Pop-Up Pickle

The Quick Points

Cities getting more out of their courts. The city of Southlake, TX (suburb of Dallas) is hiring a full-time pickleball manager. “The Pickleball Manager is responsible for the overall management, planning, and execution of all pickleball activities, including court and group rentals, special events, and tournaments.” It is great to see forward-thinking city leaders understand two key themes. The first is that physical courts aren’t enough. It takes energy, structure, and organization to turn a grid of courts into a thriving community. Establishing cultural norms and facilitating open-play by level are essential to allowing all skill levels to enjoy this sport. The second theme is that courts aren’t just an amenity, they can be a commercial asset. Gone are the days of just asking for donations. Hosting multiple tournaments in a year can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for a city.

⚾️ MLB beating the NFL to the punch. Following last week’s announcement about the Jacksonville Jaguars bringing pickleball to one of their games, the MLB’s Marlins vs. Phillies game will have an entire morning dedicated to pickleball. This is another fun way to engage their fans and draw in additional traffic, as ticketholders will have the chance to play with pros Federico Staksrud, Dylan Frazier, Christian Alshon, and Anna Leigh Waters, before a pro exhibition game kicks off. Given all the excess capacity at many of these stadiums, this model feels replicable across many sports in the upcoming season.

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🎪 Pop-up pickle craze continues. Could be in Breaking Ground…but as you’ll see, this is a little different than simply a new development. Jam On It is taking a really interesting approach to meet local pickleball demand by opening up a massive pickleball ‘facility’ on a short-term basis in local convention centers. Starting today, Jam On It is opening a 40-courts(!!) inside the Las Vegas Convention Center, which will run from July 4th - July 30th. Vegas, like Austin, is pretty behind on its facility construction compared to other parts of the country, particularly in high-demand indoor locations during the bruising summer heat. Given the plentiful amount of courts, they even have some flexibility to do a little A/B testing, with sections divided off for drop-in play, kings court(s), leagues/clinics, training, and group reservations. The data will undoubtedly help them inform the design of their other pop-up locations in Reno and Utah later this year, as well as any long-term plans they have to build something more permanent. We’d love to get out on the courts sometime this month…Vegas anyone? 🎰

🌴 Supersizing pickleball in Miami. The Pickle Games Miami is aiming to host the world’s largest tournament, across 100 (wut) courts at Miami Marine Stadium in early 2024. The tournament will host both amateur players (can register for $400 per team) and pros.

What’s on Our Mind

🙈 Out of sight, out of mind. The APP Tour (The Association of Pickleball Players, formerly known as Association of Pickleball Professionals) is in a tricky spot. It no longer feels in the conversation given its streaming strategy. It used to be that almost any pickleball addicted player or fan would be down to tune into either the PPA and APP Thursday — Sunday. Now it’s just plain hard to be entertained by the APP. Its Sunday finals are only available on paywalled ESPN+. They don’t stream their singles events. They barely stream during doubles days. Dozens of high-level pro matches are happening in a weekend and there is very little to show for it. In our belief it hurts the Tour, the potential exposure of rising pros, and amateurs looking to sink their teeth into the sport.

🤔 New to us. Fowling is a combination of bowling and football. You throw a football to knock down pins from 32 feet away. Today we learned the Chicken n Pickle of fowling exists…Fowling Warehouse with 7 locations. Pickleball is certainly new for a lot of people (“the combination of ping-pong, tennis, and badminton”) and catches some flack for the name but at least it isn’t two sports smushed together.

🤖 Love of the game. PPA referees get paid $17 per match. Yes, $17, regardless if it’s a game to 15 or best two of three. Just a nice reminder for us all to be a bit more human during those long tournament days in the elements.

🐦 A few microtweets. Some scattered thoughts that will become fully formed with a bit more time and research.

• Pickleball sounds goofy. Looks like mini-tennis. Doesn’t promise you any money. But yet, people play it…play it again…and again. And then bring their friends. And meet new friends. And never quit. That’s product-market-fit to us…fads don’t have PMF, they live and die on vibes or perceived dollar signs.

• Utah generally doesn’t get the recognition it deserves as a pickleball state. Public and private facilities with a real pro presence.

• All press is good press in the perceived battle with tennis.

• Right now, the most controversial aspect of pickleball is its noise pollution. We have mixed views on how much merit there is to the local neighborhoods in opposition to new court construction, as it is undoubtedly a stark (and noisy) contrast to the status quo of no courts (or quieter racquet sports like tennis). However, sound mitigation is a COMPLEX topic, but like any obstacle presents the opportunity for experimentation, innovation, and market capture. It’s no doubt going to stay in the news as the sport grows. That said, this recent New York Times article felt misguided.

Breaking Ground

The Reset is beginning to track publicly available court construction data to keep track of locations, costs, and development projects across the nation. Our tracker can be found here.

Featured Developments:

Bangers and Dinks just opened one of the first indoor facilities in Chesterfield, VA (though more are currently in the works). The location offers 8-courts and is taking a pretty unique approach compared to other facilities we’ve covered. The venue is really leaning into the community element by only offering open-play. They believe it drives a more casual play environment and action on the courts, as players can show up any time they want and it creates a forcing function to get in line and compete against new people. Bangers and Dinks offers memberships and day passes, starting at $80/mo, which gets you unlimited time on the court. They are also planning to offer classes & clinics, as well as a food & beverage experience (though not a full eatertainment model). In terms of headcount, the company is currently running off 10 part-time employees, though they’re actively growing the team.

Pickleball is coming for basketball now (sorta)…Spiece Fieldhouse in Fort Wayne, IN has hosted basketball tournaments for many years, but citing extremely high unmet demand for pickleball and sufficient basketball court supply in the area, the real estate developer, McNulty Group, has decided to convert the entire basketball complex into 24 indoor pickleball courts. Of note, the operator of the facility will actually be Ace Pickleball, whom we have covered extensively in the past about their franchise expansion. McNulty has said they’d like Ace to run monthly tournaments there to bring in additional traffic to the facility and local businesses.

Best of the Rest:

• The city of Grand Forks, ND converted their only two tennis courts into six pickleball courts at Optimist Park, citing overwhelming demand at the other four courts across the city. Unclear the total cost of the project.

• The developer, Haut, has proposed a massive 47-acre sports complex to be built in Osceola County, FL, which will host numerous pickleball courts, among other sporting fields.

• The city of Norwich, CT is getting two new outdoor courts this July. The project was funded through a mix of grants and ARPA funds.