Chris Sears didn’t follow a playbook for pickleball club expansion — he wrote one location at a time. Here’s what three clubs taught him about growth done right.
There is no set playbook for growing a pickleball club beyond one location.
At least, that’s been the experience of Chris Sears, the founder of Indianapolis Pickleball Club (IPC), who owns and operates three clubs in the city. Each of his locations came about in different ways — and each offers its own lessons for other operators.
The first location, IPC East, emerged from a pre-formed community of mostly outdoor players who needed an indoor club to call their own. Sears, being a part of that community, spearheaded the project.
“That club came about from a 100% pre-formed community,” explained Sears. “I just gave them a new home, and we gave them a leveled-up, great experience. It was super organic.”
The second facility, on the other hand, utilized a different strategy.
At the time, there was no pre-formed pickleball community on the South Side of Indianapolis, which Sears dubbed a “pickleball desert.” He knew there was some demand, as players from the South Side were traveling to IPC East to play. In addition, Sears is from the South Side and has family there, so he was familiar with the area.
However, even with that advantage, the opportunity was still undefined in terms of how large or successful a South Side facility would be.
So, Sears took a strategic approach. Instead of buying a permanent space, he rented out a former Zip City facility, outfitted it with courts, and began running the programming and activities IPC is known for.
As the community evolved, Sears then identified a permanent home for the South Side location and began pre-selling memberships.
“What I learned was very, very critical to what we did going forward and how we set up the South Side operation,” said Sears. “We were waiting to see how this project kind of played out, right? And the whole thought was, we pre-build our community, pre-sell a bunch of memberships, and then move them over to the new location at the start of the fall. We had close to about 2,000 people in our database after that December-to-May timeframe of players that had come through the door, and we pre-sold about 400 memberships to the South Side location.”
Based on what Sears gleaned from that experiment, the South Side location has fewer courts than the original.
“I only built eight courts down there for a reason,” said Sears. “I could have built 14. It was a brand-new facility, the same builder that built our original site. But we wouldn’t have made it through the first year if we had to pay for that additional 14,000 square feet, or whatever it was, to add another six courts. And I don’t even think we would ever be full. But right now, we’re packed all the time down there.”
The third IPC location came about in a completely different — and unexpected — way.
In that case, Sears had the opportunity to acquire an existing indoor club, 24/7 DINK, on the North Side of Indianapolis. According to Sears, the club has a strong database of around 11,000 people and 620 members. However, there were too many courts to maintain a profitable facility. Through the acquisition, Sears was able to renegotiate the lease with the landlord, and they will be downsizing the location from 20 courts to roughly 10.
“The goal for us is to evaluate,” said Sears. “I built this in with the landlord to give us a grace period of three to six months to figure out exactly what this community is and how many courts we need. It may be 12, it may be 15. I’m going to build whatever the community shows us that we can sustain and grow to, and what I feel is going to be the profitable outcome for the number of courts.”
Through these three distinct experiences growing to three indoor pickleball clubs, Sears has developed a methodology around expansion.
“It’s like a mega church” said Sears. “Build a mega church when you have a community that’s bursting at the seams, and then go build another facility. You don’t do it the opposite way, where you build a mega church and hope to fill it up.”
As such, Sears has also learned to prioritize spaces that allow for future growth. At the South Side location, for example, they have the opportunity to purchase land next door and add more courts if demand increases.
“The trends that I keep seeing around the industry is people keep overbuilding because it looks cool,” said Sears. “Sure, it would look great if there were 14 courts there already, but I don’t think they actually know the size of the communities they’re building for before they do anything. That was one of the biggest fundamental learnings I had with the South Side, and I’m really glad we did it. The goal is not to look really cool — it’s to be profitable. It’s to run a business that is sustainable, not break even or lose money every single month.”
Sears’ ultimate view is that when it comes to expansion — or even launching your first location — operators should proceed with caution. Ensure demand exists, pre-build a community if possible, or look for opportunities, like the acquisition of 24/7 DINK, that make strategic sense.
But even with that in mind, growth is not always predictable.
“It was right place, right time for all three of these locations, honestly,” said Sears. “I can tell you all the stuff about pre-building communities to make sure, from the business side of it, it was a good choice. But I can’t replicate how all three of these sites even came together. There’s no way.”
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With over a decade spent covering the business side of sports and fitness, Rachel Chonko brings a wealth of experience and a true passion for active communities to Peake Media. As Editor-in-Chief, she’s focused on helping pickleball clubs and fitness facilities thrive, from guiding growth strategies to showcasing the latest industry trends. Rachel also hosts the Club Solutions Magazine Podcast, where she interviews leaders in fitness and pickleball to share insights and success stories with the wider community to give her listeners a competitive edge.
After taking up pickleball herself, Rachel has come to appreciate the sport’s unique blend of social connection and active living — a mix that’s perfectly in line with her editorial philosophy. Connect with her on LinkedIn, or check out her articles below for a deep dive into the energy and culture driving pickleball’s rapid rise.
