Infrastructure Overload? Assessing the Risk of Oversupply
The spike in pickleball interest has led to an infrastructure boom. Indoor courts, outdoor courts, and hybrid indoor-outdoor facilities are popping up across Malaysia, in particular, the Klang Valley, Penang, Johor, and even East Malaysia. On the surface, this seems like good news. The flexibility in venue formats has allowed for rapid deployment in both urban and suburban areas. However, underneath the enthusiasm lies a potential issue: oversupply.
Many of these venues, particularly those in commercial buildings, are facing mounting costs—from high rents to utilities to maintenance. Court rental prices now range from RM60 to RM100 per hour, often outpricing casual or new players. According to Courtsite’s 2025 Q2 metrics, the number of registered pickleball venues on its platform has grown from just under 10 converted-hybrid courts in 2023 to more than 160 venues with over a 1000 dedicated courts today, representing a more than 15-fold increase. These include dedicated indoor facilities, open-air rooftop setups, converted badminton courts, and community-based open-air parks.
Reflecting this infrastructure boom, user engagement on Courtsite has surged significantly. From July 2024 to June 2025, monthly pickleball bookings on the platform increased from just 1,042 to 47,374—an astonishing over 40-fold jump in less than a year. As of 1 July 2025, Courtsite has recorded over 129,088 registered pickleball users nationwide, underscoring the sport’s accelerating adoption and the critical role digital platforms play in supporting and sustaining its momentum.
Malaysia is now estimated to have over 400 venues featuring more than 2,500 pickleball courts nationwide. Klang Valley alone accounts for nearly 70% of these, with high concentrations also reported in Johor, Penang, and Sarawak. While demand initially kept pace with this growth, recent months have seen a softening of booking rates at select locations, particularly among hybrid and community courts, as players increasingly favour newer, purpose-built centres. This rapid explosive expansion raises valid concerns: can all centres maintain profitability as the field becomes more crowded? And what happens when the novelty fades or operational costs surge?
The situation echoes earlier trends in boutique fitness and futsal arenas. In the mid-2000s, futsal experienced explosive growth across Malaysia, with hundreds of venues opening in rapid succession. However, many of these facilities eventually saw dwindling interest due to market saturation, inadequate customer engagement strategies, and a lack of diversified offerings. Only those operators who focused on long-term user retention, strategic partnerships, and community-focused multi-use programming managed to sustain operations.
The futsal experience offers key lessons for pickleball centres today. To avoid a similar oversupply trap, operators must go beyond simply opening courts. They need to invest in building sustainable communities, offering structured training pipelines, and fostering loyalty through digital engagement and event-based programming. The emphasis should shift from transactional bookings to cultivating long-term user value and meaningful community connections.
As the number of venues continues to rise, operators must also prioritise managing operational costs and increasing court efficiency. These two factors will be critical to achieving profitability and resilience in the event of a supply glut. Solutions that optimise utilisation, reduce downtime, and streamline customer access will make the difference between thriving and struggling centres.
Courtsite, designed with these challenges in mind, offers tools to help venues adapt and grow sustainably. Its booking intelligence, multipurpose space planning, and user engagement features quietly underpin many of the country’s most successful centres. As the market matures, platforms like Courtsite will be increasingly essential—not just for visibility, but for operational excellence.