Pickleball clubs popping up across Bay Area compete for business

SARASOTA, Fla. – As the sport grows in popularity, pickleball clubs are popping up throughout the Bay Area and it means big business for investors,

Across The Pickleball Club in Sarasota, you’ll hear the fierce sounds of friendly competition.

“It’s been great. Membership climbs a little bit every week. This is an ideal location for us because we are sitting literally on the border of Lakewood Ranch in Sarasota. It’s a very large pickleball community. There’s a lot of public parks around us which really helps feed our membership and keeps us moving,” said Lance Martin, the director of operations for The Pickleball Club.e’s teaming up with one of the top pickleball players in the world, Travis Rettenmaier, to build the first-ever pickleball club in St. Petersburg.

“It’s St. Pete Athletic. We’re building a 16-course athletic club with a full restaurant and bar. All the amenities you could wish for,” Pressman explained.

Like The Pickleball Club, players can compete out of the heat.

“He’s come with the idea that we need indoor courts. We need somewhere for families to go. We need a real pickleball facility that kind of drives the community forward. And I think we’re seeing that all across the country”, said Rettenmaier.
Jarrett Sabatini, the owner of Intermezzo Coffee and Cocktails is looking forward to his own serving area in the club.

“Yeah, it’s a different type of kitchen. People can come have good food, good drinks while they’re playing, or if you’re not a pickleball player, you can still come and, you know, maybe watch a different game on TV or just socialize in general,” shared Sabatini.

An open-air facility is also in the works in Ybor City.

The Tampa Pickleball Crew is in the process of building its own courts of dreams.

“It’s going to be membership-based where we’ll have two bays. One of them will house three courts and bay number two will actually have four courts for all of our members to play on,” said Dene Williamson with the Tampa Pickleball Crew.

So while picklers compete on the courts there will be more options across the Bay Area to compete for their business.

“There’s actually 66 new places that are opening each month of play around the country. We’ve had 37 million players in the last 12 months. It’s definitely not a fad by any sense”, said Pressman.