SVリーグのプロバレーボールチーム、東京グレートベアーズが2026年8月20日、ピックルボールクラブ「TOKYO PICKLES by GREATBEARS（東京ピックルズ）」の始動を発表した。渋谷区を拠点に、大会開催とスクール事業、地域連携の3方向で普及を進める。
For players in Japan holding a paddle, this is more than one more team or one more facility. The reading is that a professional sports operator has started preparing both a place to compete and a place for beginners to learn, together. Where does someone six months into the game go next, and who builds that landing spot? A volleyball promoter has raised its hand.
Open to anyone, moving on tournaments, school and local ties
東京ピックルズが掲げるコンセプトは「誰でも、気軽に。みんなで楽しむ、ピックルボール。」。発表で示された事業は三つだ。初心者から経験者までを対象にした大会・イベントの企画。初級者が入りやすいレッスンを設けるスクール事業。渋谷区を中心とした地域との連携である。
会員数やコート面数、料金といった詳細は今回の発表には含まれていない。運営母体は2022年6月にネイチャーラボ傘下で発足した東京グレートベアーズで、拠点は恵比寿に置く。公式サイト（tokyo-greatbears.com/pickles）とInstagram・Xのアカウントを開設し、イベント情報はそこで順次発表するとしている。現時点で確定しているのは「渋谷で、プロバレーの運営がクラブを立ち上げた」という骨格までで、初戦の日程や会場の詳細は続報を待つ段階にある。
Behind a pro volleyball team picking up a paddle: 24.3 million players in the US
バレーボールの興行会社がパドル競技へ参入する動機は、市場の膨らみ方に表れている。東京グレートベアーズが発表で示した米国のデータでは、ピックルボールの参加者は2025年に約2,430万人、2022年からの伸びは171.8%に達する。テニス・バドミントン・卓球の要素を混ぜた、穴あきプラスチックボールをパドルで打つ競技は、入口が浅く世代を選ばない。この「始めやすさ」が、既存スポーツの運営ノウハウを持つ会社を引き寄せている。
Entries from outside the sports industry have continued in Japan as well. There isthe Mercari case, where a flea-market app operator fielded a team, and companies whose main business lies in resorts, IT or BPO holding courts or teams of their own. The Tokyo Great Bears' entry adds a new category to that list: the professional sports club. It is positioned to redirect the assets built in the entertainment business, from drawing crowds to running venues to local ties, straight into growing the paddle game.
With tournaments and a school under one operator, beginners never hit a dead end
日本のプレーヤーの視点で見て効果的なのは、大会とスクールを同じ運営が持つことだ。習い始めた人がしばらくして「試合に出たい」と思ったとき、別の団体や別の会場を自分で探し直す手間が、同じクラブ内なら小さくなる。レッスンで基礎を覚え、そのまま同じ看板の大会にエントリーする、という一本道が引きやすくなる。
This design is also the flip side of a weakness in Japanese pickleball. Across the country, the supply of people who can teach has not kept up with the growth in players. Looking athow quickly coaching clinics fill up, lesson supply is clearly behind. If an operating company runs a school as a business, it gains an economic reason to keep instructors on hand. Whether that turns into monthly lessons rather than one-off taster sessions will decide how much players actually gain.
Overlapping maps in Shibuya, alongside existing classes and pop-up courts
Shibuya Ward, the base, is already dense with paddle activity. There isthe ward's free parent-and-child class, taught by a player who has competed internationallyas a government-led entry point, and a court has been lit up in a hotel basement for a limited run. With a pro volleyball club joining, the same ward now lines up a free municipal class, paid courts at a commercial facility, and a pro club's school.
For players, options increase, but the split in price and target level gets harder to see. Tokyo Pickles has not published fees or a membership scheme, though its stated focus on beginners suggests it will start with monthly-fee introductory lessons and level-divided tournaments that beginners can enter. The less experience you have, the more you stand to gain from this setup.
What is known now, and what to check next
Here is what players in Japan can take from Tokyo Pickles.
- A pro volleyball operator has launched a club in Shibuya and will run tournaments, a school and local partnerships as one
- Membership numbers, court counts and fees are unannounced. Dates for the first event and taster sessions await further news
- Because tournaments and the school sit under the same banner, the path from learning to competing is short
- Shibuya Ward is a dense area where public, commercial and pro-club offerings sit side by side, making price and level easier to compare
The first thing to do is follow the official site and X (tokyo_pickles_gb) for the announcement of the first tournament or taster session. Once level divisions and fees appear there, you can judge how it sits against the ward's existing classes and nearby courts. Whether a pro sports club running the entry point to the paddle game ends as a one-off or becomes a monthly fixture: for anyone playing in Shibuya, the next report is the fork in the road.
