Pickleball continues to be one of the fastest-growing sports in the country — think tennis, but on a smaller court with a paddle instead of a racket.
The scale may be smaller, but the popularity is massive. It’s growing so fast, in fact, that public courts aren’t enough — and homeowners are taking matters into their own backyards. It’s even showing up in the most popular VRBOs and it’s a must-have in ultra-luxury properties that have the room to accommodate.
Chris Walker, general manager of NexCourt, Inc., sees it firsthand.
“I have designed and built courts for 27 years, and I work for an owner who has built courts since 1989,” Walker said. “Private residence pickleball courts are becoming very popular. I have been building the game of pickleball into courts for a very long time. However, the last five years have seen an explosion of courts, commercially and especially on the residential side.”
Walker cited data from the American Sports Builders Association showing a 223% increase in pickleball participation over the past three years. According to USA Pickleball, there were 38,140 commercial pickleball courts nationwide in 2021 — a number that jumped to 68,458 by early 2025.
“I estimate in the DFW area the growth for residential courts has grown at a similar rate,” he said. “We built around 150 courts last year from the ground up. Fifty-five percent of those were commercial courts because each commercial job has multiple courts — so we have more actual projects residentially.”
Walker said there are a few reasons behind pickleball’s huge popularity.
“Like bowling, a player can be 7 or 70 and still have a good time at their pace. Also like bowling and rec league softball, the sport is very compatible for male and female play together,” he said. “Half of a court is only 440 square feet, so the area one or two people have to cover doesn’t seem so daunting like a huge tennis court.”
Walker said there aren’t major differences between a commercial and residential pickleball court, though commercial courts may include more lighting, and residential courts sometimes use more versatile surfaces than traditional acrylic.
He explained that the average court size is between 30 by 60 feet and 34 by 64 feet, with an average cost between $50,000 and $60,000.
“The yard access, the slope of the yard, the exact size of the court, adding lights, or maybe a basketball goal to make the court more versatile are all factors that go into the price,” he said.
And if you’re ready to build one, the timeline is fairly short.
“Assuming no weather conditions get in the way, a court will take 60 days to complete,” he said. “Most of that time is waiting for the concrete to cure before we put the acrylic surface down.”
Then it’s simply a matter of having fun.
“The sport of pickleball is fun for everyone, no matter the age, ability, competitive play you want to be at, or your natural athletic ability,” he said.
