The Picklr

The pickleball industry has produced one of the most remarkable participation explosions in modern American recreational sports history, and at the epicenter of that movement sits a franchise concept built specifically to capitalize on it at scale. The Picklr was co-founded in 2020 by Jorge Barragan and Austin Wood, with Barragan reporting that the concept crystallized in December 2020, the first lease signed in January 2021, and the inaugural location opening in April 2021 in Uintah, Utah. The company's headquarters have since relocated to Kaysville, Utah, and the leadership team has expanded to include Jonathan C. Fornaci as President and COO, Kathryn Bullough as Chief Marketing Officer, James Hurlock as Chief Partnership Officer and Chief Brand Officer, Steven Russell as Chief Strategy Officer, Chris Walker as Chief Development Officer, Matt PaneGasser as Vice President of Pickleball, and Josh Shelby, who was named Chief Financial Officer in November 2023. The Picklr began franchising in March 2023 and by Q1 2024 had reported 276 total units sold across 36 distinct franchising groups, representing approximately 2,760 new indoor pickleball courts slated for development nationwide. By September 2025, the company had officially crossed 50 open locations, and as of October 2025, 52 premium clubs had opened across the nation with 72 additional locations planned to open within the coming year. The brand has also formed a meaningful strategic partnership with Pickleball, Inc., a conglomerate that includes the Carvana Professional Pickleball Association PPA Tour and Pickleball Central, linking a franchise retail and recreational operation directly to the premier professional circuit in the sport. For franchise investors evaluating growth-stage sports and fitness concepts, The Picklr franchise represents one of the most data-supported cases for category timing in recent memory, and this independent PeerSense analysis is designed to cut through promotional noise and deliver the facts that matter.

The indoor recreational sports and fitness center industry sits within a broader U.S. health and wellness market that generates hundreds of billions in annual consumer spending, and pickleball specifically has emerged as the fastest-growing sport in America for multiple consecutive years. Sports industry data indicates that pickleball participation grew from approximately 4.8 million players in 2021 to an estimated 36.5 million players by 2023, representing a staggering compound growth rate that few recreational categories have matched in modern history. The demographic driving this growth is notably broad: the sport attracts both aging Baby Boomers seeking low-impact cardiovascular activity and younger millennial and Gen Z players drawn to the social, competitive dimensions of the game, creating a total addressable market that spans virtually every adult age cohort. Indoor pickleball facilities specifically benefit from year-round playability, insulation from weather-driven demand swings, and the ability to generate revenue through court reservations, memberships, lessons, clinics, leagues, and pro shop retail, creating a multi-stream revenue architecture that purpose-built outdoor courts cannot replicate. The fitness and recreational sports center category has historically attracted franchise investment because of its recurring membership revenue model, relatively high consumer switching costs once a player is embedded in a local club community, and the defensible nature of premium indoor court space in markets where zoning and commercial real estate limit competitive supply. The competitive landscape for dedicated indoor pickleball franchise concepts remains relatively fragmented compared to mature fitness categories like boutique cycling or yoga, meaning early movers with strong systems, brand equity, and professional tour partnerships have a credible opportunity to capture disproportionate market share before the industry consolidates. Macro tailwinds including post-pandemic demand for social, in-person recreational experiences, physician recommendations for low-impact sports as the American population ages, and the documented mental health benefits of regular athletic community participation all support durable, long-cycle demand growth for the category that The Picklr franchise is positioned to capture.

The Picklr franchise carries an initial franchise fee of $49,900, which positions it at the mid-to-premium end of the fitness franchise category when benchmarked against concepts with franchise fees ranging from $25,000 to $60,000 depending on brand maturity and category specificity. Total initial investment ranges from $872,400 on the low end to $2,040,000 on the high end, a spread of approximately $1.17 million that reflects meaningful variability driven by factors including commercial real estate market pricing, build-out complexity, court count per location, HVAC and lighting requirements for regulation indoor play, and geographic labor costs during construction and fit-out. The lower end of the investment range is more accessible in secondary and tertiary markets where commercial lease rates are lower and construction costs moderate, while the upper bound reflects flagship locations in major metropolitan markets with higher real estate carrying costs and larger facility footprints. The Picklr franchise investment in the context of the fitness and recreational sports center category is therefore best characterized as a mid-to-premium tier entry, comparable to other premium fitness concepts that require dedicated, purpose-built or substantially renovated commercial space rather than simple inline retail conversions. Prospective investors should note that the total investment figure incorporates not just construction and equipment but also pre-opening working capital, initial marketing spend, training expenses, and technology platform costs, meaning the range disclosed in the Franchise Disclosure Document is intended to capture total capitalization through the opening phase. The brand's partnership with Picklball, Inc. and the PPA Tour provides a form of non-capital corporate backing in the sense that professional tour visibility and Pickleball Central's retail ecosystem offer franchisees brand credibility that would otherwise require years and significant independent marketing spend to build. Prospective investors should consult with an independent franchise attorney and financial advisor to model site-specific investment requirements, evaluate SBA financing eligibility given the asset-heavy nature of the build-out, and assess personal liquidity requirements appropriate to the development timeline from lease signing to revenue-generating operations.

The Picklr franchise operates on a premium indoor club model in which franchisees provide members and court reservation customers with access to high-quality pickleball courts in a dedicated, climate-controlled facility environment. Daily operations center on court management and scheduling, membership sales and retention, organized programming including leagues, clinics, open play sessions, and private lessons, as well as pro shop retail and potentially food and beverage service depending on the individual location's configuration. The staffing model for an indoor pickleball club of this type typically requires a combination of facility managers, front desk and customer service staff, certified pickleball instructors, and part-time court monitors, creating a labor profile that is more intensive than simpler retail or service franchise concepts but commensurate with the multi-revenue-stream operating model. The Picklr's corporate team, led by Co-Founder and CEO Jorge Barragan and Co-Founder and Chief Visionary Officer Austin Wood alongside President and COO Jonathan C. Fornaci, has built a leadership bench specifically oriented toward franchise system development, with dedicated executives covering marketing, partnerships, brand, strategy, development, and pickleball programming, which is a more operationally specific support structure than many emerging franchise brands of comparable age. Training programs for new franchisees in fitness and recreational sports concepts of this category typically encompass both classroom and on-site operational components covering facility management, membership sales systems, programming design, staff hiring and training protocols, and technology platform usage, and prospective investors should request full training program documentation as part of their FDD review process. Territory structure in an indoor pickleball franchise context is particularly important given the capital intensity of each location and the catchment area dynamics of a destination recreational facility, and The Picklr's reported goal of 300 franchise locations sold by end of 2024 and 500 locations within the next few years suggests the corporate team is actively managing territory allocation across a national development map. The Picklr franchise has demonstrated the infrastructure of a multi-unit franchise system given that its 276 units sold by Q1 2024 were distributed across only 36 distinct franchising groups, implying an average of approximately 7.7 units per franchising group, which is a strong indicator that the brand attracts and is designed for multi-unit operators rather than single-unit owner-operators seeking a lifestyle business.

Item 19 financial performance data is not disclosed in the current Franchise Disclosure Document for The Picklr franchise, which means prospective investors cannot access system-wide average revenue, median revenue, or top and bottom quartile financial performance data directly from the FDD. This is a significant consideration for due diligence purposes because without Item 19 disclosure, investors must rely on alternative data sources, direct franchisee validation conversations, and industry benchmarking to construct a credible unit economics model. The indoor pickleball club model generates revenue through multiple streams that are worth analyzing individually: monthly or annual membership fees represent recurring, predictable revenue; court reservation fees for non-members or overflow demand add transactional revenue; programming revenue from leagues, clinics, tournaments, and private lessons provides higher-margin instructional income; and pro shop retail and ancillary services contribute supplementary revenue. An indoor club facility capable of housing 8 to 12 pickleball courts, which is a reasonable estimate for locations in the investment range disclosed, can theoretically accommodate high court utilization rates during peak morning, evening, and weekend hours, and at standard court reservation pricing of $20 to $40 per hour per court across a full operating schedule, the gross revenue potential per location is substantial. The company's aggressive expansion from 52 open locations as of October 2025 with 72 additional openings planned over the following year suggests that franchisees who have opened are executing on their development commitments, which is an indirect positive signal about unit-level economics since franchisees with struggling economics typically slow or halt development pipeline execution. The Picklr franchise has a PeerSense FPI Score of 62, which falls in the Moderate range and reflects the brand's early-stage franchise system status combined with the strong underlying market fundamentals of the pickleball category. Investors should request Item 19 disclosure proactively from The Picklr's development team during the discovery process, conduct structured validation calls with existing franchisees in comparable markets, and build conservative, base-case, and optimistic revenue scenarios reflecting different membership penetration rates and court utilization assumptions.

The Picklr's growth trajectory since beginning franchising in March 2023 is among the most aggressive documented in the fitness franchise category in recent years, with 276 units sold by Q1 2024 representing the brand selling down roughly 55 percent of its stated 500-unit long-term goal within approximately twelve months of beginning franchise sales. The decision to cross 50 open locations by September 2025, with 52 open clubs confirmed by October 2025 and 72 more in the development pipeline, demonstrates that the system is converting its robust franchise sales numbers into operational locations at a meaningful rate, which is a critical distinction in franchise analysis since sold units that never open represent unrealized revenue for both the franchisor and the franchisee community. In November 2023, the appointment of Josh Shelby as Chief Financial Officer signaled a corporate maturation event typical of franchise brands preparing for increased financial scrutiny as their system scales, and the existing C-suite depth spanning marketing, partnerships, brand, strategy, development, and pickleball operations reflects institutional investment in the infrastructure required to support a multi-hundred-location system. The brand's partnership with Picklball, Inc., which encompasses both the PPA Tour and Picklball Central, creates a competitive moat that smaller or independent indoor pickleball operators cannot easily replicate, because the association between a franchise club brand and the premier professional tour in the sport provides a form of brand legitimacy, programming content access, and consumer-facing prestige that elevates the perceived quality of the customer experience. The Picklr's competitive advantage is further reinforced by its first-mover positioning in the dedicated indoor pickleball franchise category, its multi-unit franchisee profile suggesting access to well-capitalized operators with development experience, and its corporate leadership team's apparent commitment to building proprietary systems and brand equity rather than simply selling franchise licenses. The company's plan to have 72 additional locations open in the year following October 2025 would, if executed, bring the total open location count to approximately 124, representing more than a 130 percent increase in open units from the 52 confirmed as of October 2025 and demonstrating the kind of hockey-stick opening trajectory that defines the growth phase of a successfully scaling franchise system.

The ideal candidate for The Picklr franchise investment is a multi-unit-oriented entrepreneur with demonstrated experience in either fitness, hospitality, real estate development, or high-touch service businesses, given the capital intensity of the initial investment range of $872,400 to $2,040,000 and the operational complexity of running a premium indoor recreational club. The brand's franchising history, in which 276 units were sold across only 36 franchising groups by Q1 2024, reveals a clear preference for or at least strong attraction among multi-unit operators who have the organizational capacity, capitalization, and management infrastructure to develop and operate multiple club locations simultaneously. Geographic territory availability remains a genuine opportunity given that 52 locations were open as of October 2025 across a national footprint, meaning the substantial majority of desirable metropolitan markets, suburban growth corridors, and Sun Belt population centers with high pickleball participation rates have yet to see a The Picklr club open, creating first-mover advantage for well-capitalized investors who move quickly in their target geographies. Markets with high concentrations of active adults ages 35 to 65, above-average household income supporting discretionary recreational spending, limited existing indoor pickleball court supply, and favorable commercial real estate conditions for large-format facility development represent the highest-probability locations for strong membership ramp and unit economics. The timeline from franchise agreement execution to grand opening in a concept of this type, involving lease negotiation, permitting, construction, equipment installation, staff hiring, and pre-opening membership sales campaigns, typically spans 12 to 24 months depending on market conditions, and investors should model that full development timeline into their capital planning to ensure adequate liquidity through the pre-revenue period.

The investment thesis for The Picklr franchise rests on three reinforcing pillars: the demonstrable and statistically extraordinary growth of pickleball as a participation sport in America, the brand's credible first-mover positioning and strategic professional tour partnership in the emerging dedicated indoor pickleball franchise category, and the multi-unit franchisee profile suggesting that experienced, well-capitalized operators have independently validated the opportunity through committed development agreements totaling 276 units across 36 groups by early 2024. The PeerSense FPI Score of 62, rating this as a Moderate investment, accurately reflects the reality that The Picklr franchise is a growth-stage system with compelling market fundamentals but still-maturing unit-level financial transparency, real estate execution track record, and system-wide operational consistency, all of which are normal characteristics of a brand that began franchising in March 2023 and crossed 50 open locations only by late 2025. Investors who conduct rigorous due diligence, including thorough FDD review with a qualified franchise attorney, direct validation conversations with operating franchisees across multiple markets, independent commercial real estate analysis for target territories, and careful unit economics modeling using industry benchmarks in the absence of Item 19 disclosure, will be in the strongest position to make an informed capital allocation decision. The Picklr franchise cost, investment range, royalty and fee structure, franchisee performance data, territory availability maps, SBA lending history, and head-to-head competitive comparisons with other fitness and recreational sports franchise opportunities are all available through PeerSense. PeerSense provides exclusive due diligence data including SBA lending history, FPI score, location maps with Google ratings, FDD financial data, and side-by-side comparison tools that allow investors to benchmark The Picklr franchise against every comparable concept in the fitness and recreational sports center category with full data transparency. Explore the complete The Picklr franchise profile on PeerSense to access the full suite of independent franchise intelligence data.