Premier Sports Campus North pickleball courts near completion in Lakewood Ranch

The pickleball side of Premier Sports Campus North had reached the point where the finish line was literally paint. Behind the pools in Lakewood Ranch, the shaded court structure was nearly ready, while the pools still waited to be filled and the second floor of the Lakewood Ranch Library moved toward a fall opening.

For traveling players, that timing matters more than a ribbon-cutting photo. Manatee County says the Athletics & Aquatics Center will be a 44,000-square-foot facility with 24 pickleball courts, including 14 covered courts, plus a competition-sized swimming pool, a therapy pool, locker rooms, restrooms, a geothermal yard and parking for about 166 vehicles. County officials scheduled groundbreaking for January 30, 2025, and said construction was expected to take about 18 months, putting completion in the late summer or fall 2026 window.

That makes Premier Sports Campus North look less like a stand-alone court cluster and more like a full stop on a pickleball trip. Courts, parking and covered play give clinics and group blocks room to spread out, while the pools and other campus amenities create the kind of all-day setup that keeps players on site between sessions. The campus’s broader mix also includes a sheriff’s substation under construction and a library buildout nearby, adding to the sense that this corner of Lakewood Ranch is being built as a shared public destination rather than a single-purpose sports complex.

The demand behind it has been building for years. Bob Haskin, who founded the Lakewood Ranch Pickleball Club in 2018 with 40 members, had been pushing for East County courts since then. By January 2026, the club had grown to about 2,300 members, with annual membership at $15. That growth lines up neatly with what county leaders have been saying about the project: the campus is meant to serve youth through adults and to attract tournaments.

Premier Sports Campus itself has already shown it can handle visitor traffic. Manatee County pointed to the November 2023 IWLCA President’s Cup, which drew nearly 10,000 athletes and more than 22,000 spectators, generated nearly 8,000 room nights and brought in more than $18 million in economic impact. The original Premier Sports Campus South opened after Manatee County bought the 127-acre site from Schroeder-Manatee Ranch in 2017, while Premier Sports Campus North covers 111 acres. Together, they give Lakewood Ranch a sports-tourism footprint that can support league play, clinics and multi-day pickleball stays. The courts behind the pools are no longer a plan on paper; they are in the final stretch of becoming a playable campus.