(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Pickleball is sweeping the nation, and a court could be coming to a vacant retail space near you.
Scott Schubiger is Chief Growth Officer with The Picklr, a Utah-based company planning to bring numerous pickleball courts to Naperville, Mundelein and Villa Park by the end of the year.
“It’s just been a treat to talk to so many excited people about bringing this to their communities,” said Schubiger.
Schubiger said while some questioned if pickleball’s popularity had staying power last year, it’s clearly here to stay, and that means it's time to open more and more courts across the country.
“There’s been a lot of stuff on TV,” he said. “ESPN has put pickleball plays on their Top 10. It’s getting a lot of play time, that’s one thing. But for the most part, when you have a sport that’s 36 to 40 million people plus and growing, a sport that 8 to 85-year-olds can play on the same court at the same time, there’s really no other sport that exists in,” noted Schubiger.
As for bringing The Picklr to downtown Chicago, Schubiger said it’s possible in the future, but admitted the cost of rent is, at this point, somewhat of a limiting factor.
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