‘Picklemall’ may be coming to Milwaukee, players promise concept would work

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- If you haven't heard of Pickleball yet, just head to your local park or tennis courts; there's a good chance it's taken over.

Once again considered America's fastest growing sport, 36.5 million people picked up a paddle in the past year. As the sport's popularity grows, so does the demand for court time.

"We have a good amount of facilities that are dual-purpose, meaning that they're putting pickleball lines over basketball courts or volleyball courts," explained Chris Korjenek, a player and USA Pickleball ambassador for Ozaukee County. "There's no truly dedicated indoor pickleball courts."

That could soon change.

This July, a new indoor pickleball concept titled 'Picklemall' is set to open its first location in Tempe, Arizona. According to a press release, the company hopes to rapidly expand with plans to open 50 nationwide locations within the next 24 months. Cities listed included Minneapolis, Chicago, Madison and Milwaukee.

"It's basically taking old, vacant malls and repurposing them into dedicated pickleball courts," said Korjenek, explaining the Picklemall business model. "These malls are basically sitting vacant. Put this concept in there, bring all of the people that would be a part of it and you're just going to make that area absolutely explode."

Picklemall will be launching an app that allows players to schedule games, record matches and more. While it will cost a fee to use Picklemall facilities, as opposed to "open recreational play" many will find at your local parks and community gymnasiums, coach and ambassador Dale Van Scoyk says it's a price players will be more than happy to pay.

"You know when you reserve a court indoors, you're going to be able to have that court for the hour or hours that you want it," Van Scoyk said. "It's not the open play concept like we have on public courts, but it's a chance to play with people that are your own skill level for a defined period of time, and that's pretty popular and people will pay for that."

Not only does the concept guarantee court time, it guarantees weather won't be a factor.

"An indoor concept can be used 365 (days) and I think a lot of people would really prefer to play indoors. They enjoy playing indoors and knowing what their elements are," Korjenek said. "I think the first one (indoor facility) that comes to the market is going to be a screaming success."