Medford's 60,000-Square-Foot Pickleball Heaven Opens With 16 Courts, Sports Bar

Don Rickey wanted a place where a first-time player and a competitive leaguer could share the same building without the newcomer feeling like an outsider. What he and co-owner Anthony Adler built at 645 National Boulevard in Medford is considerably larger than that ambition: a 60,000-square-foot indoor complex called Pickleball Heaven, with 16 courts, a 60-foot bar and a 30-by-15-foot LED video wall Rickey says is the largest sports viewing screen on Long Island.

The facility celebrated its grand opening last September and is now fully operational, sitting just south of the Long Island Expressway across from the Sunshine Square shopping center. All 16 courts, including two championship courts, come with private lounges and televisions. "This is more about fun and family-friendly vibes," Rickey said. "It's not intimidating. We're focusing on a good culture, where everyone feels welcome."

The food and beverage footprint matches the scale of the courts. A kitchen runs breakfast, lunch and dinner alongside a "Healthy Corner" café offering smoothies, juices, wraps, salads and overnight oats. The LED wall, at 30 feet wide and 15 feet tall, anchors the entertainment area; Rickey said the screen is built to handle everything from Super Bowl watch parties to live tournament broadcasts, along with March Madness viewing events. A pro shop rounds out the on-site amenities.

The choice of Medford was deliberate. "Medford comes across as being a great area that loves to support mom-and-pop and homegrown businesses," Rickey said. "That's what we are. We're all from Long Island." The National Boulevard address, a short exit off the LIE, positions Pickleball Heaven to pull players from across Suffolk County without a cross-island commute.

Walk-ins are welcome and the café and bar are open to anyone not looking to pick up a paddle. Programming will include clinics, recreational leagues and multi-day tournaments. Those tournament weekends, drawing players from across the island, stand to push meaningful spending into nearby businesses along the National Boulevard corridor. The flip side is predictable: elevated traffic and parking pressure during peak events, a tradeoff Medford will begin measuring as the venue's calendar fills.