Move over, tennis: Philippine malls ride on pickleball popularity
The growth in number of pickleball players has been so fast that demand for pickleball courts can’t keep up when players want them most — mostly on weekends, according to players Rappler talked with.
The Philippine Pickleball Federation (PFF) traces the sport’s beginnings in the country to 2016, or eight years ago when the first pickleball clinic was held in Cebu.
The first pickleball club in the Philippines was established in 2017, grew to four in 2019 but was stifled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of todays players, however, learned the sport during the pandemic when they were forced to stay at home and had to find ways to keep active and healthy.
Coni Ibañez, another PFF country ambassador, also learned to play during the pandemic, and since 2023 has helped run “Street Pickleball” at Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center, San Antonio, Pasig City from 5 pm to 10 pm on Saturdays and Sundays, according to her PFF profile.
Many of the initial pickleball venues were on village streets and neighborhood parking lots, but has since expanded to multi-purpose indoor courts often also used for badminton and basketball.
After pandemic restrictions were liberalized, the sport picked up where it left off and grew rapidly from only 13 pickleball clubs in 2021 to 123 pickleball clubs nationwide as of August, based on the PFF’s list. It also now has over 6,500 registered players, but this figure does not include the thousands more who have tried out the game and are not counted as registered players of the PFF.
The PFF was recognized only in 2020 as a national sports association, and it expects that pickleball will be included in the Southeast Asian Games when Thailand hosts the biennial regional tournament.
Low-cost and easy to learn
The sport’s growth is partly due to the ease in learning the game, and is relatively low-cost compared to tennis. It’s often described as a cross between tennis, badminton, and table tennis.
Kids as young as 5 and even seniors who are over 70 can easily learn how to play in minutes, unlike tennis which is played with bouncy rubber balls that beginners find difficult to hit, and often requires costly tennis lessons and expensive tennis courts.
Compared to tennis, the sport is cheaper to play in terms of equipment. A low-cost paddle racket sells for around P250 on e-commerce sites, although the carbon fiber ones are pricey at around P1,000 to over P2,000 depending on the brand. Many tennis rackets by comparison range in the thousands for pricing, depending on branding and specifications, though there are sub-P1,000 options for casual players.
There’s also a big difference in the prices of balls used: A set of 6 pickleballs sells for P160 or around P26 each on e-commerce sites. Meanwhile, six tennis balls sell for P500 or P83 each — roughly three times more.
Ayala Malls claims to have been the first to put up the first pickleball court in a mall — in Market! Market! in BGC, Taguig City. In October 2023, the Ayala Malls launched Picklemall or Pickleball at Ayala Malls with no less than Ayala Corporation chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and his family playing the sport.
Being the Philippines’ biggest mall developer, SM Megamalls has opened 30 venues in its malls throughout the country where people can play pickleball.
Most of these venues are outdoor, particularly parking lots converted to pickleball courts.
Steven Tan, president of SM Megamalls, said they put up these courts in response to requests from local communities.
“We learned through our shoppers and partners that there is an active pickleball community seeking venue support. We have since worked with pickleball groups and organizations to provide not only courts, but also convenience in terms of parking, dining, running errands, grocery shopping, and safety,” Tan said in an email response to questions from Rappler.
As of mid-August, SM Supermalls has set up pickleball courts in 30 malls out of its 86 Philippine malls — including in SM Seaside City Cebu; SM Center Ormoc (Leyte); SM City Consolacion (Cebu); SM City CDO Uptown (Cagayan de Oro); SM City Lanang in Davao City; SM City North Edsa; SM Southmall; and SM Center Antipolo Downtown.
Tan said setting up pickleball courts in SM malls is “not very costly and can even be as simple as setting up the lines and nets on the surface of our provided venues.”
He said most of the venues in SM Malls are available for use during mall hours, from 10 am to 10 pm.
In SM Center Antipolo Downtown (formerly SM Cherry) in this suburban area in Barangay Mayamot, Antipolo City, Rizal province, its badminton courts are also now being used for pickleball, and these are open earlier at 7 am.
Other venues, Tan said, have to be scheduled in advance since they are multipurpose areas that host other events and activities other than pickleball.
Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC) has also joined the fray and is offering free use of its pickleball courts.
RLC told Rappler it had at least seven malls with pickle ball courts as of end July, with two more set to open. These are in:
- Robinsons Metro East (Pasig)
- Robinsons Dasmariñas (Cavite)
- Robinsons Palawan
- Robinsons GenSan (General Santos City)
- Robinsons Starmills (Pampanga)
- Robinsons North Tacloban
- Robinsons Sta. Rosa (Laguna)
- Robinsons Tagum (Davao del Norte).
In general, peak hours are weekday evenings and on weekends.
Court rentals range from free to between P200 to P400, with indoor courts being more expensive.
Players can split the fee for use of the court. Thus, a two-hour use that would cost P400 to P800 can be brought down to P50 to P100 per player if 8 players join. This scheme encourages players to invite others to play, making the sport a group activity and a new way of making friends. Pickleball doubles is the more popular game played in the Philippines.
“…Pickleball has kept us fit and healthy and helped us fight boredom during the pandemic,” said Jojie Roy Lumawan, another PFF country ambassador. “It has developed a family bond and built a community of like-minded players.”
Mall developers that market their malls as active lifestyle centers have included pickleball as part of their healthy lifestyle activities that can be done in these popular destinations.
“SM Supermalls values the health and wellness of its shoppers, and also acknowledges the proximity of our SM malls to pickleball communities throughout the country. We are happy to provide affordable spaces for our surrounding communities to engage and have fun,” SM Supermalls’ Tan told Rappler.
“Now, Ayala Malls is no longer just a retail destination. It is your gateway to an active and healthier living,” said Mariana Zobel de Ayala, Ayala Land group head for leasing and hospitality when Ayala Malls kicked off its Picklemall at Ayala Malls last October 2023.
Tan said SM Supermalls will open more venues “depending on demand and partnerships.”
“Our malls can make use of their available areas to set up courts to be used for tournaments and scheduled clinics,” he said. – Rappler.com
