Busy Pickleball Clubs Can Still Lose Money, PDI Consulting Says

• PDI Consulting counts 121 ways to improve a pickleball facility’s finances: 61 to cut costs and 60 to raise revenue.
• Of the 61 cost options, 28 (46%) are locked in at the site selection, lease negotiation and construction stages.
• Three revenue factors multiply, so a 15% miss on each leaves court revenue 38.6% below projection.

A Packed Parking Lot Does Not Prove A Club Will Work

A pickleball club can look healthy. Open play fills up, and the weekend crowd keeps coming. According to The Dink, the club can still lose money. Dave Conord, co-founder and CEO of PDI Consulting, says some of the biggest financial problems are built into a facility before its first member walks in.

The Dink reported on October 20 on a recent PDI industry report that lists 121 ways to improve a pickleball facility’s finances. Sixty-one of them cut costs and 60 raise revenue. The report opens with a challenge: “121 levers. Most clubs pull four.”

Nearly Half The Cost Savings Disappear Before Opening

Under PDI’s framework, 28 of the 61 cost-control options, or 46%, are locked in at the site selection, lease negotiation and construction stages. The Dink notes that this does not mean 46% of a club’s expenses cannot change. It means nearly half of the opportunities PDI identifies for controlling expenses have to be handled early.

Examples include expensive lease terms, an awkward building layout, or columns that limit usable court space. “That is why good operators with full buildings still lose money,” Conord writes.

For players, those early decisions show up as cramped courts, low ceilings, parking headaches, and a club with little financial breathing room.

Conord addressed the size of the list in a LinkedIn post. “Worth saying plainly: 121 isn’t a to-do list. Nobody pulls 121,” Conord added. His advice for operators: “Pick the three that are actually available to you this quarter and pull those.” Running only four levers, the article says, means an operator is renting out hours and hoping the lease was fair, not running a facility.

Small Revenue Misses Add Up Fast

PDI splits court revenue into three basic ingredients: how often courts are occupied, how many players use each occupied court, and how much revenue each player-hour generates.

Those factors multiply. If all three fall 15% below expectations, court revenue ends up 38.6% below projection, not 15%. In dollar terms, a club expecting $100,000 in court revenue would bring in roughly $61,400, while rent does not drop to match.

The math also works in reverse. Improving each factor by 10% yields 33.1% more court revenue. The Dink calls this an illustration rather than a guaranteed result, and says it is not an equivalent increase in profit.

More Options Than Raising Membership Fees

PDI counts 52 revenue opportunities that remain available after a club opens. They include lessons, clinics and instructional programs; private events and full-facility rentals; sponsorships and court naming rights; school partnerships and youth programs; and renting space to physical therapy or sports medicine providers.

For players, the implication is that a financially healthier club might need to serve more than the evening open-play crowd.

Adding a kitchen and bar is not automatically the answer. “Food and beverage is not a bolt-on to a court business,” Conord writes. The article says it needs its own specialist knowledge, staffing and investment.

What The Industry Still Does Not Know

Conord flags major gaps in public information. Reliable facility failure rates, member retention figures and regional financial comparisons are all missing. The framework, The Dink says, is a way to examine a business, not proof that every club faces the same problems.

The report lands as The Dink tracks a run of stories about club finances. The outlet covered The Picklr’s Chapter 11 filing and a $4.5 million financing commitment on October 12, and ran a separate piece on October 6 on the math behind club closures. A related Dink story reports that a club without strong, steady profit will struggle to find a buyer, and that a buyer will likely offer less than was put into the walls, courts and lighting.

The takeaway from the article is simple. A packed parking lot shows a club is popular. It does not show whether the business will work long term, and PDI’s figures point to decisions made before opening day.