Ryan Whitfill

Ryan’s unique talents and skills will support Kingdom Franchisees by providing legal guidance and counsel.

Ryan Whitfill is our outside legal counsel. He is a Partner and the Chair of the Franchise Practice Group at the law firm of Culhane Meadows, PLLC, and has been designated as a “Legal Eagle” by Franchise Times Magazine each year since 2017.

Over the past 20+ years, Ryan has established himself as a widely respected franchise attorney with years of experience and extensive knowledge gained through counseling and guiding clients throughout every aspect of franchise law compliance, ranging from establishment and development of new franchise concepts to the management, growth and evolution of large national and international franchise brands.  

Throughout his career with the leading franchise law practices at some of the largest law firms in the world, Ryan has developed his skills and knowledge working on complex legal questions and high-level franchise matters for national and international franchisors, franchisees, licensors, distributors, master franchisees and area developers. His experience includes advising and assisting clients in all legal aspects of structuring, operating, and growing their franchise systems in compliance with U.S. and international franchise registration and disclosure laws, as well as state franchise relationship laws.

Ryan Whitfill

Ace Rodrigues

Founder and CEO

When asked how he came up with the concept of Pickleball Kingdom, Ace likes to say, “On a windy, dirty court while standing in the sun waiting to play on January 9, 2021, I said out loud, ‘There has to be a better way.’ And then God threw this lightning bolt of a mission into my heart that has lit my brain on fire, and it’s been blazing ever since.”  

And the pickleball world has been better for it. Ace’s past experiences founding companies, scaling growth, and creating support networks, primarily in the financial services and energy efficiency sectors, serves him well in setting the go-forward vision to build Pickleball Kingdom.   

Having developed and coined numerous concepts and phrases that are now industry standards, Ace’s innovative approach continues to craft the path for not only the Kingdom brand, but the greater indoor pickleball industry itself. The creation of “Pickleball Paddle Battle,” a competition reality show is one such example of Ace’s leading-edge thinking.  

Originally from Hawaii, Ace has been married to Tracy for over 30 years and they have 2 children and 2 grandchildren. Ace and Tracy love sports, movies, and eating out. 

What motivates him? “I’m the most blessed man on the planet. So, my drive is to create Kings and Queens of Kingdoms, which are our franchisees, first throughout America, then throughout the world.”