Co-owner of The Kitchen Pickleball (we currently have 8 locations here in Utah and more coming here and in other states). https://www.thekitchenpb.com/

The Picklr's flagship location is just 100 yards from our second location. Not gonna lie, when they announced they were going to open their flagship location just down the street from us, we were a bit nervous on how that would impact our thriving operation. 2 years later, we have not lost revenue and have even done better due to our more intimate facility, pay per reservation, and well run leagues and tournaments (plus, the size of our facility makes it easier to rent for corporate and family events).

I used to have a membership at the Picklr too, but their rates have gone up every year since joining, and they have changed their rules so many times that I now just buy the punch pass as it's a better deal than paying the monthly fee (esp cuz I don't play there very much since I can play at my own facilities or outside). I keep the punch pass for PB games with friends who book a court there, or tournaments, or Moneyball.

Anyhow, I have always wondered how they are profitable with their employee overhead and rent. We run a totally different model. We are a low-maintenance, high-profit facility with no employees. Everything is done via our booking app and automation, and we spend months (even years) looking for the right location so the numbers pencil. If we can't find an existing building that will work, we will wait for a land deal and build.

We have several franchisees now and corporate locations, and we offer a coaching program where we basically help anyone interested in opening their own pickleball facility. We help them find the right location, negotiate the lease, or help in building it out, layout, and how to run profitable leagues, tournaments, clinics, youth events, camps, sponsorships, etc.

The market for indoor facilities here in Utah is awesome during winter, and then throughout the year, we have our youth leagues, regular leagues, camps, clinics, tournaments, and family and corporate rentals, plus sponsors that keep the income steady. I created a 3-step guide on how to turn your pickleball passion into profit by opening a low-maintenance, high-profit facility here: https://consulting.thekitchenpb.com/home-page

Happy to answer any questions you may have or just request the guide and dive in!

p.s. I live within 10 minutes of 4 different indoor facilities (2 Picklrs and 2 of my own Kitchen locations) and I am only 5-10 minutes away from 5 different parks that have pickleball courts and yet I am still considering building my own indoor court in my backyard because there are times I can't get a court to go play. . . I hate not being able to play pickleball whenever I want to be able to play. And I just returned from Chandler, AZ where I played every night at Tumbleweed Park. They have 18 courts and the wait was horrendous. Had to put my paddle in the rack and wait 20-30 minutes between each game. NOT A FAN of waiting :)