It’s curling’s time to shine, as the Winter Olympics standout — chess on ice! – is once again hitting the airwaves. Its year-round fans hope to capitalize on the sport’s prime time placement and grow membership in the 170 clubs across the United States, according to USA Curling. The governing body sees what’s happened for pickleball and wants some of that for curling; the most athletically challenging element of the game is throwing the stone, and the sport can be easy on beginners. The issue is that it’s easy to turn a tennis court into a pickleball court with an extra set of painted lines, while curling needs to compete against hockey and figure skating for ice time on rinks that don’t even feature the pebbled ice that the sport demands. That said, many clubs have begun to secure exclusive ice: about 90 of the 170 member clubs use a curling-only venue.
Chris Gallagher, Bloomberg
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