Managing Pay & Play alongside membership
Implementing a "Pay and Play" model at a tennis venue can be an effective strategy to attract more customers, generate revenue, and maximize the use of your facilities.
Your tennis courts are an asset for your membership, and some venues have an opportunity to utilise unused court time. With the right access solutions and booking system your venue could capitalise on this opportunity to generate income from pay and play bookings.
Opening your courts to the wider community brings other benefits such as:
- Increased Revenue - generates additional income from court fees, equipment rentals, and potentially increased sales at venue facilities (e.g. Café).
- Better Facility Utilisation - maximizes the use of tennis courts, especially during typically low-usage times.
- Market Expansion - attracts a broader audience, including those who might not want a full membership but will pay for occasional access.
- Community Engagement – enhance your reputation in the community as an inclusive and accessible venue.
- Potential for Membership Conversion - provides an opportunity to convert Pay and Play users into full-time members after they experience the facilities and community.
What do players want?
Casual tennis players expect the pay and play model at a venue to offer flexibility, affordability, and convenience. First and foremost, they look for a straightforward booking system that allows them to reserve courts quickly and efficiently.
Some players are just nervous about their ability and see tennis venues as exclusive and ‘not for them.’ A pay and play option may help de-mystify what tennis venues are all about and a pay and play option could function as a stepping stone into membership; a chance to ‘trial’ before making a longer-term commitment.
Overall, they seek a hassle-free, enjoyable tennis experience that fits into their varied schedules and recreational interests.
Read our step-by-step guide for our top tips in getting yourself set up to implement and manage your pay and play offer:
With the right access solutions and booking system your venue could capitalise on the opportunity to generate income from pay and play bookings.
This section provides an overview of the digital tools that can help you manage your courts and bookings.
ClubSpark
ClubSpark is a flexible venue management platform with multiple products and applications to help venues, local authorities and coaches manage their sport. ClubSpark is a tool that is included in your LTA Venue Registration benefits package and allows administrators to manage all functions of their venue(s)
ClubSpark works seamlessly with LTA PLAY and our gate access solutions detailed below.
LTA Play – our booking tool
There are over 5.3m adult tennis players in Britain. They want to be able to be able to search, find and book a court, book a group coaching session, book an individual coaching session or even find a membership.
The LTA Online Booking Platform collects all publicly bookable court booking, coaching and session information via venues ClubSpark pages and displays it for participants in one easy to view location.
To manage your LTA Play listing now follow these simple steps:
Play tennis app
Once on LTA Play booking tool, you will aslo benefit from being visible on the new Play Tennis app, a new court booking tool launched in summer 2024 – making it easier than ever for players to find and book tennis courts at your venue.
The app allows players to secure a court, join classes and connect with local players through the new Communities function.
The app focuses on making the journey to court as easy as possible. Using features like biometric login as well as Google and Apple pay it is now possible to book a court in as little as four taps.
Gate access solutions
Gate access technology allows venues to control access to their courts remotely. You can find out more through our dedicated page:
Read our useful guide to help you promote Pay & Play at your venue:
Maximise your court bookings by adding your venue to Google Maps. By creating a Google My Business profile, you can easily attract new customers through a maps listing.
Full details on how to do this can be found below:
The FAQ’s below set out those common concerns that we hear from a range of different venues across Britain. We hope the explanations will enable you to better understand how Pay & Play (P&P) could work for your venue.
This will allow you to make a more informed decision about opening facilities to your local community whilst growing the number of people accessing your courts and playing tennis.
Introducing pay and play
- Denmead Tennis Club and Wellington Tennis Club: 'Offering pay & play alongside membership'.
- Hull YPI Tennis Club: 'Engaging pay & play users with social initiatives and membership offers'.
- Caerphilly Tennis Club: 'Modernising a tennis offer to generate over 100 new members'.
- Hartlepool Tennis Club: 'Optimising LTA Rally to engage the community with membership pay & play offers.'
Gate access
- Rowntree Park Tennis Club: 'Success in lockdown: How a community club is increasing revenue through Gate Access technology'.
- Kempsey Lawn Tennis Club: 'Converting prospects in challenging times with the help of LTA technology.'
- Bath and North East Somerset Council: 'Reviving tennis courts in Bath's destination parks: A successful local authority and LTA partnership'
- Old Town Recreation Ground, Eastbourne - A local authority Opening Up Tennis to their local community