January 3, 2026
Headlines

February 2024

How Sure Shot Increases Pro Shop Sales with This One Tactic

Emma Jane06 mins

Despite having only opened in September 2023, the team at Sure Shot Pickleball is eager to expand their potential revenue streams and find ways to better serve their members. Located just outside of Chicago in Naperville, Illinois, Sure Shot began offering gift cards to their indoor facility just about a month after their opening. Their facility includes 27,000 sq. ft. of space consisting of 11 dedicated pickleball courts with outdoor surfaces. The facility also features state-of-the-art lighting, ventilation, and fans to ensure year-round comfort for players. Mark Murman, one of the four co-founders of Sure Shot, notes that their goal was to “create a really nice community and pub feel” throughout the club, offering a lounge area at the front of the space in addition to an event room and maintaining a liquor license to serve alcoholic beverages to guests. 

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Having a Liability Mitigation Strategy for Your Pickleball Club

Emma Jane07 mins

Underlying some of the more fun and creative aspects of running a company are the necessary, administrative aspects that provide the backbone to a business. Included in these not-so-fun-but-essential elements is having a solid liability mitigation strategy. Eastside Paddle Club (ESPC), located in Austin, Texas, reflects the flair and personality of a city like Austin while maintaining a well-rounded and intentional approach to mitigating the company’s liability from things such as injuries and accidents, which is a frequent concern at all types of athletic clubs.

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Economic Considerations for a Profitable Pickleball Club

Bill Pryor04 mins

Here at Pickleball Business Advisor, we’ve developed financial projections for dozens of pickleball clubs. No two are alike. Each entrepreneur we’ve worked with has a different vision for their business: scale, amenities, vibe, co-located ancillary businesses, food & beverage, location demographics and more. As new clubs open, a wide variety of approaches are being explored. That said, every pickleball club is governed by one fundamental economic reality.

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PALA Pickleball Uses Member Rankings for Fun and Competitive Play

Molly Bagget05 mins

PALA Pickleball, the largest indoor pickleball club in Texas, uses member rankings to create fun and competitive play. Having just opened in October 2022, the Houston-based club has found tremendous success in welcoming all ranks to play on PALA’s 11 state of the art, professional courts. Kaitlyn Myers, Chief Operating Officer, has been told that, “when you walk into PALA, it’s electric.” A lot of its success stems from their “Open Play” design which allows players of all levels to engage in healthy competition. PALA’s Open Play lasts for three hours, twice a day, and the courts are set up for rating skill level. The back three courts are for beginners to 3.0, then 3.5 to 4.0, and so on. This structure ensures that each person is matched with a suitable opponent. Myers says, “there are thousands of players that come in every week, so it can be tricky to know everyone’s individual rankings, but we are very familiar with our 600 members and where they stand.” PALA’s instructors can also easily tell a player’s skill level just based on a couple of games, and they can provide “instructor ratings” to players if asked

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Ridge Pickleball to Use Trial Passes to Grow Membership

Emma Jane010 mins

Looking for innovative ways to entice prospective members to come through their doors, Ridge Pickleball and Tennis Club (Ridge Club), located in Acton, Massachusetts, offers trial passes for those interested in potentially joining the club. They hope these passes are a useful tool to encourage local pickleball players to come and get to know the identity of the club in an engaging and personalized manner. 

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