As pickleball facilities evolve into hospitality businesses, their F&B and retail tech is becoming just as important as what’s happening on the courts.
Pickleball is constantly growing and with that, facilities are being asked to do more than provide court space.
Across the industry, operators are adding restaurants, bars, cafes, pro shops and event spaces to create destinations that keep players on-site long after their matches end. Those amenities can generate significant revenue, but they also introduce a new level of operational complexity. Managing food costs, inventory, retail sales, staffing and customer transactions requires a different set of tools than those traditionally used for court reservations and league management.
As a result, many operators are turning to technology platforms borrowed from the hospitality industry, relying on proven systems rather than attempting to build custom solutions. As pickleball facilities evolve into entertainment and hospitality businesses, they need technology capable of supporting those functions.
Choosing A System
For many clubs, that starts with their POS system. Instead of keeping each side separate, operators are looking for ways to centralize purchasing, inventory management and reporting. A unified system creates a cleaner picture of business performance while reducing complexity for staff.
“I think it’s important to keep the tech stack as simple as possible,” said Nathan Talbot, the co-founder of Picklewood. “We use Toast for all of our retail and our restaurant. So when we ring up a paddle, we can also close out someone’s meal.”
Richard Green, the owner of SPF Pickleball, agrees with the simplicity, but approaches it differently.
“In a perfect world, I think you would have one system that could do everything really well,” said Green. “But ultimately we decided to go with best-in-class by category.”
SPF uses Toast for food and beverage but uses Podplay for its retail component as he believes that each work best for the different offerings.
The appeal extends beyond transaction processing. Today’s hospitality platforms provide operators with detailed reporting, inventory management tools, labor tracking and event management capabilities. Those features have become more and more valuable as clubs diversify their revenue streams.
Systems In Action
Events, in particular, have emerged as a major opportunity for many facilities. Corporate outings, tournaments, birthday parties and facility buyouts can generate significant revenue in a single booking. Technology that tracks communications, organizes customer requests and connects directly to the POS systems allows operators to manage those events more efficiently.
Picklewood uses Toast’s events module to run their larger parties. “It archives and orders the email chain so anyone can pick up a response — whether you’re talking to the head of a large company or an executive assistant at a small construction firm,” said Talbot. “It goes straight into our POS when we do the event, so it’s an end-to-end system.”
The ability to access real-time business intelligence is also changing how facilities make decisions. Modern platforms provide visibility into sales trends, labor costs and product performance in ways that were difficult to achieve even a few years ago.
AI is beginning to accelerate that process even more. Operators are able to ask direct questions and receive immediate answers about sales, inventory and trends instead of manually pulling reports. At Picklewood, Talbot described being able to ask Toast’s AI reporting tool how many of a specific item sold in a given period and how he got an immediate answer. While AI adoption is still in early stages for the pickleball industry, many operators see significant potential for improving both reporting and customer engagement.
Green has seen similar benefits at SPF. Over the past four-to-five months, he said AI-assisted dashboard tools that pull data from both Toast and Podplay have changed how his team interpret business performance.
“Our ability to have a snapshot pulling data from both sources has really helped how we think,” said Green.
Making it Seamless
The growing sophistication of hospitality technology has also changed expectations around the customer experience. The best systems are often the ones players never notice.
Whether purchasing a paddle, ordering food courtside or closing out a tab after league play, customers expect transactions to happen seamlessly. Any friction that may come from multiple accounts or long checkout times can negatively impact the overall experience.
“That’s what you want technology to be,” said Talbot. “Kind of quiet and in the background.”
That same philosophy is influencing how operators evaluate technology purchases. Rather than chasing every new software that enters the market, many are prioritizing reliability, ease of use and integration potential.
The challenge is particularly relevant in pickleball because facilities often operate with multiple technology platforms. Court management software serves a very different purpose than hospitality software, and many operators have found that the strongest solutions in each category don’t always integrate perfectly.
For now, many clubs are accepting that tradeoff.
“Most of the friction that existed when operating two different POS systems, we found a way to message and build programs and policies around,” said Green. “Hopefully customers feel it less than when we first started.”
Training the Team
That approach places added importance on staff training. Unlike restaurant employees who often arrive with experience using the hospitality-focused platforms, pickleball-first staff members may be unfamiliar with some of the technology used in the retail or food and beverage side of the business. Recognizing that technology investments only create value when teams understand how to use them effectively is what’s going to help clubs run these ancillary offerings successfully.
At the same time, the widespread adoption of platforms like Toast has created an unexpected advantage. Many new hires are already familiar with the system, reducing onboarding time and allowing facilities to focus training efforts on the unique aspects of their operations.
Starting Smart
When it comes to successfully operating these offerings, it’s important to introduce them in a way that doesn’t overwhelm both the customers and staff.
“My general advice is to not overbuild or overdo it,” said Green. “Find something that fits your brand, culture and community and then start small. On the food and retail side, make sure you have really good inventory and you’re not trying to do too much.”
For SPF, that’s meant a carefully selected pro shop with only 12 to 15 paddles on display at a time, with staff trained to speak on each one. “Nothing in our space ever felt like it wasn’t there on purpose,” said Green.
That mindset will be important as the industry continues to mature. Technology providers will continue introducing new tools, AI capabilities and integration aimed at operators. While those innovations will create new opportunities, the clubs that benefit the most are likely to be those that remain focused on solving real operational challenges rather than adopting technology for its own sake.
In many ways, the future of these technologies in pickleball looks similar to the future of the industry itself: creating experiences that feel effortless. When technology succeeds, players spend less time thinking about transactions and more time enjoying the facility — a result that benefits both customers and operators.
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Jordan Meek is a staff writer for Pickleball Innovators, where she covers the rapidly evolving business of pickleball — from facility growth and technology to player experience and industry strategy. A graduate of Denison University with a degree in Journalism, she joined Peake Media in 2025 and brings a passion for storytelling and curiosity to every piece. Jordan is driven to spotlight the leaders shaping the sport and uncover insights that help operators thrive in the fastest-growing game in America.
