King’s Court App Lets Players Claim And Defend Local Courts

• King’s Court is a web app with an interactive map that lets players claim courts, hold the title of “king,” and take on challengers.
• It covers basketball, pickleball, and tennis, and lists more than 1.5 million courts in roughly 200 countries.
• The platform is in beta, with marketing set to focus on New York City and Toronto first.

How The King’s Court Platform Works For Recreational Players

David Finlay, who is based in Hamilton, Ontario, has built a web app called King’s Court. The Pickleball Weekly Magazine profiled Finlay and the platform in a piece by Jacob Burton.

Finlay describes the idea this way: “We got to thinking about a platform that we could make that would enhance the everyday recreational players life.”

Finding A Court And Claiming It

King’s Court is a web application with an interactive map for finding courts and nearby players. Players claim courts and become “king.” Other players can challenge them to take the title.

The platform lists more than 1.5 million courts in roughly 200 countries. It supports basketball in one-on-one, three-on-three, and five-on-five formats, plus pickleball and tennis.

Players choose a primary sport and can switch sports later. They are placed in divisions: 13 to 17, 18 to 20, 21 and older, and 55 and older.

Points, Crowns, And Leaderboards

Players earn Power Score points and in-app tokens, called crowns, by winning and holding courts. They compete on city and global leaderboards.

Power Score works like a chess rating. Holding more courts for longer earns more points, and losses or being dethroned lower the score. Users older than 16 can wager tokens in matches, and a social tab lets players share game highlights.

What The App Does Not Do

King’s Court does not handle court bookings. Players reserve facilities separately, then use the platform to organize and record their games.

Check-in data lets municipalities see how much their parks are used, and players can rate facility quality.

Finlay’s Background In Events

Finlay and his wife opened a mall clothing store that stayed open through COVID-19 but later closed as other mall stores shut down. Basketball customers asked about tournaments with cash prizes, which Hamilton lacked.

He invested $1,000 from store earnings in a three-on-three basketball tournament. The first year drew about 16 vendors, barbers, musicians, and a Juno Award winner who performed at the halftime show. He then chose to run events full time.

Over five years, Finlay has awarded $125,000 in prize money, and individual tournament prizes reached $50,000 over the past two years. He also raised $388,000 to renovate T.B. McQuesten Community Park in Hamilton and designed its basketball and pickleball courts.

What Comes Next

The platform is in beta. Finlay launched the minimum viable product two weeks before the interview, and marketing will focus on New York City and Toronto first.

His plans include inviting top city-leaderboard players to multi-day national tournaments with large cash prizes. He also wants to offer sponsored rewards through partnerships with brands such as McDonald’s or Gatorade, earned on designated sponsored courts.

Finlay has a partnership with the National Pickleball League and is pursuing partnerships with Major League Pickleball and Tracy McGrady’s Ones Basketball League. His long-term goal is tryouts with those leagues for top recreational players. He is also considering three-on-three futsal if the current sports succeed.