By Rounak Sardesai, FounderLast updated November 20266 min read
The short answer
To market a padel club, sell the first game before you sell the membership. Run intro sessions, show first-timers how the game works in short videos, pre-sell founding memberships before you open, and get new players into leagues fast so they keep coming back.
I think padel clubs have to sell the first game, not the membership. Almost nobody has played it yet.
How big is padel in North America?
Small but growing fast. SFIA measured US padel for the first time in 2025 and counted about 1.07 million players, of whom about 238,000 played 8 or more times. The US Padel Association says the country passed 1,000 padel courts in April 2026. Most Americans still haven't tried it, which is the opportunity and the challenge.
Compare that with pickleball's 24.3 million US players in 2025. Padel is where pickleball was a few years ago: people are curious, but they need a reason to book the first court.
Why is padel harder to market than pickleball?
Because people don't know what it is. Pickleball has public courts in most towns, so new players have often tried it before they walk into a club. Padel mostly lives in private clubs, so your marketing has to explain the game, make the first session feel easy and give people a reason to come back. That's three jobs before you ever sell a membership.
It also costs more. In our survey of 27 pickleball and padel clubs, where one club priced both sports, padel cost about 1.3 to 2 times as much as pickleball. People will pay that, but only once they know they like it.
How do you get people to try padel?
Make the first session cheap, social and coached. A 60 to 90 minute intro with a coach, rackets and balls included, and other beginners in the room, removes every excuse. Then film it. A 30-second reel of four first-timers laughing through their first rally sells the next session better than any explainer.
What works as a first step:
Intro clinics for complete beginners, with gear included.
Bring-a-friend nights where members bring someone new.
Pickleball and tennis crossovers. Offer existing racquet players a "try padel" session.
Corporate team sessions, which bring four new players at once.
Padel racket and yellow balls on a blue court, seen from above
Should a new padel club sell founding memberships?
Yes, if you can. A capped founding membership with a locked rate gives you cash and a committed core before you open. Padel + Pickle near St. Louis sold founding memberships before opening, held a private Founder's Weekend that about 70 people attended, and drew 400 to 500 people to its open house, the founder told The Padel State in March 2024.
How I'd run it:
Cap it (50 to 100 spots is common in our survey) and show how many are left.
Lock the rate for as long as they stay.
Give founders something only they get: a private preview, early booking or a name on the wall.
How do you keep padel players coming back?
Get them into a league or a regular group in their first month. Padel is played in pairs, so a player who has a partner and a weekly slot has two reasons to show up. Interclub leagues are starting too: the National Padel League had nearly 2,000 players in its first season, according to the US Padel Association.
The retention plan:
Week 1: a follow-up message after the intro, with the next beginner session.
Week 2 to 4: a level-matched social mixer or a beginner league.
Day 30: a member offer for anyone who's played three times.
Every season: a club tournament people can film and share.
What content should a padel club post?
Content that teaches and shows the fun. Most of your audience has never played, so short videos explaining the walls, the serve and the scoring work alongside rallies, member stories and league nights. Real players on your courts beat stock footage every time.
A weekly mix:
One "how padel works" clip (the walls, the serve, scoring).
One rally or highlight from members.
One first-timer story.
One post about what's on this week: intro sessions, leagues, socials.
How should a padel club price memberships?
Price on access, not just hours. Booking windows, included sessions and priority for leagues are what regular players pay for. In our survey, padel memberships were more often sold as passes or credits (a set number of games) than as unlimited plans, which suits a sport where people are still deciding how often they'll play.
The full pricing breakdown, including real padel ladders, is in our free club playbook.
Free, and every chapter ends with something to do on Monday. Real pricing from real clubs, a 12-month calendar and the plays that turn first visits into members.
Sell the first game before the membership. Run coached intro sessions, film first-timers, pre-sell founding memberships before you open, and get new players into leagues in their first month.
How many people play padel in the US?
About 1.07 million Americans played padel in 2025, SFIA's first measurement, and about 238,000 played 8 or more times. The US passed 1,000 padel courts in April 2026.
Should a padel club sell founding memberships?
If you can. A capped founding membership with a locked rate builds a committed core and cash before opening. Caps of 50 to 100 spots are common.
How do you keep new padel players?
Get them a partner and a weekly slot in their first month, through beginner leagues or level-matched socials, and follow up after every intro session.
By Rounak Sardesai, FounderLast updated November 20268 min read
The short answer
To fill a pickleball league, sell it by level, give it a fixed weekly slot and a hard start date, and market it 4 to 6 weeks before it starts. Clinics work the same way, and they're how you move beginners up to league play. Both are the best route from a casual drop-in to a paying member.
I think the league is the best membership tool a pickleball club has. Sell the league, and the membership sells itself.
Why do leagues matter so much for a pickleball club?
Because most players are casual, and a league is what makes them regulars. SFIA counted 24.3 million US pickleball players in 2025, but only 7.5 million played 8 or more times a year. Roughly two in three are casual (our calculation from SFIA figures). A league turns "sometimes" into "every Tuesday".
Avid players already want it. In the 2025 SFIA and DUPR survey of 1,102 avid players, 60% were in a league, and 48% said they want to play more often. They also said what gets in the way: 44.4% said courts are overcrowded and 39.2% struggle to find opponents at their level. A league fixes both. It books the court and it matches the level.
How long should a pickleball league run?
Six to eight weeks for a recreational league, and 8 to 12 for a competitive one, with one session a week. That's the guidance in Pickleball.com's organizer guide, and it fits a club calendar well: two or three league seasons through the winter, with no gap between them.
The gap is where you lose people. Open registration for the next season two weeks before the current one ends, and give current players first dibs.
How do you market a pickleball league?
Give it a name, a level, a night, a start date and a price, then put it on one page. "Tuesday 3.0 to 3.5 doubles league, 8 weeks, starts 12 January" sells. "Leagues available" doesn't. Start marketing 4 to 6 weeks out, and push hardest in the final 10 days.
The playbook I'd run:
One page per league. Level, night, dates, format, price, what's included, and one sign-up button.
Email your players first. Current members and drop-ins get a 48-hour head start.
Post footage from the last season. Rallies, the finals night, the winners' photo.
Ads to players within a sensible drive. Meta to people interested in pickleball, retargeting to anyone who visited the league page.
A "find a partner" option. Let solo players sign up and you pair them. This removes the biggest excuse.
A countdown. "6 spots left" is only worth saying when it's true.
How do you fill pickleball clinics?
Sell clinics as a ladder, not a list: intro, beginner, intermediate, then league-ready. Each clinic ends by pointing to the next step. Most rated players are still developing, and DUPR data reported by The Dink showed about 60% of active rated doubles players sit below 3.5, so beginner and intermediate clinics serve most of your market.
Make each clinic easy to buy:
A clear level and outcome ("Dinking and the third shot drop, 3.0 players").
A fixed small group size.
Four weeks, same night, same coach.
A direct offer at the end: "Join the 3.0 league starting 12 January."
Two blue pickleball paddles and yellow balls resting against a net
Should leagues be included in the membership?
Some clubs include them and some discount them, and both work. In our survey of 27 pickleball and padel clubs, 11 included free clinic or league entry in at least one tier, and most of the rest gave 10 to 25% off. The Picklr, for example, includes leagues on its unlimited tiers and gives half-price leagues on its entry tier.
What matters is that the league shows up in the membership pitch. A player who's in a league has a reason to pay monthly. Gym research suggests the social side keeps people too: a UK study of 10,000 gym members (2013 data) found members who made a friend at the club were 40% less likely to cancel. That's gyms, not pickleball, but I'd bet a league partner works the same way.
How do you keep league players coming back?
Treat finals night as an event and the next season as the obvious next step. Film it, post it, celebrate the winners, and open the next season that night. Events are content, and content is what the next round of players watches.
Follow up with everyone who didn't re-register within a week. A short personal message ("We kept your Tuesday spot, want it?") works better than another ad. Leads come in and nobody follows up, and that's usually the real leak.
When should a pickleball club run its winter leagues?
Run the first winter league from early January and pre-sell it in December. January is when people come back with new-year energy, and Placer.ai's foot-traffic data showed US gym visits in January 2025 were about 21% higher than in December. A league that starts that week catches it. Then roll straight into a spring league in March.
The short version
Sell leagues by level, night and start date, one page each. Market 4 to 6 weeks out. Build a clinic ladder that ends in a league. Put the league in your membership pitch. And open the next season on finals night.
For the full plan, including pricing from 27 real clubs and a 12-month calendar, grab our free pickleball and padel club playbook.
Free, and every chapter ends with something to do on Monday. Real pricing from real clubs, a 12-month calendar and the plays that turn first visits into members.
Friends playing a game of pickleball on outdoor courts
Industry statistics · Pickleball
By Rounak Sardesai, FounderLast updated October 202610 min read
The short answer
24.3 million Americans played pickleball in 2025, up from 4.2 million in 2020, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA). But only 7.5 million played 8 or more times, and that gap is where clubs win or lose.
Every number here was opened and checked in October 2026 for our pickleball and padel club research. Each one has its source and date. Where a number is ours, from our survey of 27 clubs, we say so.
Key stats
24.3 million
Americans played pickleball in 2025, up from 4.2 million in 2020.
SFIA
7.5 million
were core players (8+ times a year) in 2025, up from 1.4 million in 2020.
SFIA
16.8 million
were casual players (1 to 7 times a year) in 2025, up 23.9%.
SFIA Topline, as reported
22.8%
Participation grew 22.8% in 2025 and 171.8% over three years.
SFIA
42.9%
of US players are women, up from 38.6% in 2020.
SFIA
1.8 million
Canadians play pickleball, up from 1.54 million a year earlier.
Pickleball Canada 2026 survey
55%
Dedicated pickleball facilities grew 55% in a year.
SFIA/Pickleheads, 2024 report
68,458
known US pickleball courts at the start of 2025, including 18,455 added in 2024.
USA Pickleball/Pickleheads
44.4%
of avid players say courts are overcrowded; 39.2% struggle to find opponents at their level.
SFIA/DUPR 2025, n=1,102 avid DUPR players
$913 a year
Avid players spend an average of $913 a year on facility fees, their biggest single cost.
SFIA/DUPR, among those reporting the expense
$149
Median core monthly membership at the US pickleball clubs we surveyed: $149.
Coala survey of published prices, Oct 2026, n=8
17 of 22
clubs that publish booking windows vary them by tier. The median top-tier window is 14 days.
Coala survey of published prices, Oct 2026
1.07 million
About 1.07 million Americans played padel in 2025, its first SFIA measurement.
SFIA/USPA
1,000 padel courts
The US passed 1,000 padel courts in April 2026.
USPA
How many people play pickleball in 2026?
SFIA counted 24.3 million US pickleball players in 2025, up from 4.2 million in 2020 and 22.8% more than in 2024. Only 7.5 million were core players, meaning 8 or more times a year. In Canada, Pickleball Canada's 2026 survey counts 1.8 million players, up from 1.54 million a year earlier.
Year
US players (played at least once)
Annual growth
2019
3.46M
2020
4.20M
2021
4.82M
2022
8.95M
85.7%
2023
13.58M
51.8%
2024
19.81M
45.8%
2025
24.3M
22.8%
Source: SFIA participation series, as reported by The Dink (Aug 2025), and SFIA's 2026 release.
Growth is slowing, but it isn't reversing. The 2025 jump still added millions of players.
Canada by province, from the same Pickleball Canada survey: Ontario has about 702,000 players, Quebec about 432,000 and BC about 306,000. Pickleball Canada had 93,888 paid members in 2025.
What it means for your club: there are plenty of players. The job is turning them into regulars.
Who plays pickleball?
Mostly casual players. Of SFIA's 24.3 million US players in 2025, about 16.8 million played 1 to 7 times and 7.5 million played 8 or more. That's roughly two in three players who are casual (our calculation from SFIA). Women are 42.9% of US players, up from 38.6% in 2020.
Group
Figure
Source
Core players (8+ times a year), 2025
7.5 million
SFIA
Casual players (1 to 7 times a year), 2025
16.8 million
SFIA Topline, as reported
Share of US players who are women, 2025
42.9% (38.6% in 2020)
SFIA
Fitness facility members who play pickleball, 2025
7.6 million, up 21.3%
Health & Fitness Association
Core players' average days played
31 in 2023, down from 40 in 2022
SFIA
SFIA puts the drop in days played down to a wave of newer core players, not to people quitting.
I think pickleball is more inclusive than golf. More women play in pickleball tournaments than in golf ones. The numbers lean the same way: 42.9% of US pickleball players are women (SFIA), while NGF puts women at about 28% of on-course golfers. They're different surveys, so treat that as a rough comparison.
What it means for your club: your biggest audience plays a few times a year. Build programs for them, not just for your 4.5s.
How many pickleball courts and facilities are there?
USA Pickleball and Pickleheads counted 68,458 known US courts at the start of 2025, including 18,455 added in 2024. Dedicated pickleball facilities grew 55% in a year, according to SFIA and Pickleheads. Even so, SFIA says demand still outstrips supply, with $855 million of court construction needed over the next 5 to 7 years.
Measure
Figure
Source
Known US pickleball courts, start of 2025
68,458
USA Pickleball/Pickleheads
Courts added in 2024
18,455
USA Pickleball/Pickleheads
Growth in dedicated pickleball facilities
55% in a year
SFIA/Pickleheads, 2024 report
Growth in total courts
23% in a year
SFIA/Pickleheads, 2024 report
Court construction needed
$855 million over 5 to 7 years
SFIA/Pickleheads, 2024 report
Canadians who cite a shortage of facilities as a barrier
15%
Pickleball Canada 2026 survey
Most courts are outdoor. In the same report, 67% of courts were outdoor, and outdoor courts grew faster (28%) than indoor ones (14%). So a good indoor club in a cold market is still scarce.
What it means for your club: there's room for more clubs, but new clubs nearby can copy your courts. Your programs and community are harder to copy.
What do pickleball club memberships cost?
At the US pickleball clubs we surveyed, the median core monthly membership is $149 (n=8, range $59 to $219.99). Canadian clubs sit at about C$140 a month (n=8). Most clubs separate tiers by booking window: the median top tier books 14 days ahead, while free or non-member windows are mostly 5 to 7 days.
Booking windows are the most common membership lever
Measure (Coala survey of published prices, Oct 2026)
Figure
Median core monthly membership, US pickleball
$149 (n=8, range $59 to $219.99)
Median core monthly membership, Canada pickleball
about C$140 (n=8)
Median cheapest paid tier
$79.50 US (n=8); C$49.50 Canada (n=8)
Median core monthly membership, US padel-led clubs
$199 (n=5)
Clubs that vary booking window by tier
17 of 22 that publish windows
Median top-tier booking window
14 days (n=21)
Clubs that price by time of day (peak rates or daytime tiers)
14 of 27; off-peak discounts 11% to 40%
Daytime-only tier vs full tier
median 66% of the full price (n=6, including one Fairgrounds location outside the 27)
Clubs with an annual or prepaid option
15 of 27; savings about 6.5% to 22%
Couple plan vs two singles
median 93% (n=6)
Clubs with free guest passes
10 of 27, commonly 4 a month
Clubs including free clinic or league entry in a tier
11 of 27
Clubs running founding-member offers
6 of 27, capped at 50 to 100 spots
Clubs publishing a trial
5 of 27
One example of a ladder: The Picklr's Seattle (Fremont) location runs from a $30, 15-day trial to a $369 family plan. Its tiers are priced mainly on booking window, 14 days at the top versus 7 below.
What it means for your club: price on access, not on hours. A longer booking window is the cheapest perk you can sell.
Why do pickleball players play less or stop?
Crowded courts and not finding a good match. In SFIA and DUPR's 2025 survey of 1,102 avid DUPR players, 44.4% said courts are overcrowded, 39.2% struggle to find opponents at their level and 31.9% have scheduling conflicts. 48% want to play more often. About 3.4 million players stopped playing in 2023.
The churn number needs care. About 3.4 million players stopped playing in 2023, according to SFIA data as reported by The Kitchen. That's a count, not a rate, and there's no published figure for later years.
Avid players do spend money once they're in. Among those reporting each cost, the average was $913 a year on facility fees, $688 on lessons, $517 on tournaments and $402 on league fees (SFIA/DUPR). And 60% of avid players are in a league (Sports Destination Management, reporting the same study).
What it means for your club: leveled play and fair booking rules aren't nice extras. They're your retention plan.
When do pickleball players join and leave a club?
In cold markets, players join in fall and January and drift away in summer. Gym data is the best public guide: US gym visits jumped about 21% from December 2024 to January 2025, per Placer.ai. Gymdesk, a gym software vendor, found about two-thirds of trial conversions happen within 14 days.
Retention signal
Figure
Source
Jump in US gym visits, Dec 2024 to Jan 2025
about 21%
Placer.ai (gym foot traffic, vendor)
Trial conversions within 14 days
about two-thirds
Gymdesk (vendor, mostly martial-arts gyms)
Members visiting less than every 2 weeks who cancelled within 2 years
44.2%, vs 23.2% of members visiting 3+ times a week
Gymdesk (vendor)
US fitness operators' member retention, 2024 operations
about two-thirds
Health & Fitness Association
Gym members who made a friend in the last 3 months
40% less likely to cancel (gym research, 2017)
Hillsdon and Bedford
These are gym numbers, not pickleball numbers. Gym research suggests the same thing every club owner sees: people who play at a fixed time with friends stay.
What it means for your club: follow up every trial inside two weeks, put new members in a weekly league or ladder, and have a summer offer ready before May.
How big is padel in North America?
Small, but growing fast. SFIA measured padel for the first time in 2025 and found about 1.07 million US players, about 238,000 of them playing 8 or more times. The US passed 1,000 padel courts in April 2026, according to the USPA. Where one club prices both sports, padel costs about 1.3 to 2 times as much.
Measure
Figure
Source
US padel players, 2025
about 1.07 million
SFIA/USPA
US core padel players (8+ times), 2025
about 238,000
SFIA/USPA
US padel courts
just over 1,000 (April 2026)
USPA
USPA individual members, 2025
2,915
USPA
USPA member clubs, 2025
108
USPA
Padel price vs pickleball at the same club
about 1.3 to 2x (3 clubs)
Coala survey of published prices, Oct 2026
What it means for your club: if you add padel, you're selling a premium sport to people who've mostly never played. Intro sessions come first.
What do the numbers mean for a club owner?
The market is big, mostly casual and still growing. Players want more court time and better matches, and they pay for leagues, lessons and facilities. Most clubs sell memberships priced on booking access. So the plan is to turn casual players into members, then keep them with leveled, scheduled play.
If I ran a 6 to 12 court club, here's what I'd take from this page:
Build for the casual majority. Two in three players are casual.
Tier on booking window. 17 of 22 clubs that publish windows already do.
Fix matching before you buy ads. It's a top barrier for avid players.
Get new members into a league in month one. Routine is what keeps people.
Plan around the cold. Sell fall and January hard, and have a summer offer.
Every figure was opened at its source on 8 October 2026 for our Full Courts playbook research, then checked a second time. Participation, court and barrier figures come from SFIA, USA Pickleball, Pickleheads, Pickleball Canada, the USPA and the Health & Fitness Association. Vendor figures (Placer.ai, Gymdesk) are labelled as vendor data.
Pricing figures come from our own survey of 27 pickleball and padel clubs (15 US, 12 Canada). We read each club's own website or booking page on 8 October 2026. Prices are as published: USD for US clubs and CAD for Canadian ones, before tax. We didn't use any "average membership cost" articles. Where a sample is small, we show n.
Coala survey of published prices, 27 pickleball and padel clubs, checked 8 Oct 2026. Club pages include (venue pages held in our research ledger)
Coala Studio · Sports marketing
Want more members on your courts, not just more bookings?
We're a sports marketing agency that fills memberships, leagues and clinics around your season. On a 30-minute call we'll look at your club and tell you what we'd build first. If it's something you can do yourselves, we'll say so.
SFIA counted 24.3 million US players in 2025, up from 4.2 million in 2020. About 7.5 million were core players who played 8 or more times in the year.
How many people play pickleball in Canada?
Pickleball Canada's 2026 survey counts about 1.8 million Canadian players, up from 1.54 million a year earlier. Ontario, Quebec and BC have the most players.
How much does a pickleball club membership cost?
In our October 2026 survey of published prices, the median core monthly membership at US pickleball clubs was $149 (n=8). Canadian clubs were about C$140 a month (n=8).
How many pickleball courts are there in the US?
USA Pickleball and Pickleheads counted 68,458 known US courts at the start of 2025, including 18,455 added during 2024.
Why do pickleball players stop playing?
Among avid players in SFIA and DUPR's 2025 survey, the top barriers were overcrowded courts (44.4%), finding opponents at their level (39.2%) and scheduling conflicts (31.9%).
By Rounak Sardesai, FounderLast updated October 202611 min read
The short answer
Pickleball club marketing works when it turns casual players into members. Price your tiers mainly on booking window, give new players a clear first step like a paid trial or a learn-to-play session, put them in leveled play fast, and follow up every first visit within days.
In my opinion, getting someone through the door once is the easy part. The money is in the second, fifth and tenth visit. Here's how to build for that.
How do you market a pickleball club?
You market a pickleball club by building a path from first visit to membership, then filling the hours members don't use. That means a clear membership ladder, an easy way in for beginners, leveled programming so people find partners, and a calendar that sells leagues and clinics before each season.
The system I'd build for a 6 to 12 court club:
A membership ladder of 3 to 4 tiers, separated mainly by booking window.
One low-risk entry offer: a paid trial, a learn-to-play clinic or a free account tier.
Leveled open play and leagues, so new players find people at their level.
A 30-day follow-up plan for every new player.
An off-peak tier for weekday daytime.
A full Google Business Profile with fresh reviews.
Who plays pickleball, and who becomes a member?
A lot of people play. Far fewer play often. SFIA counts 24.3 million Americans who played pickleball in 2025, up from 4.2 million in 2020. But only 7.5 million were core players, playing 8 or more times a year. By our calculation from SFIA's figures, roughly two in three US players play fewer than 8 times a year.
24.3M
Americans played pickleball in 2025
SFIA · 2026
7.5M
played 8 or more times a year
SFIA · 2026
1.8M
Canadians play pickleball
Pickleball Canada · 2026
That gap is your market. The casual majority already likes the game. Your job is to make playing often easy.
What gets in the way? Among avid US players surveyed by SFIA and DUPR in 2025 (1,102 players), 44.4% said courts are overcrowded and 39.2% struggle to find opponents at their level. And 48% want to play more often. Those are the two problems a good club solves: reliable court access and the right partners.
How should a pickleball club price memberships?
Price tiers mainly on how far ahead members can book, not on hours. It costs you nothing to give a top-tier member 14 days instead of 7, and it's what heavy players value most. In our survey of 27 pickleball and padel clubs (October 2026), 17 of the 22 clubs that publish booking windows vary them by tier.
What else the survey found:
The median core monthly membership at US pickleball clubs was $149 (8 clubs). In Canada it was about C$140 a month (8 clubs).
The median top-tier booking window was 14 days. Free or non-member windows were mostly 5 to 7 days.
Daytime-only tiers were priced at a median of 66% of the same club's full tier (6 clubs, including one location outside the 27).
Annual or prepaid options appeared at 15 of 27 clubs, with discounts of about 6.5% to 22%.
A good public example is The Picklr's Seattle location. Its ladder runs from a $30 15-day trial to a $369 family plan, and the top Pro tier gets a 14-day booking window against 7 days on most others.
If you're opening soon, consider founding memberships. Six clubs in our survey ran founding-member offers, capped at 50 to 100 spots. A cap with a locked rate gives people a reason to commit before the doors open.
How do you turn casual players into members?
Make the second visit easy and the first month social. A casual player becomes a member when they've played enough to have a regular game and a group. So your marketing after the first visit matters more than your ads. Book the next visit before they leave, put them in leveled play, and check in.
The money is in the second, fifth and tenth visit
A 30-day plan for every new player:
Day 0: a welcome text, and their next visit booked before they leave.
Week 1: a rating session or beginner clinic so they know their level.
Week 2: an invite to a leveled open play or social night.
Week 3: a personal check-in from a coach or the desk.
Day 30: a membership offer with the trial cost credited, if you do that.
Speed matters. Gymdesk, a gym software vendor, found about two-thirds of trial conversions in its data (mostly martial-arts gyms) happened within 14 days. Different sport, same lesson: the first two weeks decide it.
“
In my experience, leads come in and nobody follows up. That's usually the real leak in a club, not the ad budget.
Rounak Sardesai · Founder, Coala Studio
How do you fill weekday daytime courts?
Sell daytime as its own membership. Retirees, shift workers, parents and remote workers want to play when your courts are quiet. A daytime tier at a lower price, plus daytime leagues and clinics, turns empty hours into recurring revenue without discounting your evenings.
In our survey, 14 of 27 clubs priced by time of day in some way, either with peak and off-peak court rates or a daytime-only tier. Off-peak court discounts ranged from 11% to 40%.
Ideas:
A weekday daytime membership, around two-thirds of your full tier.
A daytime league for 55-plus or newer players.
Corporate team-building afternoons sold to offices nearby.
Weekday junior or homeschool programs.
Do leagues and rated play help keep members?
Yes. I think a fixed weekly slot with the same group is one of the strongest things keeping someone in a club. Leagues give people a reason to show up on a Wednesday. Ratings make sure the game is good when they do. Among avid players in the SFIA and DUPR survey, 60% play in a league.
A fixed weekly game with the same group keeps people coming back
How I'd run it:
Rate every new player in their first week, with a coach-assigned rating or a rating session.
Run 6 to 8 week league seasons, back to back, so there's no gap.
Group open play by level, so beginners aren't stuck against 4.5s.
Run one rated event a month, and message players personally before each one.
Gym research suggests the same thing. A study of gym members found those who made a friend at their club in the last 3 months were 40% less likely to cancel (Hillsdon and Bedford, 2017 gym data). I'd bet a league is where most club members make that friend.
How do you sell corporate events and team-building?
Package it, price it per head, and sell it to offices within a short drive. A team-building afternoon fills weekday courts, introduces 20 new people to the game, and some of them come back on their own. Challenger, Gray & Christmas found 64% of US companies planned in-person holiday parties in 2023, so pitch in September and October.
What the package page needs:
Group size options, for example 10 to 40 people.
What's included: courts, a coach, paddles, a simple bracket, food and drinks if you offer them.
A per-head price and a minimum.
Weekday daytime and evening slots.
One inquiry form, and a reply within the day.
Then follow up after the event. Send every guest a beginner session offer. I think corporate events are one of the best ways to find casual players who might become members.
Maybe, if your market can support it and you have the space. About 1.07 million Americans played padel in 2025, its first SFIA measurement, and the US passed 1,000 padel courts in April 2026, according to USPA. That's small next to pickleball, but it's a fresh audience with less competition.
At the three clubs in our survey that price both sports, padel costs about 1.3 to 2 times as much as pickleball. So padel can lift revenue per court. The marketing is harder, though, because most people haven't tried it. If you add it, budget for intro sessions and a lot of "what is padel?" content, and treat the first year as building the player base.
When should a pickleball club run its marketing?
Plan the year around when people play indoors and when they drift outdoors. In cold-winter markets, fall and January are your big join windows, and summer is when casual players disappear. Sunbelt clubs should flip it, because their indoor peak is the summer heat.
The indoor club year at a glance
Months
What players are doing
What you should run
Sept to Oct
Moving back indoors
Fall member drive. Fall league start. Corporate holiday pitches.
Nov to Dec
Peak indoor demand. Holidays.
Gift memberships and gift cards. Corporate events. Pre-sell January.
Jan
New-year energy
Biggest intro and trial push of the year. Winter league.
Summer tier or pause option. Referral push. Junior camps.
Jul to Aug
Outdoors and holidays
Beginner clinics. Fall league pre-sale with early-bird pricing.
What should a pickleball club post on social media?
Post the people and the play. Rally clips, league nights, a beginner's first win, a coach tip. Then say plainly what's on, what it costs and how to book. Your audience is mostly casual players and their friends, so make the club look fun and easy to join, not just competitive.
A weekly mix:
One rally or skills clip.
One social clip: league night, mixer, birthday.
One beginner-friendly post: "Never played? Here's your first session."
One offer post with a date: league, clinic, trial, membership.
I think pickleball is one of the most inclusive sports to market. Show that. Show every age and every level on court.
How do you get found on Google?
Fill out your Google Business Profile completely and keep reviews coming. A lot of new players search "pickleball near me" and decide from what they see on Google. BrightLocal's 2026 survey (a local SEO vendor) found 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, and 47% won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews.
The basics:
Correct hours, photos of your courts, and your booking link.
Separate categories and posts for pickleball and padel if you offer both.
A review ask after every good first visit, by text, with the link.
Replies to every review, good or bad.
Coala Studio · Sports marketing
Want help filling your courts?
We're a sports marketing agency that builds around your season. On a 30-minute call we'll look at your tiers, your calendar and your first-visit follow-up, and tell you what we'd build first. If it's something you can do yourselves, we'll say so.
30-minute call · free
We look at your tiers, your club calendar and your first-visit follow-up, then build the content, ads and pages that turn casual players into members.
Give new players an easy first step, rate them and put them in leveled play in week one, follow up personally within 30 days, and price tiers on booking window so committed players have a reason to upgrade.
How much does a pickleball club membership cost?
In a Coala survey of 27 clubs in October 2026, the median core monthly membership was $149 at US pickleball clubs (8 clubs) and about C$140 at Canadian clubs (8 clubs).
How many people play pickleball?
SFIA counts 24.3 million US players in 2025, with 7.5 million playing 8 or more times a year. Pickleball Canada's 2026 survey puts Canadian players at 1.8 million.
How do pickleball clubs fill off-peak courts?
With a weekday daytime membership, daytime leagues and clinics, and corporate team-building sessions. In our survey, daytime tiers were priced at a median 66% of the full tier.
Should a new pickleball club sell founding memberships?
It can work well. Six clubs in our survey ran founding-member offers capped at 50 to 100 spots. A real cap and a locked rate give players a reason to commit before opening.
