The Sneaky Reason Five-a-Side Courts Are Booked Solid Until September (It's Not Just the World Cup)
Something else is filling those 10 p.m. slots, and gym owners saw it coming.
Try booking a five-a-side court in any major American city right now. Go ahead. The next open prime-time slot is somewhere in September, and the World Cup only explains half of it.
The other half: companies quietly replacing happy hours with court rentals. HR departments discovered that an hour of small-sided soccer does what two hours of awkward drinks never could.
The format is accidentally perfect for coworkers. Small teams mean nobody hides, constant scoring means nobody sulks, and the skill ceiling is low enough that the intern and the VP are genuinely equals for an hour.
Court owners are adding lights, leagues, and 6 a.m. slots as fast as they can pour turf. The World Cup lit the match, but the office soccer boom is the part that isn't going away.
