PaddleOps / Industry
PaddleOps Industry · The Operator's Edition

Run pickleball, professionally.

The publication for facility owners, league managers, and tournament directors. Industry news, ops playbooks, software comparisons, and the weekly Sunday Brief — written by people who run the sport.

Free · Weekly · Operator-only · From the team behind PaddleOps
Issue 001 · Sunday May 10 5-min read

The first issue. Why we built this.

CourtReserve quietly raised their Scale tier ceiling — what it means for mid-size operators. The pickleball-only facility movement just crossed 100 venues. Naples Pickleball Center's 5-revenue-stream playbook.

Also in Issue 001
  • Software take: CourtReserve $499 tier breakdown
  • Facility profile: Naples Pickleball Center · $1.2M revenue benchmark
  • Hot take: stop running free tournaments to "build community"
🔥 The Editor's Take

Hot takes this week.

No filter. No sponsorship dollars. Just opinions about how pickleball is being run — and what we think operators should do about it.

🛠️ Software Take
CourtReserve's $499 tier is punishing mid-size operators.
If you run leagues and tournaments under 200 active members, the Scale tier is overkill — you're paying $6K/year for features baked into other platforms at $149. The pricing wall is the biggest unspoken pain in pickleball ops right now.
🏢 Facility Take
Pickleball-only facilities will beat multi-sport venues in 5 years.
Multi-sport venues are hedging. Pickleball-only operators are committing. Specialization wins in fast-growing sports — period. Court utilization, community density, and membership stickiness all favor focused venues.
🏆 TD Take
Stop running free tournaments to "build community."
You're not building community — you're training players to expect free events. Charging $35-65 per entry filters for serious players, funds better awards, and creates real revenue. Free TDs burn out in 18 months.
📰 The Sunday Brief

Archive.

Every Sunday at 7 AM. 5-minute read. Industry news + ops playbooks + one Facility of the Week. Free, no spam, no fluff.

Issue 001 · Coming Sunday May 10
The first issue. Why we built this.
CourtReserve quietly raised their Scale tier. The pickleball-only facility movement just crossed 100 venues. Naples Pickleball Center: 65 courts, 5 revenue streams. Plus: stop running free tournaments.
Software Facility Naples Hot Take
Issue 002 · Sunday May 17
The staffing crisis nobody is talking about.
2026 wages are 40% higher than facility pro formas budget. DUPR opens facility API. Construction costs +18-22%. Facility of the Week: The Picklr — Bossier. Hot take: stop low-balling pricing to "build community."
Staffing DUPR API Construction Picklr
Issue 003 publishes May 24 → Subscribe below to receive every Sunday.
🔍 The Operator's Audit · Free

How healthy is your pickleball operation?

10 questions. 5 minutes. Get a personalized scorecard with specific gaps and operator playbooks tailored to your operation. Built from data on hundreds of pickleball facilities, leagues, and tournament programs.

✓ Free ✓ No login ✓ Results emailed instantly ✓ Honest, not a sales pitch
10
Questions
5min
To complete
100
Point scorecard
6
Dimensions scored
Audit covers: software fit, members-to-courts ratio, programming density, court utilization, tournament volume, league count.
📅 What's worth your time

The operator's calendar.

Trade shows, operator conferences, vendor demo days, and major industry events. We update this monthly — submit additions via the contact form.

Jul 24–26
PickleCon 2026
Kansas City Convention Center · Triple Crown Sports · includes the Pickleball Club Magazine "Owners + Operators" private session — 6 industry speakers across 4 hours, club operators only
Register ↗
Ongoing
IAPPF Membership + Webinars
International Association of Pickleball & Padel Facilities · founded by Pickleball Central co-founder David Johnson · free membership for facility operators · regional meetups, Bootcamps, and group buying access
Join free ↗
Bi-monthly
Pickleball Club Magazine
Riley + Brady Watkins · the long-form business publication for club owners and operators · interviews with leading facilities · digital + print
Subscribe ↗
Mar 13–15, 2027
IAPPF International Conference @ RacquetX
Fort Lauderdale Convention Center · partnership with RacquetX 2027 — the largest racquet-sports gathering in North America · panels, networking, facility tours, supplier showcase
Save the date ↗
Editorial standards

What we stand for.

🎯
Operator-first reporting
We write for the people who run pickleball — facility owners, league managers, tournament directors. Not players. Not vendors. Not tour brands. Our angle is always: what does this mean for your operation?
🔗
No paid rankings
Our software comparisons, court reviews, and vendor evaluations are based on operator feedback and direct testing — not sponsorship dollars. When something is sponsored, we label it. When a link earns commission, we disclose it.
🏢
Built by operators
We also build PaddleOps — the operations software for pickleball facilities. That's not a conflict — it's the credential. We write what we know because we're solving the same problems you are, every day.
From the team behind this publication

PaddleOps — the software we wished existed.

Court scheduling, registrations, payments, brackets, payroll, sponsors. 20 modules in one platform. Built for the realities of running a pickleball facility, club, or tournament series.

Live product is a public sandbox · password: paddleops2026

▶ Open Live Product See features →
← Back to PaddleOps Industry
🔍 The Operator's Audit

How healthy is your pickleball operation?

10 questions. 5 minutes. Get a personalized scorecard with specific gaps and operator playbooks.

Question 1 of 10
10% complete