stadium) - big props to my kickass mixed doubles partner for carrying us into silver in the 4.5/5.0 draw, and if anyone’s looking for someone to hit with in the Bay Area, I know a gal. The Company is hosting tournaments at MLB stadiums around the country this summer, with the first one being played at Fenway Park (Boston). The multi-day event included open play, private court rentals, children’s clinics (taught by pros), 3.5-5.0 tournament play, and a pro exhibition match.

Thoughts:
1️⃣ People will pay up for unique experiences
Will say, when we first saw the price tag for private court rentals or open-play (~$150 a person), we were a little surprised. However, a relatively affluent demographic in San Francisco was clearly excited to get the chance of a lifetime - play a sport they're obsessed with on the field of an iconic stadium. The courts were packed at almost all hours, with some of the people I talked to all highlighting how excited they were for the event to come to SF. Even players I spoke with on public courts knew of the event coming to town and were at minimum interested in getting out there to see the pros. One-time experiences are able to command higher price tags.

2️⃣ Pros can draw their fans out among the pickleball crowd
Pretty interesting to watch (and hear from security guards) the frequency that pros were approached by fans to get a photo or paddle signed. This was an interesting environment, as I’ve often seen one of two scenarios play out: 1. Pros at the PPA/etc. events aren’t given the same celebrity status as other sports. 2. Many diehard pickleball rec players can barely name pro players. So, seeing spectators show up specifically to watch their favorite pro play (and get a shot at a photo or signature) was an interesting development. Probably something to be considered for both the players on tour and the MLP teams with respect to the value of doing fan / community activation events.

3️⃣ Ace Surfaces are higher maintenance than expected
Pickle4 utilized Ace Surfaces for the temporary courts during the tournament. Will first say that in fairness to Ace and Pickle4, I have no doubt that the Giants stadium put considerable restrictions on the court construction in order to preserve the underlying grass (e.g. security practically had an aneurysm if your bag strap crossed the rope fencing and touched the grass). With that said, the courts consisted of a thin sheet of their “gritted” surface, layered on top of plywood and a plastic foundation underneath. Put simply, this structure was insufficient to replicate the bounce and experience of playing on a typical concrete or asphalt court. It made for numerous dead spots and challenging shot anticipation when it would sometimes bounce normally and sometimes only bounce a few inches. The foundation clearly affected the courts performance, as well as external weather conditions, as the high daytime heat to cool night-time temperature swings caused visible contraction and expansion in the Ace surface topping, and undoubtedly the plywood underneath. To be fair, we need to take time to play on other temporary court surfaces before rendering a judgment on Ace specifically vs. the technology itself. Any follow-on companies / events absolutely need to keep the underlying foundation questions in mind when running these events - especially if there’s something at stake (e.g. money for pros). Some outstanding questions for anyone from a temporary court construction company are - how do adverse weather conditions impact the ability to use the courts in future events? Does it materially decrease its shelf life? Or are they able to return to ‘factory’ conditions once in normal weather?

4️⃣ Unique experiences can make up for the shortcomings of the playing environment
Despite nearly unanimous agreement among players we spoke to (and overheard from pros) about their displeasure with the Ace surface, almost everyone had a very positive experience given the highly unique opportunity to play in such a venue. The event drew out very solid competition in all the brackets, and it had a great mix of pro<>fan engagement opportunities, a fun atmosphere, and serious playing time. These types of creative playing experiences probably have some wiggle room to fall short on some details, as they’re quite hard to replicate and undoubtedly difficult to put on. Props to Pickle4 for experimenting with this concept and making it happen in a real way.

As always, feel free to reach out if you want to discuss anything in more detail with us! You can set up a time to talk here.

- Ryan & Braxton