Pickleballers to score more spaces to play as largest indoor chain plans Long Island entry

The pickleball boom is drawing the largest player in the indoor venue business to Long Island.

The Picklr will make its Long Island debut in the fall, in a Centereach shopping center, said Syosset resident Tom Neale, majority owner of the franchise company that will operate the pickleball club.

The pickleball club will open at 231 Centereach Mall, which was vacated by a Big Lots store last summer, he said.

The Picklr is entering into the fray of fast-growing competition from indoor pickleball courts on Long Island. Most of them are independent operators, which was a route that Neale and his team initially considered, he said.

"And the more we got to know the Picklr brand, the more impressed we were with the brand, its playbook, its strategy, its vision and the people behind the brand, and we came to the determination that that was, strategically and business-wise, the best path of us," he said.

The Picklr’s 33,900-square-foot space in Centereach will contain 10 or 11 pickleball courts, as well as a pro shop, grab-and-go café, locker rooms, a member lounge and a community room that can be reserved for parties and other private events.

The franchise will operate as a subsidiary of Arete Sports Group, Neale's advisory and investment company, which owns The Picklr’s exclusive franchise rights on Long Island and in Brooklyn, Queens and parts of New Jersey, where 16 clubs are planned, he said.

Arete is in "advanced conversations" to open more Picklr locations on Long Island, in northern Suffolk County and central Nassau County, he said.

Pickleball is a sport played with a paddle and a small plastic ball that has similarities to badminton, tennis and table tennis.

The closings of large retailers are creating opportunities for indoor pickleball court operators, Neale said.

The Picklr requires spaces that range between 25,000 and 50,000 square feet, which allows for eight to 15 courts, and the facilities must have ceilings at least 18 feet high, he said.

Arete Sports opened its first Picklr location in Manahawkin, New Jersey, on March 15 in a former Bed Bath and Beyond space. That 22,500-square-foot club has seven courts.

One of the partners in Neale’s Picklr franchise locations is his wife, JoAnn Neale, who is also president and chief administrative and strategy officer of Major League Soccer. But she will not be involved in the day-to-day operations of The Picklr, Neale said.

Among the handful of investors is also Glenn Schneider, who is the owner and chief executive officer of SUSA FC, a Central Islip-based youth soccer academy, said Neale, who added that he expects The Picklr to be at the forefront of accelerating the growth of pickleball for young players in high school and college and, eventually, the Olympics.

"And we see the future of this sport very much being the youth. So, we will put a large amount of emphasis and focus on youth development," he said.

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Kaysville, Utah, The Pickler is the largest chain of indoor pickleball courts in the U.S., excluding gyms that have pickleball courts. The chain's 35 clubs currently open across the country are among the 106 leases that have been signed and more than 500 franchise locations that have been sold, said Kathryn Bullough, chief marketing officer of The Picklr. Currently, 17 clubs are in construction development, she said.

The Picklr offers walk-in play and memberships, the latter of which includes unlimited play and participation in the club's leagues and tournaments, Neale said.

Membership prices at the Long Island locations will range from $139 to $189 monthly, while annual memberships will be the equivalent of 10 monthly payments, he said.

The Long Island clubs will employ 20 to 30 people each, including pickleball instructors.

Fast growing sport

For the third consecutive year, pickleball was the fastest-growing sport in America, according to a report released in November by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association in Laurel, Maryland.

Participation in the sport grew 51.8% from 2022 to 2023, and 223.5% over the three years.

The demographic group with the largest number of participants, 2.3 million people, ranged in age from 25 to 34 years old, but the number of players younger than 18 grew by 1 million from 2022 to 2023, according to the report.

"This cross-generational appeal highlights pickleball’s versatility and its ability to bring together diverse groups of people. The significant increase in youth participation also suggests a promising future for the sport as young players grow and continue to engage with pickleball," the report said.

Pickleball is growing in popularity for several reasons, including it being a game for all ages of players and it having a relatively low barrier to entry because it is not a highly technical sport, Neale said.

"And the third thing is, I think it has all of the right elements for participation. It’s part fitness. It’s part entertainment. But it also is very much all community. It helps bring communities together," he said.

The pickleball boom on Long Island has led to more indoor courts and some towns upgrading or building new outdoor courts.

The Oyster Bay Town Board is considering The Pickle Club’s plan to build a seven-court pickleball facility, in a Syosset warehouse. The business already has a location in Jericho.

Box Pickleball Container Bar & Kitchen, an indoor pickleball facility and eatery, opened in a former Kmart space in Riverhead in December.

A Pickleball Xpress location opened in Islip in a former sports training facility in May.

Pickleball Smash-It opened in Samanea New York Mall in Westbury in 2023.

The insufficient number of pickleball courts to keep up with players' demand is helping to fuel the growth of indoor pickleball businesses, Bullough said.

"And, so, we have obviously sort of jumped on that opportunity to provide more courts for people," said Bullough, adding that by the end of 2025, The Picklr plans to have 93 locations in the United States and its first clubs outside of the country, starting with four in Canada.

The Picklr plans to open 75 to 100 clubs annually, including expansion into Western Europe, Australia, Japan and New Zealand in 2026, she said.

Correction: An earlier version of the story stated an incorrect minimum ceiling height required for The Picklr's clubs.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.