From Multiplex to Match Point
CenterLine 33, a former 16-screen movie theater in Northern California, has been transformed into one of the most distinctive indoor pickleball clubs in the country, where private courts, stadium seating, luxury amenities, and a vision for the future are redefining the player experience.
There is an old joke about a senior pickleball player, hooked on the sport, who prays, “Dear Lord, please tell me there will be pickleball in Heaven.” The Lord answers: “My son, I have good news and bad news. The good news is there is pickleball in Heaven! The bad news is we just made you a court reservation for tomorrow...”
But right now, hundreds of pickleball players say they have found heaven on Earth.
CenterLine 33 is a new indoor pickleball club in the Sonoma County, California, city of Rohnert Park, 7 miles south of Santa Rosa, 48 miles north of San Francisco.
Those who have played at CenterLine 33 call it the most beautiful and unique indoor pickleball venue they have seen. Among them is NBA legend and multiple pickleball tournament gold medalist Rick Barry.
“I’ve played in probably 50 different indoor facilities, and nothing comes close to comparing to CenterLine 33,” Rick, 82, told Pickleball Magazine. “I have never seen anything even remotely close to the uniqueness of the facility. I was blown away.”
CenterLine 33 member Pedro Moura, 39, of Petaluma, has played pickleball in indoor clubs from Brazil to California. “This is very unique,” he agrees.
The reasons are the luxurious amenities, size, and remaining resemblance to what the building was for 25 years—a 16-screen movie theater. Reading Cinemas closed in November 2023, one of more than 5,000 theaters nationwide that have shut down since the COVID-19 pandemic amid the boom of streaming services that has an increasing number of former moviegoers watching from home.
A partnership of Sonoma County businesspeople invested $7 million to transform the theater into a pickleball club and it officially opened in January. The group is led by local real estate developer and Stanford-educated civil engineer Richard Coombs.
“I truly love to build things,” Richard says.
He has developed approximately two dozen projects in Sonoma County. A friend who is a real estate broker, aware of the pickleball boom, suggested that Richard turn the building into a pickleball club. Another friend, Tara Fieri, co-owner of Major League Pickleball’s Brooklyn team, a 5.0 player (and daughter-in-law of celebrity chef Guy Fieri), gave Richard some ideas.
“I’ve always believed the best pickleball venues are designed with both players and spectators in mind,” Tara says. “Incorporating stadium seating [at CenterLine 33] creates a more engaging atmosphere while helping position the facility to host premier events and bring the community together.”
The investors wanted the club to retain much of the old movie theater’s look, inside and out. In fact, from the outside, you could still mistake the building for a multiplex theater. The first hint that it’s a pickleball club is right out front, next to the large parking lot, where there are 16 lighted pickleball courts for CenterLine 33 members. The owners know that many pickleballers love playing outdoors as well.
Walk inside the club and you see an enormous lobby resembling a theater lobby, with nostalgic artwork and a concession stand. It’s aptly named The Kitchen, and has healthier offerings than Milk Duds and Junior Mints. You know for sure this is a pickleball club when you see the 7-foot-tall facsimile of a pickleball in the middle of the lobby. (The owners thought it might make the Guinness Book of World Records but were told there is not a category for World’s Biggest Pickleball.)
The huge pickleball isn’t the only big thing here. The place is massive: 74,000 square feet, two stories.
Adding to the 16 outdoor are 17 indoor courts, hence the number 33 in the club’s name. Each court is roughly the size of the movie theater that preceded it.
What is probably the club’s most unique aspect is that 11 indoor courts are stand-alones, separated by walls that extend to the 20-foot-high ceiling. The only noise on those courts is a sound pickleball players love: paddle hitting ball. The server can announce the score without yelling. There are no stray balls from adjacent courts, because there are no adjacent courts.
“I think it’s really cool that some of the courts are separate,” says club member Linda Cerini of nearby Sebastopol, one of many members who had been there when it was a movie theater.
In between games, players can sit in one of the 350 rocking movie theater seats on the sidelines. The seats were bought from another closed theater and refurbished. The two “championship courts” have stadium seats that rise, leading one member to call the setting a mini-Wimbledon.
The second floor has a large space for social gatherings and windows where the projection rooms used to be, so guests can watch the action on the courts below.
Marc Philobos has been CenterLine 33’s general manager since April and has tripled the number of memberships to approximately 365. He has a master’s degree in sports management and worked in ticket sales for the NFL’s New York Jets when they were good.
“I’ve been in sports for a long time,” Marc, 47, says, “and this is by far the most unique venue in pickleball. What makes this place special besides the amenities is the programming we provide.”
CenterLine 33 is like two clubs for the price of one—a pickleball club and a health club.
There is a wellness spa and lounge where you can get a massage in one room and physical therapy in another from two licensed chiropractors on-site. There are private locker rooms and showers. There are massage chairs, a yoga studio and a large workout room with high-end equipment including treadmills, stair-climbers and weights. There is an infrared sauna, red light therapy, cold plunge tubs and float tanks. Members wanting a break from pickleball can shoot pool or play cornhole.
One might expect membership fees at such a luxurious venue to be exorbitant, but they are not. They start at $75 per month for players who are in a “pod.” The pod consists of six players who can play an unlimited number of sessions per month. The gold membership is $119 monthly. Gold members can reserve courts seven days in advance and get four 30-minute “recovery” sessions (excluding massages and physical therapy sessions). The platinum membership costs $159 a month and allows members to reserve a court 14 days in advance and includes four recovery sessions.
People who play indoors know all too well that sometimes the lighting can cause so much glare that overhead balls are often lost in the lights. Players at CenterLine 33 rave about the lack of glare.
Pacific Courts, a company that designs and builds residential, commercial and community courts and lights for pickleball and other sports, installed the 165-watt LED lights at CenterLine 33. Only six lights are above each court.
“Advanced internal LED lenses distribute light throughout the court, rather than creating a down light, which can cause spotlighting and glare,” Pacific Courts owner Jeff Strachan says. “Shadows are eliminated when you overlap the light distribution from numerous fixtures from above. If the distribution is done properly, you can eliminate shadows from the nets, from paddles and from players.”
Meanwhile, Rick Barry, in addition to being voted one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players in history, is a savvy businessman. He thinks big-picture and wants CenterLine 33 to be the start of something big for pickleball players everywhere.
“Hopefully,” Rick says, “CenterLine 33 will become a blueprint for other movie complex theaters that go out of business.”
There are good options for players visiting CenterLine 33 from out of town looking for a place to stay. They include the Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park and the luxurious Vinarosa Resort & Spa in nearby Santa Rosa.
Besides everything else it offers, CenterLine 33 sells beer and wine. Players who get pickled on the court hopefully won’t get pickled at the bar afterward. •
Matthew Schwartz spent 40 years in television news and won more than 200 awards, including four Emmys and four Edward R. Murrow awards for investigative reporting. His 2020 memoir, “Confessions of an Investigative Reporter,” was an Amazon #1 bestseller. He writes a weekly blog for Hudef Sport and plays pickleball six days a week.
The Rise of Cinemas-Turned-Pickleball FacilitiesIn about 15 locations across the country, moviegoers are trading popcorn for paddles. The physical infrastructure of movie theaters provides a good fit for pickleball courts. They have high ceilings for lobs, expansive floor plans, strong HVAC systems, heavily insulated walls for acoustical control, and plenty of parking. What once were movie theater lobbies, concession stands and ticket counters have become pro shops, smoothie stands and sports bars. Padeland – Chandler, Arizona Padeland is the newest theater conversion, opening in August with seven pickleball courts and three padel courts. Like most pickleball clubs, Padeland offers more than pickleball. It is a social and entertainment center with a restaurant and bar, a craft brewery and wellness therapy. There is a sauna for sore muscles and a cold plunge, which provides members with an icy change from the sweltering Arizona summer.  Bounce Pickle & Play – Biddeford, Maine Bounce Pickle & Play opened its six-court, 22,000-square-foot club in 2025, and includes a restaurant, sports bar and golf simulator. “I feel that a location that experiences severe weather, too hot or too cold for lengthy periods during the year, may not offer great outdoor play options,” says managing partner Richard Evans. Indoor clubs can have great courts, location and amenities, but to survive long term, they need revenue from memberships and drop-in players. Richard notes that Bounce has memberships but focuses largely on a drop-in model. “I feel you have to offer additional services to create a full experience. Blending hospitality with a facility, so a club is not dependent on one revenue stream, will improve financial performance and potentially bring more traffic to the facility.” Another potential revenue stream comes from the rooms that many indoor clubs have for corporate groups and parties—spaces for pickleball players to enjoy more social interaction after they play.  Pickle Paradise – Elk River, Minnesota Pickle Paradise opened in September 2025, replacing a 17-screen theater that had been operating for nearly 35 years. The transformation involved converting approximately 24,000 square feet into seven pickleball courts. “We saw an opportunity to take a large, underutilized space in our community and transform it into something fun and meaningful,” says Julie Russo, who owns Pickle Paradise with her husband, Matt. Julie adds that the building has a lot of memories for the pickleball players who used to watch movies there. “One of our members recently told us that his first kiss occurred in a theater that was converted into our Championship Court #7!” Pickle Paradise has a lounge, event room, pool tables, dart boards, table tennis and other games. The Kitchen Counter serves protein smoothies, specialty coffees, beer, wine and snacks. Bluff City Pickleball – Bartlett, Tennessee John Daniel and his wife, Leslie, own Bluff City Pickleball in this Memphis suburb. “We wanted to do something for the community when we retired,” John, 71, says of the 30,000-square-foot club. The facility opened in March 2024 with eight courts and one practice court. “We wanted to improve the physical and mental well-being of our members. Profitability is secondary.” While theaters are often good fits for pickleball courts, John notes that conversions can be costly. “A movie theater has many more walls, hallways and corners, which make painting, acoustics, etc. more expensive than a former big-box retail store. There may be wasted square footage because of hallways, and entry areas can be larger than needed for a pickleball club.” Other indoor pickleball clubs that have opened in former movie theaters include Newport Pickleball Club in Middletown, Rhode Island (11 courts); RallyWell in Deland, Florida (seven courts); Northpark Pickleball in Oklahoma City (six indoor courts and six outdoor ones); and Eko Padel & Pickle in Miami, Florida (three pickleball and three padel courts). The worlds of pickleball and movies came together perfectly at CenterLine 33 on a Friday evening in July with an event that was the brainchild of the club’s general manager, Marc Philobos. A big screen was set up, the public was invited, and the popcorn was free. More than 100 people gathered to watch a movie that had been released that day. The film they were there to see? “The Dink.” – Matthew Schwartz |
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