Come Play With Us: Wilson Offers Equipment Rental, Always-On Programming & Court Rentals

Check out our “Come Play with Us” initiative— a new, three-pronged commitment to the community that offers equipment rental, court rentals and free weekly programming out of all five of our retail locations.

Wilson exists to empower everyone to live like an athlete. We’ve always manufactured the best equipment in the game, but 2023 marks another huge step Wilson is making towards the democratization of sport. Thanks to our retail stores, we have an opportunity to serve communities directly by ensuring folks have easy and affordable access to equipment. In that spirit, we are excited to announce the launch of our “Come Play with Us” initiative‒a new, three-pronged commitment to the community that offers equipment rental, court rentals and free weekly programming out of all five of our retail locations. You’ve always been able to playtest equipment at our retail stores, but “Come Play with Us” goes a step further.

Whether you’re interested in trying a new sport or are just an occasional player, we know purchasing new equipment can be a barrier to entry.

“For example, if you are new to tennis, a performance racket is a big jump,” said Erin Pelton, Director of Retail for Wilson.

“Or maybe you’re considering going from a recreational racket to a performance racket, and you're not sure you want to make that big purchase yet. Having the ability to try the equipment out is really important. While most of our retail stores offer a hitting wall, that is very different from taking your racket to the local court and playing with your normal partner and seeing how the racket performs.”

That’s why we are offering affordable equipment rental options from $10 per day. Rent a glove or racket, or try your hand at pickleball without purchasing all the equipment.

We’re confident you’ll like our gear, so your rental is free should you decide to purchase the equipment you rented. But there’s no pressure. We’re just glad you got out there and played.

“I envision it as a lending library of equipment— to let you dip your toe in the water of sport,” said Pelton.

With the addition of our three new Come Play with Us offerings, we currently offer four different options to experience our gear.

Glove and racket rentals are available at all of our 5 storefronts, however other offerings vary by location. Find out what is available at each of our stores below.

Chicago Locations:

Wilson Chicago

Our Gold Coast ocation offers all your favorite gear and sportswear, alongside racket stringing services and glove personalization.

New York Locations:

Wilson Flagship Store, 594 Broadway SoHo, NY

The coolest part about this space? The Thomas E. Wilson Park. A unique, indoor atrium space, named after our brand’s founder, provides endless opportunities to play and allows fans and athletes alike to be at the center of their favorite sport and put their Wilson gear to the test.

The indoor atrium has space for tennis gamers to hit against a practice wall, a half-court basketball area perfect for a game of 1-on-1 or shootarounds, and further installments include a target practice area for football and baseball players, as well as a full simulator for an indoor round of golf.

Wilson Upper East Side, 1517 3rd Avenue New York, NY

Our incredible two-story storefront features a multi-use pickleball court. This store features our first-ever “Equipment Room” where consumers can check out selective equipment to demo, or hit the nearby Central Park for a day of play.

Wilson Columbus Circle, 10 Columbus Circle New York, NY

Our Columbus Circle location offers all your favorite gear and sportswear, alongside racket stringing services and glove personalization.

Learn More About Our Retail Stores Here

1. Playtest (Free)

Since launching our retail stores, all have been welcome to come to any of our locations to playtest equipment on our hitting walls, pickleball courts, golf simulators and basketball courts.

2. Equipment Rental ($10 a day)

We offer affordable equipment rental at all of our retail locations. We rent racket equipment (pickle, padel, and tennis) and baseball gloves for $10 a day. If you decide you want to purchase the product after renting, we will not charge you the rental fee.

You will pay half the price of the item you are renting upfront, almost like a security deposit. Once you return the product, you will be reimbursed and charged $10 a day for the amount of time you had our product.

3. “Always-On” Programming (Free)

“We are committed to having ‘Always On’ programming,” explained Pelton. “Our programming allows you to count on or calendarize when you have access to free lessons and clinics— it’s all free in our stores.”

For instance, in NYC, Wilson has partnered with Break The Love to offer a tennis clinic and pickleball clinic one night a week.

“It is a great way to lean into our relationship with a key partner while boosting their platform and also providing free programming to our community,” said Pelton.

The fun doesn’t stop there. On Thursday nights in New York’s Upper East Side, we offer Tee Time. Tee Time allows people to come into our store and try out our golf simulator with a professional, who will help you finesse your swing while getting fitted for golf clubs.

And in SoHo one night a week, we offer a dribbling clinic for basketball enthusiasts.

“Our programming really covers the full spectrum. We have racket sports, team sports, golf…” Pelton explained. “Folks can try out a new sport, improve upon a sport they already have experience with and have access to all of our equipment— it’s all there for anyone to try!”

You can sign up for this free programming using the links below:

• NYC
• Chicago

Since launching “Come Play with Us,” the community reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

“Folks love that they can count on us— you can come every single week and try it out for free,” said Pelton.

“Like Coach Blaise for Tee Time, we provide them with more folks to join each week— so it’s a benefit to everyone,” said Pelton. “With Break The Love, the reality is the more people who play tennis or learn to play tennis, they continue playing tennis, right? If you buy a tennis racket or you pick it up once and you’re not great at it, you don’t feel good— so you put it down. You don’t keep doing it. But when you have access to lessons, clinics, a support community… that changes everything. With Break The Love, you can also find someone to play tennis with that is on the same level as you. It really allows us to propagate more of the sport.”

4. Court Rental ($35-$50 per hour)

And lastly we offer court rentals at our Upper East Side (NY) and Oakbrook (IL) locations. Both of these sites are home to full size pickleball courts.

“Maybe you're new to pickleball and you don't want to go out on the court where it's packed,” explained Pelton. “So being able to rent the space for an hour with a couple of your friends and play in the low stakes environment probably feels really good.”

For $50 in NYC and $35 in Chicago, you can rent our pickleball courts and experience the game with friends in a low stakes environment. Our pricing is intentionally below the industry standard in these communities to encourage more people to take advantage.

Find the sign up links below:

• NYC
• Chicago

We hope you'll stop by one of our stores to playtest some equipment, sign up for our free programming or maybe even rent a racket for the weekend!

Updated March 7, 2023