What is peak and off-peak court pricing?

It means charging more when demand is high (usually weekday evenings and weekends) and less when courts sit empty (often weekday mornings). Smash helps you set those windows as rules on top of a sport base rate.

How do I set dynamic court pricing without rewriting every booking?

Smash helps you set a base sport rate and time-based rules once. Players see the resolved price on the slot; staff do not retype it for each reservation.

Should I discount prime time to fill mornings?

Usually no. Keep evening rates firm and lower soft hours instead so you redistribute demand. For programming that fills those hours (mixers, clinics, corporate blocks), see the fill off-peak guide linked in this post.

How do membership discounts relate to peak and off-peak rates?

Smash applies member plan discounts after the court price for that slot. Peak vs off-peak is stage one; the membership is a second layer on the same booking.

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How Should I Price Busy Evenings vs Empty Mornings?

Set peak and off-peak court pricing so busy evenings stay valuable and empty mornings get a rate players will book, without inventing prices in WhatsApp.

Published August 18, 2026 · By Smash Team · 3 min read

Evenings sell themselves. Tuesday at 10:00 does not.

If every court still costs the same all day, you either leave mornings dark or you quietly discount the hours everyone already wants. Peak and off-peak court pricing fixes that: protect busy evenings, give empty mornings a rate someone will book, and stop inventing prices in WhatsApp.

Smash helps club owners set dynamic court pricing once, so players see the right number in the app and your front desk stops negotiating every slot by hand.

Why one flat rate fails

A single daytime rate tries to do two jobs. It underprices Friday at 19:00, so peak demand feels “cheap” and sells out early. It overprices Wednesday at 10:00, so flex-schedule players bounce to another club or stay home.

Off-peak court pricing strategies start with a clear split: firm rates where the calendar is already full, softer rates where courts would otherwise stay dark. You are redistributing demand, not giving away prime inventory.

Set different rates for busy vs quiet hours

Smash helps you start from a sport-wide base rate, then add rules for the windows that should diverge: weekday evenings as peak, weekday mornings as off-peak.

Base sport rate with peak evening and off-peak morning rules

Each rule can carry an hourly fallback and flat prices for the lengths you sell (for example 60 and 90 minutes). Players book the slot; Smash shows the resolved price. Staff do not rebuild the math on every walk-in.

Match price to how long people play

Many clubs sell both hour and 90-minute sessions. Smash helps you set the lengths you allow, then attach session rates so a longer booking has its own total instead of a vague hourly guess.

Allowed session lengths with 60 and 90 minute rates

Keep the story simple for players: morning soft rate, evening peak rate, and a clear total for the length they picked.

Players see the right price on the slot

Once rules are live, Smash shows different prices on the same sport and day. Morning slots reflect the soft window; evening slots reflect peak. That is how you confirm the configuration before players hit the app.

Same-day court slots with lower morning and higher evening prices

In the player app, the same split appears on the booking sheet: quieter hours cheaper, busy hours protected.

Player booking slots with off-peak morning and peak evening prices

Member discounts sit on top

Membership plans are a second layer. Smash applies member discounts after the court price for that slot, so a peak evening still starts from the peak rate, then the plan reduces it. Guests see the full court price.

Member vs guest price on the same peak evening slot

For how plans and roster status work at the desk, see how to sell club memberships without chasing WhatsApp payments.

Price first, then fill the soft hours

Pricing moves demand. Programming fills what price alone cannot. Once mornings have a deliberate rate, use how to fill off-peak court slots for mixers, clinics, and corporate blocks, and how to turn quiet court slots into bookings when you want a heatmap of which windows still need a push.

Ready to set peak and off-peak rates?

Open the Smash Club Dashboard, set a base sport rate, add evening and morning rules, then check the same day in the desk view and the player app. Pair that with club pricing if you are still choosing a plan.