The challenge
Champions Arena runs six courts — four badminton, two squash — plus a pro shop in Scarborough. Booking a court meant phoning during desk hours, and the desk meant one person juggling the phone, walk-ins, and a paper grid taped under plexiglass. Prime evening slots sold out; weekday mornings sat empty because nobody could see they were available.
General manager Jordan Blake did the math on the phone alone: about five hours a week of staff time spent taking bookings, moving bookings, and reading the paper grid aloud to callers.
“Our booking system was a phone, a paper grid, and whoever was on desk. If you called at lunch, engaged tone. That was the business model's front door.”
Jordan Blake
General Manager, Champions Arena
One platform instead of the paper grid
Resource Bookings replaced the grid first — all six courts with peak and off-peak rates, visible live to members. Then Public Bookings opened the same calendar to non-members: anyone can book a court online, pay upfront, and receive a QR pass that scans at the front desk. No account creation ceremony, no phone call, and no-shows fell because prepaid slots get honored.
The empty weekday mornings were the real prize. Once utilization data made the pattern undeniable, the arena added a discounted morning rate and let the open calendar do the selling — weekday utilization climbed from 68% to 91% in four months. The expansion continued from there: the Events module now runs the monthly club tournaments and school holiday camps that used to live in a spreadsheet, with sign-ups and payment in the same place as everything else.
The pro shop moved onto POS along the way, so restrings and grips land on the same customer record as court time — which turned out to matter, because the players who restring most are exactly the ones worth inviting to league night.
“The QR passes ended the check-in shuffle. Book online, scan at the desk, play. A first-time visitor gets on court as fast as a ten-year member.”
Jordan Blake
General Manager, Champions Arena
The results
78% of bookings now happen without staff involvement, mostly outside desk hours — the largest share between 9 and 11 p.m., when players plan tomorrow's game. The five weekly phone hours went back into coaching and running the floor.
Tournament sign-ups doubled once registration became a link instead of a form at the desk, and the holiday camps sold out for the first time. The paper grid is framed in the office, half as a joke.
“The mornings were always sellable — nobody could see them. We went from 68 to 91 percent weekday utilization without adding a single court.”
Jordan Blake
General Manager, Champions Arena
What's next
The arena is adding two pickleball courts this winter — on the booking calendar from day one, with introductory rates targeted at the weekday gaps the data still shows.
Jordan also wants league scheduling running through Events end to end, standings included, so the club's competitive side lives where its bookings already do.