The Ultimate Guide to Running a Profitable Pickleball Tournament
Unless you haven’t received notice that the pandemic is over, you’ve likely noticed the new epidemic sweeping the nation over the past couple of years — pickleball. But, considering you’re here, chances are you’ve caught the bug yourself. With courts popping up like whack-a-mole in communities everywhere, the number of players has expanded tremendously, each with a dream of one day going head-to-head with Ben Johns for the championship title.
But, as anyone knows, you can’t just go from an untested street fighter to trading jabs with Rocky Balboa for the belt … wait, I think in Rocky V … the point is, the road to the PPA for a pickleball takes many small bouts (AKA tournaments). So with a growing appetite for competitive battles in the sport, there is an opportunity to be the one to create and run them. And, if you do it right, it can be personally and financially rewarding. But it’s no small feat!
Warning: Pickleball may lead to addiction.
If you’re an addict, display it proudly for all to see!
From selecting the right tournament format to organizing logistics like court rentals and staffing, there’s plenty to consider. But worry not young pickleball entrepreneur, this guide is here to help you create and run a successful pickleball tournament.
Choosing the right pickleball tournament format
One of the first and most important decisions you’ll need to make is the format of the tournament you want to run. Each format has its advantages and disadvantages which you need to consider along with other factors. The format you choose could make the difference between your tournament taking 3 hours or 3 days or whether you turn a profit or lose your shirt.
Here are a few of the most popular formats for you to consider:
Single Elimination: Each match is played for a chance to continue to the next round or be eliminated from the tournament. Matches continue until all but one player or team remains.
✅ Pros: This format is the easiest to organize and shortest to run.
❌ Cons: Half of all players only get to play one match, which isn’t fun.
Double Elimination: Players are not eliminated until they lose two matches, rather than one. Most often, this format is set up with a winners bracket and a losers bracket where the winner of the first match continues to the winner bracket to play another winner and the loser is sent to the loser bracket to play the loser of another match. In some formats, the final winner of the loser’s bracket is brought back up to the winner's bracket to compete for 1st place, in other formats the top position in the loser’s bracket is 3rd place.
✅ Pros: This format is still easy to organize and allows a least two matches for all participants.
❌ Cons: The format takes twice as long as a single-elimination format.
Round-Robin: Every participant gets a chance to play against every other participant without being eliminated. The tournament winner is based on the combined results of all matches played. Commonly, the final ranking is based on a combination of matches won, total points scored, and win percentage. In the case of a tie, a final match may be played to determine 1st and 2nd place.
✅ Pros: This format provides participants with an ample number of matches.
❌ Cons: It may require a high number of courts and significant time to run with a high number of participants.
Pool Play: This tournament format uses a combination of a round-robin and single or double-elimination format to determine the winner. Most commonly, the tournament begins with participants broken into groups for round-robin play. Participants are then seated in the elimination bracket based on round-robin results. Final tournament ranking is normally based solely on the elimination bracket results, not including results from round-robin matches.
✅ Pros: This format provides the highest number of matches for participants.
❌ Cons: It can be complicated to organize and require a high number of courts and significant time to run.
Participant Formats
In addition to choosing the format of the tournament, you must also decide which participant format(s) to include.
Singles (Male/Female): 2-player matches with individuals playing against the same sex
Doubles (Male/Female): 4-player matches with two individuals playing against two individuals of the same sex
Mixed Doubles: 4-player matches with a male and female playing against another male and female
How much time do you need for a pickleball tournament?
The amount of time you need for a pickleball tournament can vary tremendously depending on the format, so you want to make sure you understand the impact that each one can have on the timeframe before getting started.
To estimate the total duration of your pickleball tournament, you need to consider a few things:
Tournament format
Number of participants
Number of courts available
Average time per game (factoring in warm-ups, breaks, delays, etc.)
To help you better understand the difference that each format can make on the total number of matches and time needed to complete each tournament, here is what the duration would be based on a tournament where you had 32 participants (teams or players) and 6 pickleball courts, assuming an average allotment of 20 minutes for each game:
Single Elimination | Double Elimination | Round Robin | |
Total Matches | 31 | 61 | 248 |
Total Matches per Court | 5 | 11 | 41 |
Tournament Duration | 1.7 Hours | 3.5 Hours | 13.8 Hours |
As you can see, there is a massive difference in time between the formats given the same number of players and courts. To help run your tournament more efficiently, there are a few options you can consider:
Use rally scoring. This is a style of play where a point is scored on every serve, speeding up the duration of each game.
Set a time limit for games. If time expires in a game, the side with the most points wins the match.
Break participants into smaller groups. This could help reduce the number of matchups in round-robin play.
Saving just a few minutes per game can make a big difference in reducing the total tournament duration. To illustrate the impact it can have, if you were to reduce the average time per game from 20 minutes to 15 minutes in the scenario above, you would reduce the duration of your round-robin tournament from 13.8 hours to 10.3 hours, cutting the time by 3.5 hours.
How many pickleball courts do you need for a tournament?
It goes without saying, but the number of courts you’ll need for a pickleball tournament is largely going to depend on the number of participants and the format you choose. Ideally, you want enough courts to cycle through each round without much delay. In other words, the more matches required for each court, the longer your tournament is going to take.
A good rule of thumb is to have 1 court for every 4 players (singles) or teams (doubles) for maximum efficiency. So, for example, if you have 16 teams, you should have 4 courts, 20 teams, 5 courts, and so on. If you have an odd number of teams, say 17, you should always round up, not down.
How to secure courts for your tournament
If you don’t have access to your own pickleball facility, finding and securing courts can be one of the more challenging parts of hosting a tournament. You have plenty of options to consider, but some may come with a heavier price tag than others. Here are a few options:
Utilize public courts: Work with the city and/or the park and rec department to get approval to host the tournament and block off the courts.
Rent courts: Work with a local pickleball facility, club, or venue that offers pickleball court rental. This is likely to be the most expensive route, but you may be able to negotiate on rates depending on the time of year and number of courts you rent.
Get creative with portable nets: Consider creating temporary courts using portable nets at alternative locations such as tennis courts, basketball courts, or indoor gyms.
These are just a few of the options to consider. No matter where your tournament takes place, don’t forget that your location will need accessible facilities like restrooms, parking, and space for a check-in table, player accommodations, and spectators.
The financials of pickleball tournaments
Running a pickleball tournament can be financially lucrative when properly planned and executed. Alternatively, when done poorly, the tournament could be running you and your finances into the ground.
The appetite for tournaments is very strong within the pickleball community, so with a reasonable entry fee in place, you shouldn’t have any problems finding willing participants. In fact, you’ll likely need to cut off registration to prevent too many from signing up.
How pickleball tournaments make money
There are two primary methods of generating revenue for your tournament:
Entry/Registration Fee - What participants pay to enter the tournament.
Sponsorship Revenue - What companies pay to reach your participants.
While those are the things that drive the bulk of the revenue, there are certainly additional channels such as selling tournament swag, food, onsite services, or many other things that could boost the dollars you bring in.
How to determine the entry fee for your pickleball tournament
Coming up with your entry fee is somewhat of a chicken and an egg. You want to make sure the fee covers your costs while keeping it affordable enough for participants. With that being said, you won’t fully know your costs until you know how many participants you can get to signup.
The best approach is to factor all of your costs based on a few different scenarios — 100% registration, 75% registration, and maybe 40% registration. The percentages you use for each scenario are entirely up to you, the point of the exercise is to find a single fee that works in all outcomes.
Ultimately you’re going to discover which of your costs are fixed, and which ones are flexible.
For example, you might be able to cut down on staff from 6 people to 3 people if you end up with only half of the registrations. But, maybe the venue is charging you a flat rental rate no matter how many courts you’re using.
Armed with these costs, you can now find a fee that covers your costs at the worst scenario and makes you profitable in the best scenario.
The last factor is determining whether your fee is reasonable enough for participants. Look at the rates of other tournaments to make sure you are within a range that has already been proven. Additionally, take an objective look as a participant yourself — does the price reflect the value you’re receiving? What is the quality of the venue, courts, prizes, and competition?
How to find sponsors for your pickleball tournament
As one of the primary channels of driving revenue for your tournament, it’s important to create a plan for securing sponsors, starting as early as possible. Aside from the financial benefit, sponsors can drive credibility, interest, and help elevate the tournament experience.
Offer prominent banner placements to drive sponsorship revenue for your pickleball tournament
Securing sponsors starts by identifying and valuing all of the opportunities you have to offer. These might include:
Logo placement on banners or tournament shirts.
Naming rights to the tournament or courts.
Inclusion in player gift bags
Vendor booths
Event merchandise, such as lanyards, name badges, etc.
Next, you’ll want to put together sponsorship marketing materials that list the opportunities, prices, availability, and value for the sponsor. This asset really needs to help potential sponsors imagine what the impact could be based on the exposure and audience they’ll be reaching.
With materials completed, start reaching out to local businesses or companies within the pickleball and sports industry. Research tournaments in the past to find sponsors that already understand the value. And, think beyond just pickleball - consider who would find value in being exposed to your audience of athletes.
What are the costs of running a pickleball tournament?
Now that we’ve discussed all of the ways to bring in a pile of money for your tournament, it’s time to discuss how much of that pile you get to bring home. To determine that, we need to account for how much it is going to cost to fully execute your pickleball paddle battle.
The biggest costs of a pickleball tournament generally fall into four buckets:
Court rental fees
Staffing and volunteer costs
Prizes or prize money
Food and beverage provisions for players or spectators (if any)
The total cost to run your pickleball tournament is going to largely depend on how creatively you can secure what you need within each of those primary buckets.
The cost to rent pickleball courts
As we discussed previously, there are several ways you can go about securing courts for your tournaments, from renting courts at a private facility to creating temporary courts at your local park. The path you choose is going to play a huge role in how much it will cost you.
Securing public courts could cost you nothing, or it could run you $30 to $40 per court, per hour. It really is going to depend on where you’re located and how generous the city or park department is willing to be.
Renting private courts from a facility will typically run you anywhere from $20 to +$50 per court, per hour. This will almost always be the most expensive approach to securing courts, but depending on how many courts you need, you should be able to negotiate rates. You could also sell the facility on the value of bringing players to their facility, or provide them with in-kind sponsorship opportunities to help offset the cost.
Creating temporary courts is another option that can be either very affordable or the most expensive option you have. The cost will depend on whether you need to purchase portable pickleball nets and which ones you buy if you do. A high-quality portable net can run you over $1,000 each, while the cheaper options can be less than $200. And, if don’t want to be fielding complaints from your pickleball players all day, the cheaper option is really not an option at all. The other cost to consider is whether you’ll need to rent the space where you’ll be setting up your courts.
Using a previous example here is what renting courts could cost for a tournament with 32 participants (teams or players) and 6 pickleball courts, assuming an average allotment of 20 minutes for each game:
Single Elimination | Double Elimination | Round Robin | |
Total Matches | 31 | 61 | 248 |
Court Rental Cost - $20/hour | $207 | $420 | $1,653 |
Court Rental Cost - $45/hour | $465 | $945 | $3,720 |
The cost to staff a pickleball tournament
Properly staffing a pickleball tournament is an easy thing to overlook, especially if you’re hosting a tournament for the first time. Without the right number of people helping to run your tournament, things can quickly spiral out of control very easily, causing delays and ultimately a poor experience for the participants.
Thinking through all of the potential roles you might need to fill is a great exercise to help you determine what roles you actually need to fill. A few of the most common roles include:
Registration staff: Check participants in and provide them with what they need to know.
Tournament coordinator(s): Assign matches, record scores, and update brackets.
Court referees: Officiate matches, determine line calls, and track scores.
General staff: Tournament setup, cleanup, distribute food, and help participants.
Once you determine the roles you need to fill for your tournament, it’s time to start recruiting your team. Recruiting friends or volunteers willing to work for free or for incentives (free food, swag, etc.) is ideal, but not always possible. The next best option is a combination of paid staff and volunteers.
Staffing can be a major factor in the profitability of your tournament, so it’s worth taking time to get it right. Continuing on the example we’ve been using, here are what the costs of staffing would be with 6 people getting paid $20/hour:
Single Elimination | Double Elimination | Round Robin | |
Total Matches | 31 | 61 | 248 |
Tournament Duration | 1.7 Hours | 3.5 Hours | 13.8 Hours |
Staffing Cost (6 People) | $207 | $420 | $1,653 |
Cost of pickleball tournament prizes
While the appetite for competition is high within the pickleball community, nothing motivates players more than the potential of winning great tournament rewards! There are several prizes that can be offered including:
Cash prizes for top finishes
Trophies, medals, or ribbons
Gift cards
Tournament swag
Pickleball gear
To avoid promising more than you can deliver, it’s a good idea to allocate a percentage of your registration revenue for your prize pool budget, especially when offering cash prizes. Additionally, to beef up your pool of prizes, your sponsors can be a great source to gather donated items such as gift cards, apparel, pickleball equipment, gift baskets, and more.
Whatever you decide to giveaway for prizes, make sure you include everything that is up for grabs in your tournament marketing and communications. Seeing what can be won is a great way to motivate potential players to register for your event.
Other pickleball tournament costs
After factoring in all of your big tournament costs, you now need to consider all of the smaller, additional costs that you may incur. These could be wildly different for everyone and every tournament, so it’s important to just list all of the possibilities as a starting point to ensure that nothing gets overlooked.
Some things to consider may include:
Water/beverages for players and staff
Snacks for players and staff
Extra balls
Portable toilets
First aid materials
Communication equipment (radios, speakers, microphone, etc.)
Portable generator
Etc.
Managing your pickleball tournament
Your big day has arrived! It’s tournament time and all of your preparation and hard work is about to pay off. Here are a few tips to ensure everything runs smoothly:
Set up early and have your staff in place before participants arrive.
Clearly post match schedules, court assignments, and any tournament rules.
Have an emcee or announcer to keep players and spectators informed.
Keep it fun!
If you’re looking for a way to easily create matchups, track game results, update player rankings, and keep your tournament running efficiently, check out our collection of pickleball tournament templates for your next event.
