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New app serves reservations to 700 sports courts across Houston

Drop Shots HTX is one of the facilities Houstonians can book through CatchCorner.

Photo by Abante Photography

Indoor sports like pickleball and futsal are seeing a spike in popularity, especially during the blistering summer heat. The sports center booking app CatchCorner, powered by Sports Illustrated, enables users to seamlessly secure a spot for a quick game without membership fees. It soft launched in Houston this spring and, according to co-founder and chief operating officer Maya Azouri, has been a huge success.

"The Houston expansion has been jaw-dropping," she says. "Up until now, CatchCorner’s launch in New York City had been our most successful market, but Houston has launched on par with it. Over the last 30 days, we’ve already seen over 30,000 users join the app. There are more than 70 venues in the process of launching, meaning we’ll have around 700 unique recreational spaces users can choose from in the city. There’s a real sports culture here, with athletes of all levels from casual weekend players to competitive amateurs and even pros. The diversity of the sports community, combined with the number of high-quality facilities across the city, makes it a perfect fit for CatchCorner."

Currently, CatchCorner in Houston offers bookings for basketball, volleyball, soccer, pickleball, padel, baseball, and badminton, with plans to include tennis, golf simulators, and ice rink sports soon. So far, the most popular sports are basketball, soccer, volleyball and pickleball. The Zone Sports, Toros HTX, PAC Gym and Houston Pickleball Center are among the most popular venues.

Using the app is a snap. Once you pick your sport, venues with available slots are listed including distance from you with the booking schedules in the results so there are no surprises. The slots can go fast, so occasional error messages pop up when trying to book, but it's otherwise a three-click process. CatchCorner also helpfully includes a picture of the facilities while booking in case you want to get the vibes.

CatchCorner announced Google integration in June that lets users book through the app directly from searches when they look up specific venues. This is slightly less intuitive to use than the app, but does ultimately work in both mobile and desktops versions. Either way, it greatly streamlines the booking process for people who just want to schedule a quick pickup game somewhere.

"It’s especially useful for casual players or people who want to organize something on short notice," says Azouri. "Whether it’s a weekend basketball run, a weekday futsal match, or a spontaneous pickleball game with friends, CatchCorner makes it easy to coordinate without the usual logistical headaches. Some feedback here has been that we’re like 'Expedia for sports.' It’s because booking a flight online is that easy, booking your next game or workout should be just as simple."

innovation begins here

Texas booms as 3rd best state for starting a business in 2026

Texas is chugging along as an innovative state.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

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High employment growth and advantageous entrepreneurship rates have led Texas into a triumphant No. 3 spot in WalletHub's just-released ranking of "Best and Worst States to Start a Business" for 2026.

Texas bounced back into the No. 3 spot nationally for the first time since 2023. After dropping into 8th place in 2024, the state hustled into No. 4 last year.

Ever year, WalletHub compares all 50 states based on their business environment, costs, and access to financial resources to determine the best places for starting a business. The study analyzes 25 relevant metrics to determine the rankings, such as labor costs, office space affordability, financial accessibility, the number of startups per capita, and more.

When about half of all new businesses don't last more than five years, finding the right environment for a startup is vital for long-term success, the report says.

Here's how Texas ranked across the three main categories in the study:

No. 1 – Business environment
No. 11 – Access to resources
No. 34 – Business costs

The state boasts the 10th highest entrepreneurship rates nationwide, and it has the 11th-highest share of fast-growing firms. WalletHub also noted that more than half (53 percent) of all Texas businesses are located in "strong clusters," which suggests they are more likely to be successful long-term.

"Clusters are interconnected businesses that specialize in the same field, and 'strong clusters' are ones that are in the top 25 percent of all regions for their particular specialization," the report said. "If businesses fit into one of these clusters, they will have an easier time getting the materials they need, and can tap into an existing customer base. To some degree, it might mean more competition, though."

Texas business owners should also keep their eye on Houston, which was recently ranked the 7th best U.S. city for starting a new business, and it was dubbed one of the top-10 tech hubs in North America. Workers in Texas are the "third-most engaged" in the country, the study added, a promising attribute for employers searching for the right place to begin their next business venture.

"Business owners in Texas benefit from favorable conditions, as the state has the third-highest growth in working-age population and the third-highest employment growth in the country, too," the report said.

The top 10 best states for starting a business in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Florida
No. 2 – Utah
No. 3 – Texas
No. 4 – Oklahoma
No. 5 – Idaho
No. 6 – Mississippi
No. 7 – Georgia
No. 8 – Indiana
No. 9 – Nevada
No. 10 – California

innnovation texas wallethub rankings best states business