What an air dome actually costs, all in
New vs used, line by line, written by someone selling one. Every number below is either from the Arizon documents for this dome or from a named public source.
A new sports dome is usually a seven-figure project. Sports Venue Calculator puts complete pickleball dome projects at $1.0 million to $2.6 million and tennis at $1.4 million to $2.9 million, and prices the cover and inner membrane alone at roughly $25 to $50 per square foot. On a 7,080 sq ft dome that rate works out to $177,000 to $354,000 for fabric before any inflation equipment, doors, lights or floor. A complete used package changes the math, but the site work, heat and engineering cost the same whether the dome is new or used.
The two numbers people mix up
When someone asks what an air dome costs, they usually mean one of two things: what the dome package costs, or what the whole project costs to open the doors. The gap between them is large, and most of the surprises live in it.
The dome package is the fabric envelope plus everything that makes it a building: the inflation unit, doors, lighting, the electrical panel and the floor. The project adds freight, engineering, the foundation or anchors, utilities, heat, permits and labor. A used dome only discounts the first number.
Line by line, for a 60 x 118 dome
This is every cost line on a dome this size, using our own listing as the example. Where we know the number, it is here. Where it depends on your site, we say so rather than guess.
| Cost line | This dome | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dome package | $80,000 | Fabric, Fizer 24-2 inflation unit with propane backup engine, airlock and emergency doors, lighting and cable kit, standing electrical panel, rubber floor for the full 7,080 sq ft, and the Arizon documents. |
| Freight | Quote by distance | Everything ships in one 40' high-cube container from near Amarillo, Texas. Get a container freight quote to your site. |
| Engineering | Quote locally | Stamped structural and mechanical drawings for your site's wind and snow loads. The original Arizon engineering gives your engineer a starting point. |
| Foundation or anchors | Site dependent | This dome was designed for a perimeter cable tied to helical earth anchors at 6' on center. An existing slab your engineer approves can remove the biggest line in the budget. See the foundation guide. |
| Power service | Site dependent | The original drawings call for 208V three-phase service at the mechanical pad. |
| Propane tank and fuel line | Site dependent | Feeds the backup engine, and your heater if it runs on propane. Tank not included. |
| Heat and cooling | Not included | The original Trane unit, sold separately, supplied 640 MBH of heat and 50 tons of cooling. Use that as a sizing reference, not a requirement. |
| Install labor | 7 to 12 working days | On-site erection after the pad is ready, plus a licensed electrician and gas fitter. |
| Permits and inspection | Local fees | Air-supported structures up for 180 days or more fall under IBC Section 3102. |
Everything above for this dome comes from the Arizon documents and our own records. Confirm anything you are relying on against the documents, the physical equipment and your own engineer.
What a new dome costs by comparison
New air domes are built to order, so the price follows the size, fabric and options you pick. The public reference most buyers find is Sports Venue Calculator, which lists these complete project ranges:
| Sport | Complete project range |
|---|---|
| Pickleball | $1.0M to $2.6M |
| Tennis | $1.4M to $2.9M |
| Golf or driving range | $2.0M to $3.4M |
| Soccer | $2.1M to $4.2M |
Those figures are for multi-court facilities much larger than one 7,080 sq ft dome, and they include foundation, flooring, lighting and amenities. The more useful number for a small dome is their fabric rate of about $25 to $50 per sq ft for the cover and inner membrane. Multiply that by your floor area to see what the envelope alone would run new.
What it costs to run
The blower runs around the clock, which is the cost people forget. Arizon's energy estimate for this building puts the inflation fans at about 12,200 kWh a year, roughly $1,220 at 10 cents per kWh, and the lighting at about $450 a year running six hours a day.
Heat is the real bill in a cold climate, and it depends entirely on where you are and how warm you keep it. Sports Venue Calculator's rough all-in operating estimate is $3 to $6 per sq ft per year, which would be about $21,000 to $42,000 a year at 7,080 sq ft. Treat that as a planning range, not a quote.
Quotes to get before you buy any dome
- Container freight from the dome's location to your site.
- A local structural engineer's fee to review the original engineering and stamp drawings for your wind and snow loads.
- Foundation or anchor pricing, which starts with a soil report.
- Your utility's cost to bring three-phase power to the pad, if it is not already there.
- A heater sized for your climate, plus cooling if you will run through a hot summer.
- Your building department's permit fees and timeline.
Those six quotes decide your real number. Once you have them, the dome price is the easy part to compare.
Sources
- Sports Venue Calculator, sports dome cost guide, accessed October 10, 2026: project ranges by sport, $25 to $50 per sq ft membrane rate, $3 to $6 per sq ft annual operating estimate.
- Arizon engineering submittal and installation, operation and maintenance manual for sales order A10324 (both linked from the listing page): package contents, power and fuel, original HVAC capacity, energy estimate, anchorage design.
- International Building Code 2021, Chapter 31, Section 3102 Membrane Structures, published by the International Code Council.