The Missouri Pickleball Club is a booming club in the St. Louis area. Michael Grewe, the current owner, and his wife Christine worked together to conceptualize and launch the MPC about four years ago. From its beginning, the MPC was meant to be an establishment devoted purely to pickleball. Grewe comments, “It’s really about a fun pickleball environment.” The MPC is a thriving operation with towering ceilings, numerous courts, ball machines, first-rate instructors, an overhead door system, and a set of air-purifying ‘Big Ass Fans.’
Everything that the MPC does is big. The facility itself is huge with 51,000 square feet, 26-foot ceilings, and 18 indoor courts (including 5 championship courts). On its website, the MPC is said to be the “largest indoor pickleball club in the Midwest.” The MPC also provides a full schedule of 20+ events a week ranging from open play to clinics, to ladder leagues, and even to large-scale tournaments. Currently, there are 250 people on the MPC membership waiting list. The owner, Michael Grewe, says, “We have always wanted to be the biggest.”
The folks at the Missouri Pickleball Club are devoted to community and treating others well. For this Midwest club, to prioritize friendship and community is to be “true to the sport.” One way that they stay true to the sport is by offering an affordable, universal membership package of 25 dollars per month. Having an affordable membership package communicates two things. First, that everyone is welcome, and second, that the club isn’t willing to gouge players for the sake of maximizing profit. Grewe remarks, “For us, pickleball is a sport for everybody. Everyone is treated the same at our club. We don’t have 25 different membership categories.”
Pickleball is an excellent industry for new business owners because of its recent explosion and potential for growth, however, there are times when the business side of pickleball can distract from the communal and social aspects that make it so successful. Grewe bemoans the fact that many clubs get so focused on bringing in revenue that they miss the “bigger picture.”
One way that the MPC stays honed in on its values of fun and community is by refraining from offering a food and beverage operation. Not having to worry about providing refreshments has allowed the staff at the MPC to give all of their time, energy, and creativity towards producing a premier pickleball atmosphere. Furthermore, since they don’t provide food, the MPC is able to attract travelers and thus provide trickle-down revenue for their fellow local businesses.
The Missouri Pickleball Club also stays true to its mission by not “overdoing it with sponsors.” Having a small number of sponsors allows the folks at the MPC to decorate the facility how they would like. The sponsorship money that does get brought in gets invested back into the membership base: “We use it for players.”
Grewe notes, “Everyone wants to be better,” and it is because of this widespread desire for improvement that Grewe started his massive pro shop. The MPC pro shop offers 160 different paddles from the biggest brands. Customers can do a five-dollar paddle demo if they want to test a paddle before buying it, and if they end up buying then the paddle demo fee goes towards the final purchase.
In the future, Grewe and his partners at the Missouri Pickleball Club hope to expand their brand as well as help other people start their own clubs. Earlier this September, the MPC held a grand opening for their 0-0-2 private facility featuring two championship-size courts. The folks at the MPC also anticipate opening two more 15-court facilities within the next 9 months.
When asked what true pickleball is, Grewe responded, “It’s social. It’s about community, friendship, and bringing people together.” The folks at the MPC have been able to marry their large-scale ambitions to their devotion to community and people by offering affordable memberships, creating a fun atmosphere, and by staying true to the sport. Grewe concludes, “I really believe the more you put out there, the more comes back to you.”
