The 33,393-sq.-ft., $10-million facility has 12 indoor courts, two covered courts, a pro shop, cafe, and video technology for live streaming and recording. The site is one of 15 such clubs in the state that is being developed by Brian McCarthy, a former commercial real estate developer who anticipated the sport’s growth. He currently has seven under development. “We’re a private club,” McCarthy says. “And it’s also having that club experience. Not just a recreation experience.”
In the two weeks The Pickleball Club in Sarasota, Fla. has been open to the public, CEO Brian McCarthy has come to know the lengths people will travel to satisfy their pickleball passion, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.
Miles, too.
One member makes the drive from Tampa to play the country’s fastest-growing sport in Florida’s only indoor pickleball facility, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. “That’s way out on the fringe,” McCarthy said. Two others play each other twice a day, every day.
“I would say that was on the fringe, too,” he said.
But with a sport growing as fast as pickleball, the fringe doesn’t stay the fringe for long, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, the number of people playing pickleball grew by 159% during a three-year period, to 8.9 million in 2022. It’s been the country’s fastest-growing sport for three consecutive years.
The 77-year-old McCarthy, a former commercial real estate developer, anticipated the sport’s growth and became the central figure behind the plan to have 15 such clubs built around the state, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. He currently has seven under development.
The one in east Sarasota is McCarthy’s first, the 33,393-sq.-ft., $10-million facility, with 12 indoor courts, two covered courts, a pro shop, cafe, and video technology for live streaming and recording, is more than simply a place to play the sport, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. Club + Resort Business also reported on the plan for the site in Sarasota in February.
The club also has a partnership with Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating, the most accurate global rating system trusted by the world’s premier pickleball clubs, tours and professionals, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.
DUPR is a way for players to get an accurate rating of their play, similar to a golf handicap, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. With The Pickleball Club being deemed an official DUPR facility, the data collected from players will allow the club to better organize skill levels in open play, allowing for the most competitive matches. The more DUPR-sanctioned events players attend, the more accurate the rating.
“We’re a private club,” McCarthy said to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. “And it’s also having that club experience. Not just a recreation experience. Most people were surprised at the quality of this club. And I do believe it’s the highest quality and the most unique club in the United States today. Clearly, we’re the first one in Florida indoors.”
But it didn’t happen without McCarthy first jumping through the usual licensing hoops – he said he needed 20 – and overcoming obstacles not even he could have anticipated, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.
COVID-19 created supply issues so dire around the country that McCarthy was forced to get his steel from Spain, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. A 2,000-amp electrical panel took 11 months to arrive. McCarthy didn’t have nearly the same trouble securing the seven 3,000-pound HVAC units which keep the club a constant 71-72 degrees.
And it’ll have little trouble remaining at that temperature, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. That’s because Pickles Cafe doesn’t have a grill or deep fat fryer. Don’t play a few games expecting to end your workout with a plate of fries, or even deep fried pickles.
Instead, McCarthy recommends one of the hand-crafted sandwiches, or an espresso from a machine costing $25,000, or bagels made fresh daily, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. The oven in Pickles Cafe has five layers, each capable of cooking a food item at a different temperature.
He’s done everything possible to provide members that posh club experience, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. Each one gets an account and has anything purchased charged to it. “You don’t need a credit card here,” McCarthy said. “That’s a club.”
In two weeks, The Pickleball Club has secured around 450 members, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. The early ones paid a one-time fee of $1,000, in addition to their $125 monthly charge. That fee has since risen to $1,500, with $2,000 not far off.
“Revenue,” said McCarthy when asked about the hike. “We’re kind of a bargain. Go to the show and buy popcorn and a drink. One time, for two hours.”
“(Growth) is going to be more of a build. My best estimate is that by December, we’ll be full and have to cap the number, and then we’ll have wait lists, just like every other club in town. They all have wait lists. To pay $50,000. Or $100,000.”
On this particular day, 86-degree early afternoon heat sees few people using the 12-indoor courts. “This is kind of the lull,” McCarthy said to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. “I think generally they’ve been trained this way because they play outside. If you play outside, do you play now?
“You play in the mornings and in the evenings. (After dinner) these courts will be full. We’re kind of going into the doldrums in Sarasota. We think that about 200 of our 450 members are in town right now.”
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