Franchisor Stories
Introducing a value-driven membership model to the booming pickleball industry has allowed Picklr to redefine the economics and experience of the sport for players and franchisees alike.
Picklr is a national indoor pickleball franchise that provides purpose-built clubs, elite court surfaces and custom programming for its members, all through a highly scalable, recurring-revenue model for its franchisees. Picklr has been recognized by 1851 Franchise as one of 2026’s most innovative franchise brands due to its rapid North American expansion, strong infrastructure and ability to institutionalize a rapidly growing sport.
“When pickleball exploded, the places where people played didn't keep up,” said Picklr CEO Jorge Barragan. “Courts got thrown into warehouses. Spaces got repurposed. Facilities were never designed for the pace, culture, or energy of modern pickleball. Picklr solved that, starting with the physical experience. Dark walls, court-level spotlighting, pro-level surfaces, intentional design throughout. When you walk into a Picklr club, it feels like a real venue built for a real sport.”
The market response has been incredible. Picklr’s position in the market is illustrated most clearly by its sheer momentum. According to Barragan, the brand has sold more than 500 locations, it achieved 5,502% three-year revenue growth, and it was named Inc. Magazine’s No. 43 fastest-growing private company in America.
Unlike most pickleball operators that sell court time, Picklr focuses on longer-term engagement.
“Picklr built something the sport had never had: a purpose-built club with custom programming (training programs) and a national membership model behind it — allowing members to play at any Picklr club nationwide at no additional cost,” Barragan said.
For franchise owners, this translates into a business built around predictable consumer habits.
“Picklr introduced the first national unlimited membership in pickleball: one monthly fee, unlimited courts, clinics, leagues, tournaments, and events at every location nationwide,” Barragan said. “That shift from transactional court rental to club membership changes the economics for franchisees (recurring revenue, higher retention) and removes cost as a barrier for players. Nobody else at national scale had done this in pickleball before.”
In the larger marketplace, this allows Picklr to fill two major gaps: community and accessibility.
“Pickleball is one of the few activities that gets people face-to-face, competing, laughing, and lingering after the last point,” he said. “Picklr is building physical spaces designed for connection. Members show up four to five times a week. They don't come just to play; they come because it's their place. The sport is the vehicle, and community is the product.”
And better yet, Picklr is accessible. Plenty of fitness concepts narrow their target consumer base due to anything from cost to intimidation. Picklr is actually fun and welcoming, encouraging people of all backgrounds and experience levels to join in.
“It's the third space the fitness industry never quite figured out how to build,” Barragan said.
In addition to the in-club experience, Picklr stands out and continues to widen its competitive moat with technology and high-profile partnerships.
“The biggest on the consumer side is the AI-powered player development platform,” Barragan said. “Picklr partnered with Wingfield, DUPR Coach, and DUPR to build the sport's first end-to-end AI pathway for player development. AI-driven assessments, automated match tracking and DUPR integration combine to make every step of a player's progression data-driven and transparent. It's the first time any racquet-sport franchise has unified AI performance analysis with universal ratings at scale.”
The brand’s cultural hold also increased with the recent addition of global tennis star Nick Kyrgios as an equity partner and ambassador. “When a Grand Slam player bets his name and equity on pickleball, the sport stops being tennis's casual cousin and stands beside it,” Barragan said.
To support the consumer interest generated by those developments, Picklr is also working on internal developments. Behind the scenes, the team is developing real-time dashboards to give franchisees a better understanding of member metrics, program participation and other crucial operational data. This allows local owners to turn community momentum and operational instinct into data-driven business management and growth strategy.
For multi-unit investors and committed operators, Picklr brings a scalable model to an industry that has proven pickleball is more than a passing trend.
“The moment is right and the infrastructure is finally there,” Barragan said. “Pickleball evolved from the fastest-growing sport in America into an institutionalized industry. The players are serious. The culture is serious. The dollars are real. What didn't exist was a scalable, repeatable club model built for this version of the sport. That's what Picklr has built.”
Stay tuned throughout the rest of the month for 1851 Franchise's full Innovative Franchise Concepts series to explore the other innovative brands making waves in the industry.
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