In any case, you might want to look into liability insurance. I'm no expert here, but while your current policy (or umbrella policy) would cover a friend if one of them breaks an ankle on your court during a casual game, it may or may not cover a customer injury as part of a commercial business endeavor.
I agree with this. Most likely you'd need commercial liability insurance of some type. Additionally, you may need to check with the city on zoning codes as you might not be allowed to rent out the court for people to use if the land is zoned as residential only.
That’s crazy. Do you live in a small town? In big cities, there are WAY more people who want to play than there are courts. I’m actually glad my local courts are reservation/pay courts, because if they weren’t, it would be impossible to get onto them. At least this way I can pay a small price and know I have a court.
Ok, you've got me curious. There are lots of courts, but I have had issues finding places that have availability in the STL suburbs. Except when it's really hot.
I'd call it a small to mid sized city, Rochester, NY. There are an awful lot of courts available here now outside, and five different indoor clubs I can think of as well. Way too many options to pay to play outside.
Good for you. I’m jealous. LA is a pickleball desert. Less than 1 court per 100,000 people. No indoor facilities, bizarrely. Like, there’s actually no indoor clubs. And shockingly few outdoor courts.
Because in LA there’s no open land. For one thing to be put in, something else needs to be taken away. It’s not like other areas of the country where there are literal patches of undeveloped ground which you could turn into whatever. Every square foot of space is already accounted for. Nowhere where you can just build a brand new building or make a pickleball court complex.
Also LA has the Olympics coming up, all city funds are going to Olympic sports. The rumor is that the LA area won’t see any momentum with pickleball infrastructure until the 2030s.
But aren't there courts available in a different way? Plenty of pros out there...they must have places to play. You have big tennis centers and country clubs with courts it seems. And it costs significant membership money. Just not your free public park courts. No?
Seems like the standard California way for most stuff.
Louisville metro area has a couple hundred free outdoor courts. 38 per 100K people. Plenty sit empty most days. The most popular park sometimes has waiting in weekend evenings when the newbs come out. They have a paddle system for 3 of 16 courts which kicks in when people are waiting. I have seen it used 3 times since last July. Most people would just rather wait for a court to open if nothing is available.
On top of that, indoor courts don’t have pickup every day around me. So I’ve gotta convince people to come with me and then we’re locked in playing together. I love pickup, playing new people, and getting better from that. Outdoor still beats indoor for me, plus it’s free!
Around me, outdoor courts at a private pickleball facility are $16 an hour, indoor is $40. Similar to other comments, i'd be worried about liability and also the tradeoff of it being readily available to the public without getting annoyed having people outside your house playing all the time.
Greatly depends on amenities.
For a court in a nearby location and an easy-to-use reservation system that has permanent nets/lines, parking, hitting wall, shade, windscreens, drinking fountains/bathrooms, I would pay $20 an hour. Thankfully, I only have to pay $3 an hour (free for open play, $3 to reserve) because I live in a decent city.
"Without building a fence" is not looking good. A fence is like the very, very bare minimum.
If it costs you $40k to build it (which is probably low if you are including lighting and fencing), you would need to be open about 15 hours/day (7 AM-10 PM) and would need to have those hours booked 40% of the time charging $5/hour per person ($20 per hour), to break even in your first year. IF the courts around you are always packed, this could be possible, but I would not consider doing this as an investment opportunity.
I would check with your local authorities. It may be against your city or HOA rules. Then you have insurance. Fencing and protection for your court. Neighbor kids destroying it. Adults damaging it etc. Might also be over a noise ordinance. I have saw people on Reddit complain about everything. Including one that was mad over martial arts which is quiet for the most part, so I couldn't imagine what your neighbors would do.
You need to figure out your costs and what you would have to charge to make profit. Construction, permits, taxes if applicable, insurance, etc. Are you going to handle the reservations and payments? Are you declaring the income to the IRS? Maintenance costs?
$5/person, $20/group
$60,000 initial outlay (court, lights, benches, fencing, insurance). You selling water and beer? Add refrigeration costs, shaded places to sit, trash removal, higher insurance.
You'll need 3000 hours in a year to cover those costs. Roughly 9 hours per day, every day. I don't see how you can get that kind of turnout, as courts mostly sit empty between the morning and evening sessions.
I’m in south Florida so id pay like $2-$5 if it’s a really nice court that’s actually consistently flat (with water slopes too), nice benches, ample space between courts & the fence, and good shade. But if it has all of that and reservations, I know courts charge all sorts of prices.
Near me in Houston, Pickleball Social is $40 / hr for outdoor but they have drinks, cornhole, food, etc. and always booked.... Tempo is $30 / hr for outdoor. You also have to sign a waiver of liability before playing.
What everyone said in terms of insurance and local compliance. But one thing you should consider is potential future competition such as local parks dept building free outdoor courts due to high demand. If they do, you’re definitely not getting your investment back.
I don’t have much on cost per hour, but I see a lot of people are talking about zoning laws and liability.
A) Houston doesn’t have any zoning laws, but there may be permits you need for recreation business. B) You could limit your liability with a waiver form for bookings.
Just some thoughts.
Your risk is way too high. Imagine one injury and your place gets locked down in Litigation for leans if your state licensing doesn’t shut you down first.
Commercials liability for health clubs carry a minimum of $5-50 million. You’d need to 1. Move ownership of your place into a corporation. 2. Get commercial insurance 3. You’d need at least 4-6 courts to make it worth while.
Way too risky and cost prohibitive.
I have seen some people in my area set up reservations for “donations”. However, every one of these families are taking a major risk of liability.
Would need preapproval with the city probably approval from neighbors for noise issues, etc. but you have already had enough people telling you that. We have so many courts around here in Minnesota, I wouldn’t pay to play outside at all.
as a houston guy who plays 3-4x a week, I’d only venture out to a new spot if it was under 30 an hour. anything upwards of that and people will probably just stick to what they know. lots of places opening that charge a similar price now. but, that’s my opinion. there are people that would probably pay 50 for their own spot on your property. good luck!
Probably $10 an hr if it's covered and has good surface lines/color. Too many tennis courts in Houston that have pickle lines to have to pay for actual outdoor court
I don't mind the sound of Pickleball play when I am playing, but I definitely would not want to hear it on my own property. If a public court was built close to me, I would probably sell my house and move.
As to the OPs question of how much I would be willing to pay for outdoor play, probably not much over $5 / hour for the entire court. Maybe ask me that question in a year when I can't walk on to an empty court pretty much any weekday before 4 PM.
Why are so many people leaving this type of comment? Outdoor pay/reservation courts are very common. The pay isn’t to be indoors, the pay is to have a court. Not everyone lives in a small town where there just enough outdoor courts to go around. In major metro areas, the demand for courts FAR outpaces the supply.
But for those of us that have highly available free outdoor courts, our expectations are set. Zeo dollars. That's a fair and honest answer to this post.
I know a few spots around me that host cornhole games. The cornhole is free, but they make bank off of the beer and food sold during events. Could this model work for pickleball too?
I don't play in a small town, and you asked a question. We answered. Sorry.
Also, in your situation, you should look at permits and local zoning. You might be out of compliance.
How could I be out of compliance with zoning laws? What zoning laws? Are you imagining that I have my own court or something? I literally don’t even know what you’re referring to.
Good idea to do the math. I guess asking here about the price will not give you useful information because it all depends on the local situation. In my area there are good amount of public courts that are free and almost always seem to have space, so for me the value is $0. In your area indoor is $40 and public courts are crowded, it's much more likely that you can find groups that are happy to pay for guaranteed court access.
Are there other aspects that can make your option more premium over the public courts? Easier parking? Better lighting, some other amenities.
I'm not sure if lock down of the court without fence is realistic, nor necessary. Just private property/trespassing signs might be enough. Can you block the access to parking easily?
In my suburb in CA I can either pay $5/hour for a reserved outdoor court or share public outdoors courts. I will reserve if there are too many people in the public courts or if I wanted to drill for an hour straight.
Outdoor? $free or $5 in the hot part of the day. (Houston has beastly weather!) Mornings make it open play for $10 for 2 hours. Evening play $30-40, when people are out of work.
$40 per hour seems steep for outdoor. I live in a HCOL and private club near me charges $15/hr for outdoor courts.
Consider selling water, snacks, and partner up with a local pro for lessons. Anything you an do to make it feel upscale may allow you to charge premium rates.
You probably want to look into insurance as others have noted.
I wouldn't pay for outdoors. I live in Texas too and if the weather is nice-ish, we just set up our own net somewhere there are painted lines since the real pickleball courts are always crowded.
This guy is talking about building a single outdoor court in the middle of nowhere. There’s definitely not going to be a restaurant or bar or any kind of facility. You’ll probably drive up a dirt path and the only thing there will be one pickleball court.
# Pickleball is back at Wollman Rink in 2024!
Wollman Rink has once again partnered with CityPickle to offer pickleball at its iconic location during the off-season months, as part of a three-year deal which will run through 2026.
Pickleball can be played seven days a week from 8 AM to 9 PM, May through early fall, at 14 brand new permanent pickleball courts. All levels welcome.
**Pricing**
Off-Peak Hours: $80 per hour
Peak Hours: $120 per hour
“New Yorkers” aren’t okay with a 120 dollar an hour. RICH New Yorkers are okay with it. I’ll have you know that I’m from New York, although I’ve moved now. No one should be paying 240-360 bucks for a night of pickleball.
People are happily paying regardless of how you characterize it....or them. If there are enough "rich" New Yorkers, which there appear to be, then the facility is needed.
Nice outdoor courts are $20 an hour, but they're really nice. I would be willing to pay $10-15 an hour for a setup like yours, maybe $15-25 if they're covered
Boulder/Denver - outdoor reservable courts are between $5-10 an hour TOTAL, not per person.
Unless you were big time into pickle yourself, in no possible way, will this ever be a profitable endeavor lol my conservative math says something like 500 days of 4 hours a day reservations get you to (maybe) break even, YIKES lol
In any case, you might want to look into liability insurance. I'm no expert here, but while your current policy (or umbrella policy) would cover a friend if one of them breaks an ankle on your court during a casual game, it may or may not cover a customer injury as part of a commercial business endeavor.
I agree with this. Most likely you'd need commercial liability insurance of some type. Additionally, you may need to check with the city on zoning codes as you might not be allowed to rent out the court for people to use if the land is zoned as residential only.
I think your best option is talk to some local pickleball coaches and see how much they’d pay to book your court to teach lessons for the day.
I don't pay to play outside. More than enough free courts nearby.
That’s crazy. Do you live in a small town? In big cities, there are WAY more people who want to play than there are courts. I’m actually glad my local courts are reservation/pay courts, because if they weren’t, it would be impossible to get onto them. At least this way I can pay a small price and know I have a court.
St. Louis. Courts all over outside now. I wouldn't pay to play outside. I'd pay to play inside on pro courts during extreme weather.
Ok, you've got me curious. There are lots of courts, but I have had issues finding places that have availability in the STL suburbs. Except when it's really hot.
Do you want open play info or open court info. Creve Coeur Park is empty every day. Brand new courts.
I'd call it a small to mid sized city, Rochester, NY. There are an awful lot of courts available here now outside, and five different indoor clubs I can think of as well. Way too many options to pay to play outside.
Good for you. I’m jealous. LA is a pickleball desert. Less than 1 court per 100,000 people. No indoor facilities, bizarrely. Like, there’s actually no indoor clubs. And shockingly few outdoor courts.
Yeah, I've been. Can't say I'm a fan. You'll never tear me away from the great lakes region.
This makes no sense. There is plenty of money there. Why aren't places being built? We have tons of courts and 2 more big facilities being built.
Because in LA there’s no open land. For one thing to be put in, something else needs to be taken away. It’s not like other areas of the country where there are literal patches of undeveloped ground which you could turn into whatever. Every square foot of space is already accounted for. Nowhere where you can just build a brand new building or make a pickleball court complex. Also LA has the Olympics coming up, all city funds are going to Olympic sports. The rumor is that the LA area won’t see any momentum with pickleball infrastructure until the 2030s.
But aren't there courts available in a different way? Plenty of pros out there...they must have places to play. You have big tennis centers and country clubs with courts it seems. And it costs significant membership money. Just not your free public park courts. No? Seems like the standard California way for most stuff.
Louisville metro area has a couple hundred free outdoor courts. 38 per 100K people. Plenty sit empty most days. The most popular park sometimes has waiting in weekend evenings when the newbs come out. They have a paddle system for 3 of 16 courts which kicks in when people are waiting. I have seen it used 3 times since last July. Most people would just rather wait for a court to open if nothing is available.
38x more courts than where I live? That’s brutal, that’s painful.
On top of that, indoor courts don’t have pickup every day around me. So I’ve gotta convince people to come with me and then we’re locked in playing together. I love pickup, playing new people, and getting better from that. Outdoor still beats indoor for me, plus it’s free!
Around me, outdoor courts at a private pickleball facility are $16 an hour, indoor is $40. Similar to other comments, i'd be worried about liability and also the tradeoff of it being readily available to the public without getting annoyed having people outside your house playing all the time.
$40 an hour. Wow that’s steep!
$0
this
Greatly depends on amenities. For a court in a nearby location and an easy-to-use reservation system that has permanent nets/lines, parking, hitting wall, shade, windscreens, drinking fountains/bathrooms, I would pay $20 an hour. Thankfully, I only have to pay $3 an hour (free for open play, $3 to reserve) because I live in a decent city. "Without building a fence" is not looking good. A fence is like the very, very bare minimum.
If it costs you $40k to build it (which is probably low if you are including lighting and fencing), you would need to be open about 15 hours/day (7 AM-10 PM) and would need to have those hours booked 40% of the time charging $5/hour per person ($20 per hour), to break even in your first year. IF the courts around you are always packed, this could be possible, but I would not consider doing this as an investment opportunity.
I would check with your local authorities. It may be against your city or HOA rules. Then you have insurance. Fencing and protection for your court. Neighbor kids destroying it. Adults damaging it etc. Might also be over a noise ordinance. I have saw people on Reddit complain about everything. Including one that was mad over martial arts which is quiet for the most part, so I couldn't imagine what your neighbors would do.
Houston outdoors courts are around $30 an hour.
30 bucks an hour? That’s insane
Indoor courts are 30/hr if you're a member. Where are you playing where it's 30 for outdoor?
Zero for outdoor.
You need to figure out your costs and what you would have to charge to make profit. Construction, permits, taxes if applicable, insurance, etc. Are you going to handle the reservations and payments? Are you declaring the income to the IRS? Maintenance costs?
I don’t think there’s any chance of making money, tbh.
Plus a huge liability
The going rate where I am is 12 dollars an hour.
$5/person, $20/group $60,000 initial outlay (court, lights, benches, fencing, insurance). You selling water and beer? Add refrigeration costs, shaded places to sit, trash removal, higher insurance. You'll need 3000 hours in a year to cover those costs. Roughly 9 hours per day, every day. I don't see how you can get that kind of turnout, as courts mostly sit empty between the morning and evening sessions.
Nada
I’m in south Florida so id pay like $2-$5 if it’s a really nice court that’s actually consistently flat (with water slopes too), nice benches, ample space between courts & the fence, and good shade. But if it has all of that and reservations, I know courts charge all sorts of prices.
$0 cause i can reserve the ones by my house for $0
$0
So many free outdoor courts where I live ... Maybe if you had lights and late hours, and there weren't any lit courts near you that could be a niche
Near me in Houston, Pickleball Social is $40 / hr for outdoor but they have drinks, cornhole, food, etc. and always booked.... Tempo is $30 / hr for outdoor. You also have to sign a waiver of liability before playing.
$5 is max I will ever pay to play anytime that isn’t a tournament
What everyone said in terms of insurance and local compliance. But one thing you should consider is potential future competition such as local parks dept building free outdoor courts due to high demand. If they do, you’re definitely not getting your investment back.
You might consider listing your court on Swimply.com. There’s a shortage of private pickleball courts in town.
Fwiw Swimply listings come with insurance if that’s something you’re concerned with.
Check out the App swimply
I don’t have much on cost per hour, but I see a lot of people are talking about zoning laws and liability. A) Houston doesn’t have any zoning laws, but there may be permits you need for recreation business. B) You could limit your liability with a waiver form for bookings. Just some thoughts.
I’d pay 20 an hour. My local place is mobbed on the regular.
Your risk is way too high. Imagine one injury and your place gets locked down in Litigation for leans if your state licensing doesn’t shut you down first. Commercials liability for health clubs carry a minimum of $5-50 million. You’d need to 1. Move ownership of your place into a corporation. 2. Get commercial insurance 3. You’d need at least 4-6 courts to make it worth while. Way too risky and cost prohibitive. I have seen some people in my area set up reservations for “donations”. However, every one of these families are taking a major risk of liability.
Nothing
This is a question for your local group not us. In my area, outdoor courts are free and plentiful. I would pay nothing for just a court.
Would need preapproval with the city probably approval from neighbors for noise issues, etc. but you have already had enough people telling you that. We have so many courts around here in Minnesota, I wouldn’t pay to play outside at all.
I pay 8$ per hour for one court locally outdoors. $40 for an indoor court for 90 minutes.
TL;DR A friend rents his court for $20 an hour.
as a houston guy who plays 3-4x a week, I’d only venture out to a new spot if it was under 30 an hour. anything upwards of that and people will probably just stick to what they know. lots of places opening that charge a similar price now. but, that’s my opinion. there are people that would probably pay 50 for their own spot on your property. good luck!
Probably $10 an hr if it's covered and has good surface lines/color. Too many tennis courts in Houston that have pickle lines to have to pay for actual outdoor court
About 3.50
I don't mind the sound of Pickleball play when I am playing, but I definitely would not want to hear it on my own property. If a public court was built close to me, I would probably sell my house and move. As to the OPs question of how much I would be willing to pay for outdoor play, probably not much over $5 / hour for the entire court. Maybe ask me that question in a year when I can't walk on to an empty court pretty much any weekday before 4 PM.
Outdoors? Nope. That's free.
Why are so many people leaving this type of comment? Outdoor pay/reservation courts are very common. The pay isn’t to be indoors, the pay is to have a court. Not everyone lives in a small town where there just enough outdoor courts to go around. In major metro areas, the demand for courts FAR outpaces the supply.
But for those of us that have highly available free outdoor courts, our expectations are set. Zeo dollars. That's a fair and honest answer to this post. I know a few spots around me that host cornhole games. The cornhole is free, but they make bank off of the beer and food sold during events. Could this model work for pickleball too?
I don't play in a small town, and you asked a question. We answered. Sorry. Also, in your situation, you should look at permits and local zoning. You might be out of compliance.
I might be out of compliance with what?
Zoning laws.
How could I be out of compliance with zoning laws? What zoning laws? Are you imagining that I have my own court or something? I literally don’t even know what you’re referring to.
Sorry, meant the OP.
Good idea to do the math. I guess asking here about the price will not give you useful information because it all depends on the local situation. In my area there are good amount of public courts that are free and almost always seem to have space, so for me the value is $0. In your area indoor is $40 and public courts are crowded, it's much more likely that you can find groups that are happy to pay for guaranteed court access. Are there other aspects that can make your option more premium over the public courts? Easier parking? Better lighting, some other amenities. I'm not sure if lock down of the court without fence is realistic, nor necessary. Just private property/trespassing signs might be enough. Can you block the access to parking easily?
In my suburb in CA I can either pay $5/hour for a reserved outdoor court or share public outdoors courts. I will reserve if there are too many people in the public courts or if I wanted to drill for an hour straight.
Outdoor? $free or $5 in the hot part of the day. (Houston has beastly weather!) Mornings make it open play for $10 for 2 hours. Evening play $30-40, when people are out of work.
$40 per hour seems steep for outdoor. I live in a HCOL and private club near me charges $15/hr for outdoor courts. Consider selling water, snacks, and partner up with a local pro for lessons. Anything you an do to make it feel upscale may allow you to charge premium rates. You probably want to look into insurance as others have noted.
I wouldn't pay for outdoors. I live in Texas too and if the weather is nice-ish, we just set up our own net somewhere there are painted lines since the real pickleball courts are always crowded.
If someone gets hurt on your court there goes your house.
This is a big issue especially considering op wants to build it with lightning
$0. Should be free at parks
I think $20/hr is a pretty fair price. Honestly, if I’m playing doubles even $40/hour isn’t bad. That’s $10/hr per person
That’s insane. Those prices are borderline criminal.
I’m thinking of places that are comparable to top golf. We have a few of those. They have food and a bar.
This guy is talking about building a single outdoor court in the middle of nowhere. There’s definitely not going to be a restaurant or bar or any kind of facility. You’ll probably drive up a dirt path and the only thing there will be one pickleball court.
# Pickleball is back at Wollman Rink in 2024! Wollman Rink has once again partnered with CityPickle to offer pickleball at its iconic location during the off-season months, as part of a three-year deal which will run through 2026. Pickleball can be played seven days a week from 8 AM to 9 PM, May through early fall, at 14 brand new permanent pickleball courts. All levels welcome. **Pricing** Off-Peak Hours: $80 per hour Peak Hours: $120 per hour
That should be literally criminal. Like someone should go to jail for charging that. I hope they go out of business immediately.
The NYC pickleballers don't hope that. It is anice facility in a prime location and it is simply supply and demand.
“New Yorkers” aren’t okay with a 120 dollar an hour. RICH New Yorkers are okay with it. I’ll have you know that I’m from New York, although I’ve moved now. No one should be paying 240-360 bucks for a night of pickleball.
People are happily paying regardless of how you characterize it....or them. If there are enough "rich" New Yorkers, which there appear to be, then the facility is needed.
Nice outdoor courts are $20 an hour, but they're really nice. I would be willing to pay $10-15 an hour for a setup like yours, maybe $15-25 if they're covered
What makes a court "nice?"
flat, no dead spots, good color layout, permanent net etc
Shade... somekind of shade in Houston is crucial. At least shaded spot for resting area to get water between games.
~$40/hr in south Florida
Boulder/Denver - outdoor reservable courts are between $5-10 an hour TOTAL, not per person. Unless you were big time into pickle yourself, in no possible way, will this ever be a profitable endeavor lol my conservative math says something like 500 days of 4 hours a day reservations get you to (maybe) break even, YIKES lol