“At Pickleball Kingdom, we are constantly looking for the best tools to equip our franchisees to better serve their members,” stated Ace Rodrigues, Founder and CEO of Pickleball Kingdom. “After we vetted all the facets of PodPlay’s platform, it was clear that they were the right choice for us. They have developed superior technology that’s accessed with an ease of use that everyone will be able to appreciate. And there were so many synergies between our brands that we mutually decided to make it an exclusive relationship.”
To date, Pickleball Kingdom has awarded about 400 franchises and earned its reputation as the premier indoor pickleball franchise by promoting pickleball and creating community-driven environments. Offering climate-controlled courts, relaxing lounge areas, and comprehensive training programs, Pickleball Kingdom locations are designed to enhance the player experience. Partnering with PodPlay, which has garnered a reputation for providing the most user-friendly tech platform for pickleball players, is the natural next step in creating the best possible playing experience.
The PodPlay tech stack creates a seamless experience from start to finish, including reservations, user-initiated video replays, digital scoreboards, DUPR integration, programming, events, coaching, membership, and payments, all in an easy-to-use application for venue operators and their customers. A data and analytics layer helps venues improve and optimize key operating metrics. Since launching publicly late in 2023, PodPlay has signed up more than 100 venues to its platform and is serving more than 400,000 players, making it the fastest growing technology solution in the pickleball market.
“We are thrilled to create an insanely great playing experience for the millions of people that will make PIckleball Kingdom their club of choice in the coming years,” says Max Kogler Co-Founder and CEO of PodPlay.
PodPlay has been fine-tuned over the past five years by the team that launched PingPod, the successful table tennis start-up that exploded on the scene in 2020 with its first location on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. PingPod now features 20 tech-enabled locations throughout NYC, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, Chicago, and the UK, with more in the pipeline. In 2023, PodPlay was formed to offer the full suite of digital tools developed for PingPod as a SaaS offering to tech-forward sports venue operators.
“Our long-term vision is to be the platform for the modern pickleball venue,” says PodPlay Co-Founder Ben Borton. “We are proud to partner with an industry leading company like Pickleball Kingdom that shares our vision for spreading the joy of pickleball.”
