“ Trying to take existing courts and add lines for multiple sports only means more people competing for the same space. The key to growth is to support tennis-specific courts.”
He added that there is a precedent. As it happens, it’ s one that should be familiar to every facility manager.
“ It’ s similar to what happened when softball first became popular; people originally thought that baseball diamonds could host everything,” said Carlson.“ They very quickly realized that too many people wanted to use the same diamonds, and that the answer was to build more diamonds so that everyone could play and both sports could grow.”
An extension to the problem of court crowding is the fact that with both sports continuously drawing players who want to use the courts, parking facilities likewise become congested, leading to additional traffic and more competition for parking spaces in nearby neighborhoods and on adjacent streets.
To try to maintain harmony among players of both sports( as well as those in local neighborhoods), the USTA has created guidance for the discussions around shared spaces; this can provide a jumping-off point for decision making.
OPTION 1: SPORT-SPECIFIC SITES The ideal solution, according to USTA, is the development and / or expansion of sport-specific public sites.( In other words, there should be separate tennis facilities and pickleball facilities.) Facilities can be offered either as one central complex( but with different courts for each sport) or as two separate facilities.
Photos courtesy of Fast-Dry Courts, Inc. & 10-S Tennis Supply
to eight million players. USTA wants to bump up the total number of players to 35 million by 2035, and it is actively working to do so.
And all those people are going to need places to play.
“ If we want to keep adding players, we have to add tennis courts,” said Carlson.
sportsfieldmanagementonline. com February 2026 | SportsField Management
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