Pickleball boom in Colorado fuels growth of new destinations

Pickleball is rapidly growing across Colorado, fueling a wave of stand-alone and all-in-one entertainment venues opening in Denver and nearby communities.

No longer limited to local park courts, at least four pickleball destinations have emerged this year in Louisville, Thornton, Aurora and Denver, with several more projects underway.

“You could Google indoor pickleball clubs, and there’s a lot now in the Denver Metro, but I think everybody offers a little something different. So I’m excited about it. I think there’s room for all of us,” said U.S. Army veteran Liz Tanji, who, alongside her husband Michael, recently opened Ace Pickleball Club, a national pickleball franchise, in Colorado.

Ace Pickleball Club, at 6626 S. Parker Road in Aurora, marks the Tanjis’ second location, building on the success of their first in Omaha, Neb., which opened in May.

Recognizing the rapid growth of pickleball, the shortage of public courts and the challenges of playing outdoors in cold weather, the Tanjis said Aurora was the perfect place to introduce a dedicated facility.

The club, which used to be a Big Lots store, has nine courts and a drill area and offers lessons.

Tanji said she and her husband learned to play during the COVID shutdown and loved the sense of community.

“Pickleball really is a sport for everyone, and we’re so excited to share it with the Aurora community,” Tanji said.

The evolution of pickleball

Pickleball was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride from Seattle. Three dads, Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, are credited with creating the game when their kids grew bored with their usual summertime activities.

In 2024, there were an estimated 19.8 million pickleball players in the United States, a 45.8% increase from 2023, according to a 2025 Topline Participation Report by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.

Although the sport is often linked to older participants, the largest age group of pickleball players are between 25 and 34. The sport gained more than 1 million participants under the age of 18 between 2022 and 2023.

Kelli Alldredge, president of Chicken N Pickle, began her journey with the company not as an executive, but as a passionate customer. As an avid tennis player, she was introduced to pickleball in 2016 through friends and quickly fell in love with the fast-paced, fun nature of the sport.

“It kind of was love at first sight,” she said. “I started playing every Sunday at our original (Chicken N Pickle) location, and that’s where I met the founder and the rest is history.”

The indoor and outdoor entertainment center opened in the Thornton community earlier this summer, marking its first Colorado location.

Covering more than three acres and over 45,000 square feet, the venue features eight professional-grade pickleball courts, including six indoor and two covered outdoor courts, along with a chef-driven restaurant, a lively sports bar and a variety of games and gathering spaces.

As it grows, Chicken N Pickle is shifting its focus toward acquiring complementary entertainment and hospitality concepts, as well as exploring city partnerships to build public pickleball court facilities, with particular emphasis on key growth markets such as Houston, Phoenix and Denver.

Rising construction costs and uncertainty surrounding international economic headwinds have played a role in the shift, the company announced in a July news release.

Alldredge said they are interested in opening a second location in the Denver market and are actively looking for the right opportunity. She said they’re open to different possibilities, such as building next to city-run public courts or partnering with a similar concept. New construction is on hold for now.

“We’re just kind of hit the pause button and exploring all of our options. But two things are for sure, we’re still growing, and we absolutely want a second store in the Denver market,” Alldredge said.

What’s next for pickleball enthusiasts?

Denver residents can also look forward to another destination that includes pickleball to open by the end of this year. Moodswing, a 3.5-acre, $10 million entertainment venue, is set to debut in Denver’s Elyria Swansea neighborhood.

Located at 3625 E. 48th Ave., it will include 43,000 square feet of indoor space and 33,000 square feet outdoors. It will feature 125 parking spaces, six indoor and six outdoor pickleball courts, golf simulators, a coffee shop and co-working area, a full bar and kitchen serving Mediterranean and Italian-inspired cuisine and an outdoor live music area.

Moodswing’s owners are the founders of Denver-based development firm Perpetual First, which includes Improper City and Rayback Collective owner Justin Riley, former Improper City General Manager Giovanni Leone and former Hagerty Insurance Manager Colton Cartwright.

Cartwright said coming out of the pandemic, people were still trying to figure out how to reintegrate into society, which helped lead to the idea of Moodswing.

Cartwright said that in 2022, he and Riley went out to play pickleball and experienced a “holy cow” moment as they observed how people connected and interacted on and off the court.

“It’s just like a nice, natural icebreaker. It’s low barrier to entry, super fun and approachable, whether it’s your 8-year-old niece or nephew, or your 85-year-old grandma or grandpa and everyone in between. And so that’s what really drew us and made us think it was a cool opportunity,” he said.

Moodswing had plans to open earlier this year, but setbacks in the permitting process and how to access the property caused delays.

“It’s been quite the journey, you know, over three years working on this project,” he said.

“There’s been so much support and so much excitement around it, and (we) just really cannot wait to get these doors open.”