Medford opens 19-court pickleball venue with regional tournament kickoff

Medford’s pickleball scene jumped a level with the opening of The Courts by Lithia & Driveway, a 19-court venue that gave Southern Oregon a new regional draw the moment the ribbon was cut. The facility opened June 5 at Wes Howard Memorial Sports Park and immediately launched into the Medford Summer Classic, turning the debut into a tournament weekend instead of a ceremonial one.

The City of Medford says the project cost $2 million and is now the largest municipal pickleball complex in Oregon. Construction began in October 2025, and the finished site includes 19 lighted courts, permanent court surfaces, individual fencing and a championship court built for tournaments and special events. The courts are open daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and are free to the public except during tournaments or league play that may require a fee.

That access model matters for a venue like this. Medford is not just adding open play hours, it is creating a place that can support casual traffic, league nights and destination events at the same time. The opening weekend underscored that range, with more than 275 players from across Oregon expected for the Medford Summer Classic, a sanctioned USA Pickleball event scheduled for June 5-7 at The Courts by Lithia & Driveway, 1221 N. Ross Ln. Tournament listings say a portion of the proceeds will benefit CASA of Jackson County.

The scale of the project also reflects how much local backers pushed it forward. The city says more than $900,000 was raised through Southern Oregon Pickleball Association fundraising efforts, including naming-rights support from Lithia Motors, Inc., along with additional capital funding from Howard Memorial Sports Park, Inc. and the City of Medford. DeAnn Winter, president of the Southern Oregon Pickleball Association, said the project had been discussed for years and credited the city and construction team for getting it finished.

The new complex sits inside Wes Howard Memorial Sports Park, a 54-acre site at Rossanley Drive and Ross Lane that also houses the Rogue Credit Union Community Complex, known as Rogue X. With room for recreation, sanctioned competition and potential future growth, including talk of six additional courts in another phase, Medford now has the kind of opening-weekend momentum that can keep pickup players, league regulars and tournament travelers coming back long after the first ribbon-cutting.