カリフォルニア州リバモアで、閉店した手芸チェーンJOANNの跡地が8面のインドア・ピックルボール施設に生まれ変わろうとしている。運営するのはフランチャイジーのAbhimanyu DhariwalとShreya Triviediの夫婦。ブランドは全米最大のインドア・ピックルボール・フランチャイズ「Pickleball Kingdom」だ。リバモア市の計画委員会は6月16日、条件付き使用許可を4対0で承認した。空になった大型小売店をまるごとコートに転用するこの動きは、いまアメリカでピックルボール施設が増える最も現実的な回路になっている。
The starting point is a "JOANN site," an ordinary empty box
舞台はリバモア市4650 Arroyo Vista。ここには長らく手芸・生地チェーンのJOANNが入っていた。同社は2025年に2度目の破産手続きに入り、全米で約800店舗すべてを同年5月までに閉じている。DIY需要の一巡とオンライン化に押された、80年以上の歴史を持つチェーンの退場だった。その広く天井の高い空き箱が、今度はピックルボールの屋内コートに変わる。
計画では8面の予約制コートに加え、物販スペース、観戦用の一段高いギャラリー、ゲームルーム、コミュニティルーム、事務所、ロッカーやトイレを備える。営業は毎日午前6時から午後10時まで。オーナーのDhariwal氏は「妻と一緒にできるスポーツをずっと探していて、ピックルボールに出会った」と語っており、家族で楽しめるという競技の特性が出店動機になっている。
What got it approved was soundproofing "on par with rustling leaves"
The focus in the review was noise. Because pickleball is played by striking a perforated plastic ball with a hard paddle, it produces a higher, harder impact sound than tennis. In the US, courts near residential areas frequently spark noise disputes, not rarely escalating into lawsuits or removal.
The Livermore plan uses 8-inch-thick (about 20cm) masonry walls on the exterior, with sound-absorbing material in the metal roof. Doors are kept closed at all times during operation, and as a result the sound leaking outside the facility was estimated at about 20 dBA. 20 dBA is a level likened to "rustling leaves" or "a pin dropping." With this design and figure presented, the Planning Commission issued the permit 4–0 with no opposition. Building the three-piece set of indoor, thick walls, and closed doors into the design from the outset and presenting it as figures in the review—this has become the practical solution for keeping noise from becoming a flashpoint.
The unit economics behind "over 350 franchises"
Pickleball Kingdom positions itself as the world's largest indoor pickleball operator. In the short time since launching its franchise, it has granted over 350 store rights and spread its rollout across the US. A design philosophy of weather-independent indoor play, year-round operation, and lean staffing underpins this expansion. Below is the sense of scale of the brand's recently announced and reported indoor facilities.
| Base | Number of courts | Approximate size |
|---|---|---|
| Livermore (this article, planned) | 8 courts | JOANN site |
| Roseville (first in California) | 11 courts | About 32,900 square feet |
| Port Richey (Florida) | 14 | About 40,011 square feet |
| Chandler (Arizona) | 15 courts | — |
What the numbers tell is a structure where the "large floor area" of an empty big-box store or warehouse translates directly into double-digit court supply. Moving into a box that's been vacated is faster and cheaper than sourcing land and building from scratch. That's why site conversion has become the main battleground of expansion.
The local reception—welcome and wariness coexist
In this kind of US case, local reactions roughly split three ways. First, a welcome from the player crowd longing for a permanent base to play indoors year-round. Second, expectations on the commercial and administrative side, valuing a shuttered big-box store regaining life. Third, nearby residents' wariness of noise. In Livermore, getting ahead of the third with soundproofing design led to approval with zero opposition.
Flip it around, and a plan that neglects soundproofing can spark disputes anywhere. In Florida, a situation arose where a homeowners' association was sued by residents over converting tennis courts to pickleball without permission, and in a Maine municipality, court noise came up as a formal item at a city council meeting. Welcome and wariness coexisting is the norm for this sport's facility cases, and what decides win or loss is the care taken with location and design.
Implications for players and operators in Japan
In Japan too, permanent indoor courts are chronically short. The lesson this US case shows is clear: a "big box that's high-ceilinged and has few columns," like a vacant store or idle warehouse, can become prime real estate for indoor courts. The US-exited Picklr landing in Japan from Makuhari and setting up a 7-court facility in Toyosu in autumn, and the domestic vision publicly seeking a flagship site of over 20 courts in the metropolitan area, are contiguous in thinking.US Picklr's first landing in JapanandA domestic flagship vision of over 20 courtshave both entered a contest over "how to secure the box."
And one more thing is soundproofing. If you're opening an indoor court in a Japanese commercial building or close to homes, Livermore's mold of 20cm-thick walls, closed doors, and presented figures serves directly as a blueprint for neighborhood coordination. From a player's viewpoint too, understanding that an indoor facility where you can hit quietly for long stretches ultimately rests on this kind of soundproofing investment changes how you look at choosing a facility.
Ripple effects on the market—"site × sport" lifts court supply
Facility investment in pickleball grows larger in scale year by year. With cases like a fitness chain putting 28 courts in a single facility, the order of magnitude of court counts has stepped up a notch. Converting emptied big-box stores frees this supply expansion from the bottleneck of land acquisition. When a national chain like JOANN exits en masse, similarly conditioned "boxes" are born across the country all at once. The franchise side can fill them one after another with a templated design—this good fit produces the speed of granting over 350 store rights. In Japan too, with large-store closures continuing, there's ample room for the same circuit to open. For reference,the US facility investment where a fitness major poured in 28 courtsshows how far this sport's equipment arms race has come.
Summary—what to watch next is "boxes and walls"
Livermore's 8-court plan is neither a flashy pro tournament nor a new paddle. But it's the plainest, most certain sign that pickleball has entered a settling-in phase. There are three concrete next actions for readers. If you're a player, check how a candidate facility is designed on the three points of indoor, soundproofing, and hours. If you're considering running a facility, comb through location candidates by "converting shuttered big-box stores and warehouses into court counts." And in neighborhood coordination, prepare from the outset a design you can speak about in figures, like Livermore's 20 dBA and 20cm walls. Empty boxes and thick walls—the next indoor courts to increase will be born from the multiplication of these two.
