Parent of pickleball chain The Picklr files for bankruptcy protection; Long Island franchisee leading investor group

The parent holding company and franchisor of The Picklr, a chain of indoor pickleball clubs, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which a Long Island franchisee and investor said is partly due to overly fast expansion.

The vast majority of the chain’s 78 U.S. clubs in 29 states are franchises, including the Long Island location in Centereach.

The franchises will continue to operate as normal during the restructuring process, as Picklr Inc. aims to "resolve legacy obligations from the company's rapid expansion and to build a stronger financial foundation," the Kaysville, Utah-based company said in a statement announcing it filed for bankruptcy protection Friday.

Under his Arete Sports Group, an advisory, investment and operator company, Syosset resident Tom Neale is the franchisee for The Picklr’s Centereach location, which opened in December, and one in Manahawkin, New Jersey, that opened in March 2025.

“And our plan is to continue to grow as originally planned. Our business growth plans don’t change with this development,” said Neale, who intends to open another Long Island location, in East Northport, in a few months.

Neale is leading an investor group, Dynamus Alliance LLC, made up of existing franchisees and other partners, that has committed $4.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing to support Picklr Inc. restructuring.

Picklr Inc.'s balance sheet dated Aug. 31 showed the company had total assets of $915,432.22 and liabilities of $2.4 million, according to its bankruptcy petition, which was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Texas.

Founded in 2021, The Picklr is the largest chain of indoor pickleball courts in the United States, excluding gyms that have pickleball courts.

Nationwide, pickleball was the fastest-growing sport in the United States in 2025 for the fifth consecutive year, according to a report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, based in Silver Spring, Maryland.

As the sport of pickleball grew in popularity, The Picklr touted how quickly it was expanding with the addition of new clubs.

In October 2025, when the number of The Picklr clubs in the United States totaled 56, Kathryn Bullough, the chain’s chief marketing officer, told Newsday that there were 27 additional leases signed for openings in the first half of 2026.

“Also, we have sold more than 500 [franchise] locations globally, in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the U.S. — all of which will be open by the end of 2028,” she said.

Neale said he believes the fast growth was an issue.

“There was a heavy focus on expansion and, unfortunately, not enough focus on operational excellence and opening up clubs that are positioned for success,” he said.

Jorge Barragan, founder and CEO of Picklr Inc., told Sports Business Journal that the parent company ran into issues after it agreed to be a guarantor for facility lease payments for some early franchisees, the publication reported Saturday.

He said about 40 locations that have those agreements in place have become financial burdens for the parent company, Sports Business Journal reported. The Picklr hopes to renegotiate lease agreements during the bankruptcy process, the publication reported.

"We signed, unfortunately, too many corporate guarantees that landed on the holding company. And that's on us. I own it," Barragan said, according to the publication. "Utilizing [Chapter 11 bankruptcy] is going to allow all of us to work with these landlords to figure out how to create profitable businesses. ... I think this is going to open up doors for a lot of people to renegotiate with the landlords and give people more success moving forward."

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.