Ted Angelo Favors Large Court Counts For Pickleball Clubs

• Ted Angelo, the licensed contractor behind The Hub, favors large court counts, saying small venues with four to six courts struggle with turnover and social atmosphere.
• The Hub uses an all-inclusive entry price for all-day play, with extra fees only for specialized coaching or sanctioned tournaments.
• Angelo says clubs don’t “print money,” and he reports weekly calls from distressed club owners.

What A Veteran Builder Tells New Pickleball Club Owners

Ted Angelo has a plain message for the people building pickleball clubs. He says clubs don’t “print money.” In a profile by Adam Bricker in The Pickleball Weekly Magazine, Angelo reports weekly calls from distressed club owners.

Angelo is a licensed contractor with more than 25 years of architectural design and commercial construction experience. That background sits behind The Hub, a group of multi-court facilities that started in San Diego and spread across Northern California.

From Newport Beach To The Hub

At The Tennis and Pickleball Club at Newport Beach, Angelo was a principal of The Shop at TTC and Clubhouse Grill. He managed the buildout of a 31-court conversion that included Stadium and Grandstand courts and the Grill.

He also co-founded two businesses in the sport. CRBN Pickleball, a paddle company, helped advance the use of raw carbon fiber, and Angelo led its sales, distribution, and pro-player relationships. Pickleball Superstore, which he co-founded with industry partners, was set up to address fragmented e-commerce and retail.

The Hub began with San Diego locations and expanded across Northern California to San Jose and Alameda. Angelo spent more than a year negotiating land acquisitions. He revived old, abandoned tennis clubs into multi-court facilities.

How The Hub Runs Its Clubs

Angelo’s first principle is scale. He favors large court counts. Small venues with four to six courts struggle with turnover and social atmosphere, he says.

Pricing is the second. The Hub charges an all-inclusive entry price for all-day play. Players pay extra only for specialized coaching or sanctioned tournaments.

Design is the third. Each site has local character, such as naval motifs in Alameda.

A Skeptic’s View Of The Boom

Angelo is wary of hype. He says clubs don’t “print money,” and he reports weekly calls from distressed club owners.

He criticizes aggressive turnkey franchise models. His advice to new owners is to master programming, leagues, and court utilization before taking on large overhead such as full restaurant buildouts.

Moving Into Private Club Partnerships

Angelo relocated to Florida and led The Hub’s move into private club partnerships at Orange Park Country Club.

The club has 24 courts, 16 of them covered and 8 outdoor, along with a community event space.