Crosscourt Raises $2M to Turn Basketball Into the Next Big Boutique Fitness Category

Described by its founder as a “SoulCycle or Barry’s for basketball,” Crosscourt is designed to make it easier to play pick-up hoops and build community in the process. The executive chair of Barry’s itself is an investor in the concept.

Charles Seltzer, the CEO and founder of Crosscourt, believes a backdoor cut, an extra man crashing the glass or a dwindling shot clock are the only things basketball players should have to worry about on the court. Finding a place to play that’s fun and easy to use shouldn’t add to their concerns.

It’s an opinion he developed after years spent at the park, often waiting for enough players to show up, others to clear out or even a few tempers to cool just so he could play ball.

“Sometimes there are too many or too few players there,” Seltzer told Athletech News. “There are fights. Even if you have a friend group, to get court time, you need to make a massive group text to see if you have the numbers and figure out who’s coming. Men’s leagues are very hit-and-miss as well, depending on the team and the other players.” 

“I had too many of these experiences that left me wondering how there isn’t a SoulCycle or Barry’s, but for basketball,” he said.

Seltzer could only ponder that thought on the sidelines for so long. In 2018, he launched Crosscourt, a premium basketball fitness club that presents new ways for people to play, train and interact through the game in a boutique-style setting. The concept facilitates pickup games, leagues, skills training and more with high-end, tech-enabled equipment.

After recently closing a $2 million seed funding round led by a group that included NBA All-Star Scottie Barnes and Barry’s executive chairman Joey Gonzalez, the brand is ready to take its shot at making basketball a fixture in fitness, recently announcing plans to launch a second location in Miami. Seltzer says it’s a high-percentage shot, even if few have thought to take it yet. 

Basketball’s Unique Culture Might Be Holding It Back 

Seltzer recognized that while countless fitness-related activities, like running, strength training and HIIT, and other sports, have evolved in the past decade, either through technology, hospitality or because vendors have moved in to meet new consumer demands, basketball has struggled to do the same. Despite being one of the country’s most popular sports, there was no brand out there redefining the sport the way boutique fitness had with so many other concepts, including boxing.

Seltzer couldn’t pinpoint an exact reason why hoops has been dragging its feet, but did mention the customs of pickup basketball as a potentially contributing factor. While that’s helped basketball establish itself as a culturally impactful sport, it doesn’t do much for the game’s general accessibility. 

“Every time you play pickup, there’s someone saying ‘foul’ or ‘no foul,’” Seltzer said. “Now, they’re fighting or someone’s taking the ball and walking around the court until you give them the foul. Even if there’s 40 people waiting, they’re going to hold the whole game up. It’s part of basketball culture, what we’ve come to accept.”

Some people, though, “just want an hour to go play, go home and go on with their life,” he noted.

Changing the Game

You wouldn’t head off to a Pilates studio, hoping there’s exactly nine people there at your specific time of arrival, and knowing that if there aren’t, you might have to wait hours to get your workout in, Seltzer argues. There’d be no patience for arguments and squabbles among attendees that could derail the session, either. You’d book a time beforehand to make sure you can go, participate in an organized class and then leave in a timely manner. 

That’s the system basketball’s been missing, and what Seltzer is building for the sport with Crosscourt. After signing up, members can book hour-long sessions where they’ll partake in different game formats with specific time and substitution parameters to ensure no one ever has to wait more than five minutes between runs. Then, when a game ends, it utilizes custom, in-gym technology to randomly decide who stays on and who takes a break.

“It’s all done in less than 24 seconds,” Seltzer said. “No wasting time. It’s about keeping everything as dialed-in as possible.”

Referees are also present to ensure rules are enforced and games move along as designed. 

An Ideal Spot for Modern Players 

Seltzer’s bet on basketball goes beyond just solving the sport’s enduring pain points as well. Modern fitness consumers continue to seek out communal experiences, and while other concepts have to bake community-building activations into their programming to meet those demands, basketball does it naturally. 

“If we’re on the same team, I have to know your name,” Seltzer said. “How else am I going to pass you the ball? How are you going to pass me the ball? The construct of the actual product lends itself to this social dynamic in a way that’s organic and easy.”

Crosscourt also has additional infrastructure to spur social interaction. Every time a new person signs up, they’re introduced to an existing or new team member. In some cases, Crosscourt will even “play matchmaker” to find new members a team or group to play with that has shared interests. 

“That’s the point of the business,” Seltzer said. “Some people use basketball to get better at basketball. Some people use it to lose weight. Everyone has a different reason and goal, but foundationally, every single person is looking to meet new people in the community.”

In an era where consumers are searching for more holistic health offerings, Crosscourt is also aiming to facilitate more than just basketball. Its new location, scheduled to launch next spring in Miami’s Little River neighborhood, will feature fitness equipment, cold plunges and saunas, as well as food and drink amenities. 

“Miami has everything that we didn’t incorporate in Los Angeles that brings it into a more all-in-one experience where you don’t need another gym membership,” Seltzer said. “You can just go to Crosscourt and lift, play basketball and do all the other things you’d normally do.”

Crosscourt reports its LA site, which only features a court, already hosts over 1,000 visits and features more than 150 organized sessions per month.

Big Plans 

This latest funding round, meant to support the Miami opening, current LA location and youth program, brings Crosscourt’s total capital raised to $4 million. The company also plans to launch a member app this year, which will deliver live stats, highlight reels and a gamified player profile that updates for members with every visit.

Beyond that, Seltzer is targeting additional expansion across the country for the future. No urban market is exempt from consideration.

“The vision is to have Crosscourts throughout the country, in every NBA, WNBA city, and beyond,” Seltzer said. “I don’t think there’s a city, whether it’s Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix or Seattle, that doesn’t have a population of people who’d benefit from the Crosscourt experience…I don’t see why we couldn’t have the same amount of Crosscourts as there are Equinoxes.”