QUESTION

How profitable is Pickleball for you? Assuming you teach Pickleball - tell us how it compares to your tennis income. Is Pickleball a profit center in your club?

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COMMENTS​​

• No

• Yes

• Not at all, in fact I refuse to promote a competing activity. I’m tennis professional. Why would I spend time working with people who don’t need lessons and pay half as much?

• Yes. Much more profitable per sq ft than tennis

• I just got certified (USPTA) as a pickleball coach - almost all clubs in atlanta are making the adjustment to include pickleball and it appears to be doing quite well Luke Jensen told us “it filled up his 6-10am” and it includes more players than tennis clinics/lessons

• Yes. Even though Pickleball players do not take as many lessons as tennis players, it is a vital part of today's racket games. My dear friend in Scottsdale had this breakdown this season: Tennis lessons 60% and Pickleball lessons, 40%. A smart pro must adjust to this trend or be left behind.

• Pickleball cuts into my profits a bit because I teach on tennis courts that are now used for pickleball, so the courts are not as available as they used to be. So I have to search for other courts or I just can't teach as much.

• I’m at a City paid facility, players are finally getting used to paying fir court rentals

• Retail 70% of revenue Court 65% of revenue

• Yes, it is profitable now and getting bigger all the time at The Burbank Tennis Center. About 3 k a month. Tennis is still the 800 pound gorilla though.

• NONE, ZERO, I hate picklebullcrap

• Still Less than teaching Tennis. It will always be.

• Tennis makes more gross but the profit margin per square feet of indoor court space is much more profitable for pb

• i dont teach it. it is ping pong with out a table

• VERY, very profitable to my pros and my club. And much easier to teach and easier on the pros' bodies. Especially for the older pros. Granted, this will level out in about five years after the honeymoon is over. This leads to another important question: where are the new young tennis pros? I haven't seen any lately.

• I do not teach it but the club has 4 pickle ball courts and it is constantly busy with players, teachers and events.

• Going well - lessons and surprisingly special events is where we are getting alot of traction. We've done close to a dozen pickleball events this year and a couple of glow in the dark pickleball events. So pickleball is profitable for our club.

• Not Profitable. Our Pros have tried, but most Pickleball players know all they need to know after a short time playing the sport. One reason it is so popular. Very few continue with lessons.

• not at all profitable

• Teaching Pb not so much, tournaments is a big money maker.

• Pickleball revenue is 4 times what I was making in tennis. Growth of 80 to 900 active players in a three year time span. All taking lessons, clinics, in house leagues, and inter club league play.

• F__K Pickleball

• Pickleball revenue from lessons, court booking, paddles and gear make up the majority of my revenue.

• do not have pickelball.

• Very much so - lessons, indoor court fees and special events - probably 15-20% of my overall business.

• We started pickleball 6 weeks ago offering private lessons, 4 different clinics and a weekly mixer and despite all the rain we have been getting it generates approximately $500/wk

• I charge the same for all Racquet Sports. Definitely additional income

• Pickleball income: lessons , membership, court fees etc is the 2 nd highest income stream at the club

• Absolutely not, tennis players are disliked by golfers because they are cheap. Pickleball players make tennis players look like millionaires.

• No comparison. Tennis players took lessons, many wanted to improve and others wanted clinics and drills. PB not so much. Required to get certified but lessons aren’t there. Why? Anybody and everybody is introducing folks to the game, once they start, that is all they want. Those I’m around just want to hit however they can and play. I call it wackamole!

• It is not profitable as play is free and expenses for drills and lessons is 170% of income

• Haven't really began to teach it even though I am certified in it.

• Yes it is. Long term success remains to be seen.

• Tennis lesson revenues are triple the amount of Pickleball lesson revenues.

• I do not teach Pickleball yet. No income from Pickleball.

• Brginner lessons/clinics are. Drops off to a 25% for intermediate and scarce for advanced. Too many paddle companies, online stores and balls last much longer than tennis balls. Great for idle court time reservations.

• We added it to our club in January of this year. Through scheduled drop ins, league play, tournaments and socials we are most likely going to add an additional $50k of revenue from this somewhat seasonal sport in year 1. So I would have to say it’s been very successful.

• I’m on court 7 hours a week teaching pickleball and 25 hours a week teaching tennis. We have for Pickleball courts and 32 tennis courts. We have academy programs for tennis adult programs for tennis, however, no Pickleball programs at all. My lessons come from word of mouth or seeing my lessons when I’m on court for Pickleball. My tennis lessons come in a similar way however the Academy programs and community programs we offer Increase the interest in private lessons. If we had more Pickleball courts and programs, it would be as vibrant as our tennis instruction is.

• On a good month PB is 10% of income. It is not a profit center. It is a member activity/ usage boost.

• Junior program is just as profitable as my tennis program. Adult is smaller than my tennis program profitable but much smaller scale.

• i dont do pickleball

• PickleBall has brought so many new faces to the courts! There is a tremendous amount of crossover with our tennis players, but PickleBall is bringing out new players of all ages who might not venture to the tennis courts! It’s much easier for a player to pickup a paddle and begin to play in a short period of time. It has also added to our lesson revenues with private lessons, clinics, Cardio Pickle, and numerous parties for all different occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, corporate outings and mixers increasing food and beverage sales! It’s been a real revenue booster for all these reasons! Anytime we can add a new activity for our members And get more people to the club having fun , that’s a winner!

• Of course Pickleball is profitable for tennis clubs. The days of cheap players, courts and lessons are gone. Pickleball players are willing to pay! Most “tennis” clubs today charge almost as much for a Pickleball lesson as they do for tennis and pay the coaches less than tennis pros. With at least two pickleball lessons on one tennis court, clubs are doubling their net in the same space. The bigger question is: Are tennis clubs accurately reporting their TENNIS income on USTA/TIA surveys??? I suspect they are NOT separating the two and reporting all income as coming from “tennis”. We all know Covid helped the tennis industry but the retention in juniors hasn’t improved and a large percentage of seniors have gone to pickleball. The USTA reports that tennis is booming but is it is really???

• As a free lance instructor , I average about 5% of my income from random pickleball lessons. Most students take 1-2 lessons for pickleball, verses 4-100 lessons for tennis.

• No. It is not. I don't see that changing unless I start doing tournaments.

• Not too prifitable

• Much better and very different - more clinics, more round robins and cardio.

• Not a source of revenue. People just want to play.

• Absolute joke. I'm fully booked with tennis lessons and a wait list within my hours of 7:30-12:00. Totally booked. I've taught 7 pickleball lessons in 7 months. PB people are fairweather, don't believe in lessons, etc.

• Zero, we added it to retain some members, but it is free in most areas so little of no income is created

• PB players do not want to pay to play in general. Well below tennis income for pros and the club. Must have large 20+ PB court complex to be profitable.

• The Club only allows Pickleball at certain times (we do not have designated courts), so Pickleball only accounts for about 4 % of total Revenue. The margins for Pickleball are not quite as good as tennis, but it does add some extra revenue in times when all of the courts are not being used.

• Zero. Sell outs are teaching it. Not tennis pros anymore

• It is 10% of teaching revenue now. I do sell paddles and balls but nothing coming close to stringing revenue. I expect the lesson income to elevate as leagues form and players look to improve.

• Not as profitable as tennis lessons but is bringing in dues revenue

• Extremely.

• I don’t teach pickleball. I still haa sad be plenty of tennis players taking lessons. There are plenty of pickleballers, but most are marginal athletes, older players, social players—not exactly players looking to improve their playing. I don’t see these people being serious enough to take lessons. They are happy just playing.

• Lose money with it!

• VERY MUCH

• Compared to tennis, pickleball brings in about 10% of the lesson revenue at my Country Club

• It is a minimal profit center more a social connective activity