September 01, 2023
Provided Image/CityPickle
Pickleball courts are coming to Center City this fall. From Sept. 7 through Oct. 22, there will be rentable courts at Dilworth Park for $40 per hour.
Pickleball is all the rage right now. For those who are unfamiliar, the game is reminiscent of tennis, with a net separating competitors who volley plastic balls back and forth. This fall, the sport makes its way to Center City.
The New York-based company CityPickle is partnering with the Center City District to bring two rentable, professional-sized courts to Dilworth Park. They will be open from Sept. 7 to Oct. 22, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
An hour of play costs $40, and paddles can be rented for $6. Up to six people can play on a court at once. Players can reserve a time on the CityPickle app or online.
"Introducing CityPickle to Philadelphia... marks our first move to another city since launching in New York," cofounders Mary Cannon and Erica Desai said in a press release. "It's our goal to bring the joy of pickleball to cities across the U.S., and we could not think of a better place than Philadelphia, which we both love, to kickstart our expansion."
CityPickle was launched in 2021. The company plans to open an indoor pickleball club in New York City; currently, there are pop-up locations in Central Park, Hudson Yards, Union Square and the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport. The co-owners said they hope to open a club in Philly next year.
There were around 2,000 regularly playing pickleball players in Philadelphia last October, according to The Inquirer. The game has 4.8 million players in the United States, says USA Pickleball. Celebrities like Selena Gomez, Micheal Phelps, Drew Brees, Kevin Love, Bill Gates and Serena Williams have played the game.
In May, Bounce, an indoor pickleball facility, opened in Malvern, Chester County, with 16 courts, instructors and programming. It costs $20 per session for non-members, and yearly memberships start at $125.
