Most business owners share a common struggle regardless of the industry and pickleball clubs are no different. That struggle is seasonality. Weather changes, holidays and the fluctuating habits of your members can all cause seasonal changes in your bookings and thereby fluctuations in your earnings. We reached out to Andrea Cancro, owner and lead pickler at Prestige Pickleball Club in Northvale, New Jersey, to gain some insight on ways to stabilize revenue year-round.
With nearly a full year of business in the books and five indoor courts, PPC has worked through all the seasons and is ready for 2025. Their members are varied and lean a bit more female. While they are growing the under-45 crowd, most members are 45+ and eager to play!
Andrea said one of the first lessons she learned is one person you can’t change is Mother Nature. Cold and dark weather influences all indoor sports and leads to variations in bookings based upon the seasons. She has found their club has two seasons – spring/summer and fall/winter.
“Rain, snow, sleet and hot summers are an indoor pickleball club owner’s friend,” Andrea said. “This time of year, many outdoor pickleball courts start to take down their nets, so we know we are going to get busier.” To help offset slower times in the summer, PPC slightly increases its court rates in the fall and winter. Raising by only 10 – 15% can help balance slower summer times and still be competitive pricing-wise with other clubs.
PPC has quickly grown to over 2,000 members with roughly 500 – 600 members who play regularly and quite a few who play occasionally. Keeping both on the courts year-round is key to surviving fluctuations.
After roughly six months in business, Andrea said they figured out their rhythm and learned what their members wanted. She credits that to speaking to and interacting with members, keeping an eye on your demographics and what books and when and most of all, consistency.
Andrea says in the beginning they tried a variety of open play court times to see what was booked and when. They paid attention to learn if 8:30 AM was better than 8:30 PM etc. When certain times started having a waitlist, they knew that was a time slot to keep.
After a few months, she realized that summer times needed to be different than winter/fall as teachers are off school, parents have different schedules with children at home, snowbirds have returned from warmer climates, etc. She urges all club owners to pay attention to what times are booked and keep consistent with their schedules.
“We learned consistency is the most important factor to keep the courts filled.”
She recommends all clubs organize a yearly calendar and get players into the habit of knowing when the best time is for them to play. For example, by holding Intermediate open play every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:00 – 11:30 AM players can make that court time a habit and plan it into their week. They know they’ll have three to four courts of open play with people in their skill level and are guaranteed some good pickleball. This is also a great way to help members get to know each other and form communities. From there, it’s natural they book more playing time and create habits of coming at different times together or playing again after lunch.
Having pickleball communities within the club also helps offset the low times.
“I’ve watched members take beginner classes together and then move up to intermediate together. Many groups make plans outside of open play because they enjoy being with each other,” she said. “We also embrace the PPC community and hold Freestyle Fridays all year where it’s like outdoor play with members placing their racquets for court time. After they play a few games, we order pizza and hang out for a while.”
Another benefit to building a community at your club is that many who start as guests become members. “We’ve had retirees say joining Prestige Pickleball Club has enhanced their retirement. It’s so beautiful to see the community that has formed here.”
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