Is Boise Betting Too Much on Pickleball Or Is It Really Here to Stay?
I have a confession to make... I’ve never played pickleball.
Not once.
When pickleball first started exploding in popularity several years ago, I thought it was a passing fad. Fun, sure... but something that would eventually settle into a niche and fade from the spotlight.
Then I looked around the Treasure Valley, and yeah, I may have gotten that wrong.
How Popular Is Pickleball in Boise and the Treasure Valley?
Pickleball hasn’t gone away and if anything, we’re building more places to play it.
Boise already has dedicated and shared use pickleball courts around the city, while Meridian and Nampa have invested heavily in the sport as well.
Nampa, for example, added six dedicated courts at Orah Brandt Park in 2024, joining six dedicated courts already available at Midway Park. Meridian has pickleball at several parks along with indoor play at Homecourt.
Private businesses have jumped in, too. Dedicated indoor pickleball facilities have opened around the Treasure Valley in recent years, including large facilities in Meridian and Nampa.
Plans for Alta Harris Park in East Boise currently include 12 pickleball courts as part of the long-awaited development of the 20-acre park.
The entire buildout of Alta Harris Park is expected to cost more than $11 million, though that figure includes all park amenities, not just pickleball courts. The Harris family donated $1.5 million toward the project earlier this year, and Boise budgeted $3 million for initial development.
A previous city estimate put the 12-court pickleball component at about $1.2 million.
That’s when I started wondering, are we sure we’ll still want this many pickleball courts 10 or 20 years from now?
Is Pickleball Just a Fad For The Treasure Valley?
This isn’t really about pickleball, it’s about how cities decide what recreational amenities are worth long term investment.
I’ve watched parks around the Treasure Valley add features tied to whatever was popular at the time.
Bocce ball courts went in, cornhole was everywhere and disc golf courses popped up around the valley. They didn’t disappear, but many of them aren’t exactly overflowing with activity today and that was my concern with pickleball.
Are we spending money we’ll still value decades from now or will we eventually look at rows of underused courts and wonder what happened?
There’s just one problem with my theory, the numbers don’t support it.
How Many People Play Pickleball in America?
According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, 24.3 million Americans played pickleball in 2025. Five years earlier, that number was about 4.2 million.
That’s more than a fivefold increase in five years, and pickleball has been America’s fastest growing sport for five consecutive years.
The SFIA reports that 13 to 24 year-olds now have the highest participation rate of any age group, and the number of frequent players grew from 1.4 million in 2020 to 7.5 million in 2025.
Those numbers make it hard to dismiss as a passing trend.
Boise Has Already Learned One Pickleball Lesson
Boise has already learned that converting existing tennis courts into pickleball courts isn’t always a simple win.
In 2025, the city closed pickleball courts at Willow Lane and Manitou parks after years of complaints and a lawsuit involving nearby residents. The Willow Lane courts were eventually converted back to tennis.
Afterward, Boise Parks and Recreation said it would develop clearer guidelines for where future pickleball courts should go.
Will Pickleball Still Be Popular 20 Years From Now?
That’s the real question and nobody knows for sure. Maybe pickleball becomes a long-term fixture like tennis or basketball and it winds up being something people are still playing decades from now.
If so, Boise’s investment will look smart or maybe we’ll eventually look at rows of empty courts and say, "Remember when everyone was obsessed with pickleball?"
I used to think that moment was coming soon, but it hasn’t and with more than 24 million players and years of sustained growth, it’s hard to argue pickleball is just a passing phase.
I still don't know if I'm ready to pick up a paddle, but I may need to stop assuming the sport is going away anytime soon.
Boise Pickleball Courts
Gallery Credit: Shannon Buccola
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