Can pickleball go corporate in Canada?

Like many retirees, 70-year-old William Shim has embraced the sport of pickleball as a way to keep fit and to socialize. 

But getting court space can be tricky, and he often has to book about two weeks ahead of time.

“You’ve got to be quick to get a spot to play,” said Shim, who spoke to CBC News just before stepping onto a Calgary court.

As pickleball soars in popularity, the balance between supply and demand has gotten increasingly out of whack. 

At times, the sport’s growing popularity has provoked tension between passionate pickleballers and others in the community who aren’t keen on having their tennis courts or park space taken over. (One mayor in P.E.I. even quit his job over a pickleball development dustup).

Now, a U.S. company is betting it can make big bucks off all those court-hungry pickleballers with a network of indoor pickleball franchises in every major city in Canada. 

The Picklr started in 2021, began franchising in 2023 and currently has 26 locations from Alabama to Wyoming.

It’s one of several pickleball franchises that have opened up south of the border in recent years and quickly exploded in popularity, said Todd Boss, a pickleball writer with Forbes Magazine. (Some other big names include Pickleball Kingdom, Dill Dinkers and the Ace Pickleball Club.)

“These companies are basically going from zero to [owning] 10 to 12 facilities in a year-and-a-half,” said Boss. “That is pretty massive.”

But some say Canada could be a tougher market to crack. 

It’s not that Canadians don’t like pickleball but rather that this country doesn’t have a glut of readily available retail space that can easily be converted into pickleball courts. 

“You can be ‘hungry for space,’ but if there’s no food on the table … there’s nothing to eat,” said Alex Edmison, senior-vice president with CBRE, a commercial real estate firm. “It’s a supply constraint.”

Space the ‘biggest stumbling block’

Inside a Toronto hotel conference room, representatives with The Picklr recently kicked off its Canadian launch with an event for potential franchisees. 

Among them was Randy Kufske, a retiree from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., and snowbird who hopes to open a pickleball club with his son. Kufske recently visited a location in Salt Lake City as part of the company’s franchise “discovery day” and says he was impressed by what he saw.

The tricky part now, he said, is finding a place to house it. Kufske is on the hunt for a central spot that could draw players from each of the twin cities and is also zoned to allow indoor sports.

“That is definitely the biggest stumbling block,” said Kufske.

The Picklr said the business often looks for “second-generation retail” stores — basically, big box shops that have gone dark. New developments in search of anchor tenants are another good option. 

Industrial spaces can work, too, as long as they’re not too industrial, said Wood, The Picklr co-founder.

“We don’t want to be in a massive industrial park where semis are coming in and out all the time,” he said. 

Some pickleball courts have already successfully set up shop in vacant Canadian mall spaces. But Chris Walker, the company’s chief development officer, acknowledged the U.S. is “way overdeveloped” compared to Canada and that the company will have to work harder in Canada to find the right space. 

“The occupancy is going to be a challenge for sure, we’re gonna have to get creative,” said Walker. 

Still, the company is optimistic and tells CBC it’s signed an offer to lease its first Canadian location in Winnipeg.

The space challenge may come as a surprise to some, given that in recent years there have been plenty of headlines about brick-and-mortar stores closing and malls dying. 

Edmison, with CBRE, says that the population has grown in recent years and driven up demand for consumer goods and groceries, while high construction costs and interest rates have somewhat limited new construction. 

Plus, you can’t just build an indoor pickleball court anywhere. A space has to be wide enough for multiple courts and tall enough that players aren’t constantly firing balls into the sprinkler system. It has to be easy to get to, or at least have plenty of parking. 

Column spacing is another underappreciated factor, said Randy Popplestone, general manager of the Calgary Pickleball Center. After all, he said, you don’t want players running into a pillar in the middle of a court. 

“There’s so many factors that make a successful location,” said Popplestone, who said finding a space was “incredibly difficult.” 

Now that it’s open, the business — housed inside a former plumbing and HVAC supply shop — is busy. On a recent Tuesday, it bustled in the middle of the day with players squeezing in a daytime game. 

It still takes work to drive sales. After all, there are plenty of pickleball players who are happy with the court space at their local community centre and don’t want to fork over for membership fees at a more specialized space.

“There’s really no need for people to stop playing at these community associations for like $2 an hour, right?” said Popplestone.

“You have to motivate either new people, or the same people in a novel way, and that can be really difficult.”

Advantage of franchise model

Boss, the pickleball writer, agreed that a big challenge for pickleball business owners is dealing with cost per square foot and building up enough of a membership base to pay for it. 

Even though pickleball is buzzy, it’s not necessarily a foolproof business. There have been some examples south of the border of facilities closing up shop. 

But the franchise model that businesses like The Picklr are selling does carry advantages, said Boss. Individual franchisees can benefit from brand recognition and from having a model that’s worked in other locations before. 

“They’re going to give you a blueprint and a brand, and you’re going to be up and running as soon as you can find a spot,” said Boss.

Wood, The Picklr’s co-founder, expects the model to take in Canada. In fact, he envisions The Picklr eventually becoming not just a sports club in this country — but a kind of community gathering place. 

“We really strive to create a lifestyle experience where it becomes your ‘third place,'” said Wood, referencing a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg.

“You have work, you have home, and then you have The Picklr.”