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NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ace Pickleball Club, is set to debut their highly anticipated franchise offering of innovative indoor pickleball facilities, featuring between eight to sixteen regulation size courts in a climate controlled environment to provide the optimal player experience including vibrant music, on court technology for live streaming and instant replay, and social and event space, in early 2023.
Pickleball has experienced unprecedented growth in the last few years, most recently reported as 36.5 million people having played the sport in 2022, and all signs point to the industry only heating up in the coming years. Founder and CEO Jay Diederich and Co-Founder and President Joe Sexton of Ace Pickleball Club, leaders in the franchise industry, saw a void in the space and growing demand for high quality indoor facilities that provide year-round access to players of all ages and skill levels across the country. There are approximately 10,000 facilities nationwide currently registered with the USA Pickleball Association, of which, 99% are outdoors and cannot be utilized during the winter season, inclement weather or heat. Further issues have quickly formed with local city halls and planning departments across the country, which have started to limit hours of operations or completely shut down outdoor courts located near housing due to noise complaints.
Jay Diederich, Founder and CEO, began his career in franchise operations in 2007 at GNC, and in 2012 joined Sky Zone to support both corporate and franchise development where he successfully secured 185 big box retail and flex locations – helping make Sky Zone the second fastest growing franchise in the US and one of the largest big box indoor entertainment franchises in the world.
Joe Sexton, Co-Founder and President, also began his career in franchising in 2007 in franchise support and operations, later moving to Mathnasium Learning Centers where he was Executive Director of Franchise Development. In 2015, Joe joined Sky Zone where he led domestic franchise development and since 2019, has helped launch several new franchise programs for up and coming brands, including PetWellClinic, where he led the sales of 130 franchises in less than 24 months from launch.
Together Jay Diederich and Joe Sexton have created Ace Pickleball Club, and will begin offering franchises for development across the US in February of 2023, with Roswell, GA being the first to open.
Investments are pouring into "Eatertainment" concepts featuring pickleball as a way to drive more foot traffic to the primary focus of food and beverage sales, but there is not yet a national brand that is focused on pickleball itself. Ace Pickleball Club's approach eliminates the bar and restaurant and targets existing big box stores rather than ground-up construction, significantly reducing the investment and increasing the speed of growth. APC is introducing a family-friendly environment, more closely resembling a gym than a restaurant, for members of all ages to learn, play, and compete year-round. Members will have access to unlimited open play in addition to leagues, tournaments, clinics, glow-in-the-dark pickleball and social events.
Beyond the co-founders, the APC executive team combines 70+ years of experience across all departments and has a successful track record of developing big box recreational franchise concepts. Investors include Andy Stenzler (Founder of Rumble Boxing and Lab Capital Advisors), Doug Birer (Multi-unit Developer of Orangetheory, Kidstrong, and PetWellClinic), Eric Simon (VP at the Joint Chiropractic), Nena Mass (SVP at CBRE), Tabish Jesrai and Mohammad "Musto" Omar (Multi-unit Developers of Crumbl Cookies), Workweek Capital (The Wolf of Franchises), and Wendy Selevitch (Founder of Soultenders, Inc) to name a few. They've played influential roles in the growth of both startup and blue-chip brands on a global scale and helped earn countless accolades over the last decade. They've spent years cultivating strong relationships with the commercial real estate, construction and franchise development world, which will be leveraged to fuel the growth of Ace Pickleball Club.
For more on Ace Pickleball Club, please visit: acepickleballclub.com. Follow along on Instagram at @acepickleballclub.