Can Pickleball Save Malls in a Pickle?

One would have to be living under a rock to escape the fact that pickleball is now everywhere.  A bit more space than ping pong, but no need to run a court as big as tennis, it’s a social way to get some cardio in without running yourself ragged.  Various articles have spoken of how malls are being repurposed as pickleball courts.  Let’s take a look at some existing pickleball courts to see who’s playing and what’s driving their popularity.

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According to its website, Pickleball Zone Bend opened its doors on October 29th, 2018. This 55,000 square foot facility hosts Trampoline Zone & Adventure Park on the ground floor, and 8 dedicated pickleball courts on the 3rd floor. The Players Lounge adds comfort and mountainous views from the 4th floor.

An outdoor option exists at Surprise Pickleball Courts in AZ.  There, patrons are invited to “enjoy a game at this state-of-the-art facility. There are 16 courts, which are lighted from 6 AM–10 PM”  With spring weather, we see a marked increase in traffic at this location in March and April.

One of the strengths of Placer.ai is our ability to look at time of day visitation.  In this case, an interesting pattern arises at each location. Pickleball Zone sees a majority of its visits between 12  PM-5 PM.  Meanwhile, Surprise Pickleball Courts sees a surge in the evening.  

This may partially be due to the fact that Pickleball Zone attracts more “weekend warriors” to their venue, with Saturdays comprising 37% of visits and Sundays 17%.  Surprise Pickleball Courts has visitation spread a bit more evenly throughout the week.  

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