A recent study conducted jointly by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) and Pickleheads suggests that pickleball’s growth might be even more substantial than is commonly perceived.
A Collaborative Effort
The 2023 State of Pickleball: Participation & Infrastructure Report represents a collaborative effort between SFIA and Pickleheads. It aims to delve deeper into an extensive range of statistics that the SFIA collected during the 2022 calendar year through Sports Marketing Surveys USA (SMS).
SMS is closely aligned with Pickleheads’ exclusive database of pickleball courts nationwide, and together, these sources have produced a comprehensive report that provides a more detailed perspective on the requirements of the player population.
Dedicated Courts
One section of the report looks at cities of differing sizes and how many dedicated courts they have. “Dedicated courts” are those that are built exclusively for pickleball and not converted temporarily with removable lines or nets.
The results are divided into three categories:
- The cities with a population of over 100,000 people that have the most dedicated pickleball courts.
- The cities with a population of under 100,000 people that have the most dedicated pickleball courts
- The cities with a population of over 100,000 that have the fewest dedicated pickleball courts.
While we want to break down the top five cities in each category, the full report shows off the top 50, so if you want to see where your hometown stands in the rankings, be sure to check out the full report yourself! It is available for purchase through Pickleheads’ website.
Top Five Cities – Population > 100,000
Below are the cities with more than 100,000 residents that have the highest number of dedicated courts per 10,000 people:
| Rank | City | State | Population (proper) | Dedicated courts | Dedicated courts per 10,000 | Total courts per 10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bend | OR | 100,421 | 90 | 8.96 | 11.25 |
| 2 | Surprise | AZ | 141,664 | 108 | 7.62 | 8.05 |
| 3 | Orlando | FL | 287,442 | 128 | 4.45 | 5.22 |
| 4 | West Palm Beach | FL | 111,955 | 42 | 3.75 | 6.07 |
| 5 | Pompano Beach | FL | 112,118 | 40 | 3.57 | 4.55 |
Bend, OR, which we have previously featured in these articles, leads the nation in courts per population, boasting nearly nine dedicated courts for every 10,000 residents. This figure is remarkably higher than the national average of 0.65 dedicated courts per 10,000 people, making Bend’s rate 12.8 times the norm.
Pickleball Hubs
This roster of cities also includes renowned pickleball hubs like Surprise, AZ, and Mesa, AZ (located in the Phoenix area), along with seven municipalities in Florida and Arvada, CO (part of the metropolitan area of Denver).
This data reaffirms the expected pattern: states in the southern U.S. with warm climates, a strong affinity for pickleball, and a longstanding tradition of embracing the sport tend to exhibit the highest concentration of dedicated courts.
Top Five Cities – Population < 100,000
Below are the cities with fewer than 100,000 residents (but more than 10,000) that have the highest number of dedicated courts per 10,000 people:
| Rank | City | State | Population (proper) | Dedicated courts | Dedicated courts per 10,000 | Total courts per 10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lady Lake | FL | 16,020 | 98 | 61.17 | 61.17 |
| 2 | Naples | FL | 22,088 | 109 | 49.35 | 71.08 |
| 2 | Green Valley | AZ | 20,902 | 99 | 47.36 | 51.19 |
| 4 | Rancho Mirage | CA | 18,528 | 66 | 35.62 | 35.62 |
| 5 | Punta Gorda | FL | 20,369 | 63 | 30.93 | 50.57 |
When we broaden our scope to encompass cities with populations exceeding 10,000, we encounter some of the most renowned pickleball hotspots.
These include Lady Lake, FL (understandable, as it is only 5½ miles from 32 square-mile retirement complex called “The Villages”), Green Valley, AZ, and the acclaimed epicenter of pickleball, Naples, FL. Notably, Lady Lake boasts an impressive tally of over 60 dedicated courts for every 10,000 residents, surpassing the national average of 1.59 by more than 38 times.
Additionally, this compilation features numerous sought-after coastal vacation getaways, such as Ocean City, NJ, Kalaoa, HI, and Hilton Head Island, SC.
This information implies that vacationers tend to play a lot of pickleball during their trips, which could indicate opportunities to construct courts in other popular vacation destinations.
Bottom Cities By Dedicated Courts Per 10,000 People
Below are the cities that have a population of more than 100,000 with the fewest dedicated courts per 10,000 residents:
| Rank | City | State | Population (proper) | Dedicated courts | Dedicated courts per 10,000 | Total courts per 10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bronx | NY | 1,418,207 | 1 | 0.01 | 0.04 |
| 2 | Los Angeles | CA | 3,979,576 | 12 | 0.03 | 0.19 |
| 3 | Manhattan | NY | 8,336,817 | 30 | 0.04 | 0.17 |
| 4 | Philadelphia | PA | 1,584,064 | 6 | 0.04 | 0.23 |
| 5 | Glendale | AZ | 252,381 | 1 | 0.04 | 0.44 |
| 9 | San Diego | CA | 1,423,851 | 8 | 0.06 | 0.86 |
| 13 | Seattle | WA | 753,675 | 5 | 0.07 | 2.40 |
This data highlights a significant contrast in the pickleball landscape within the nation’s two largest metropolitan areas – New York and Los Angeles – when measured against the inferred demand based on population size. We also noted two other popular cities, San Diego and Seattle, which also don’t come close to having an average of just one court per 10,000 people.
Soaring Real Estate Costs
The scarcity of available land and the soaring costs of real estate undeniably account for the comparatively low-density scores in these major urban centers. Despite this, substantial potential remains untapped, offering a chance to establish facilities in these locales.
One possibility could involve repurposing underutilized spaces, such as parking garages and struggling retail establishments, into pickleball courts.
Unexpected Entries
Remarkably, this compilation includes unexpected entries like Seattle, WA – the birthplace of pickleball – and San Diego, CA, both of which are renowned hotspots. For instance, Seattle stands at a court density that is 43% higher than the average when considering total courts, yet it lags behind in terms of dedicated court density.
Comparable cities that exhibit notable disparities between dedicated and total court density might signal an opening for public and private initiatives to construct more dedicated pickleball courts.
Facilities Vs. Participation – Regional Opportunities for New Courts
By juxtaposing regional participation data with facility statistics, we can extract valuable insights into the extent to which a given area is meeting the prevailing demand for pickleball. We quantify this by calculating a comparable figure of dedicated courts per 1,000 participants. This computation follows the formula:
Dedicated Courts per 1,000 Participants = Total Number of Dedicated Courts/(Regional Participation/1,000)
Furthermore, we define dedicated courts as “those equipped with permanent nets and lines”. This metric aids in assessing the court density per 1,000 participants across nine distinct regions in the United States. Although we do provide a parallel metric for total courts (encompassing temporary setups), the emphasis centers on the dedicated index due to its ability to offer players the most optimal experience.
National Benchmark
The national benchmark stands at 2.3 dedicated courts per 1,000 participants. Notably, the Mountain region – encompassing states known for being pickleball hotspots such as AZ, CA, and UT – leads the pack with a density precisely double the national average. In a distant second place is the West North Central region, comprising states like KS, MN, and MO, registering 2.9 dedicated courts per 1,000 participants.
Conversely, the Middle Atlantic region, home to NY, NJ, PA, and WV, reports the lowest density at a mere one dedicated court per 1,000 participants, which is 57% below the national density average.
This insufficiency is predominantly driven by the shortage of courts in the metropolitan New York City area, as discussed earlier in this article. Nevertheless, this region presents yet another promising avenue for potential court construction.
To view the full report yourself and see the longer lists of cities represented in the study, you can purchase it on Picklehead’s website here.
