The business of padel | FT Scoreboard

Padel has emerged from the pandemic as one of the world's fastest growing sports. The FT speaks to investors, players and coaches, to see why money is pouring into the upstart racket sport
#padel #sport #sports #racketsports
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[@JanitorIsBack]

1000 times better than pickleball

[@EmperorsNewWardrobe]

Why? And how much pickleball have you played?

[@luisjara4398]

@@EmperorsNewWardrobewhy? Just look at two games and compare them… you will notice the difference of fun

[@youngsuit]

the problem is that pickleball is much more accessible though

[@acsw1984]

Padel is fantastic! It's a little hard on the knees, so a good warm-up is recommended, but anybody can play - from 5 to 95 years old! Also, having a few cañas afterwards is mostly what it's all about.

[@Eric-rf6te]

Padel shouldn't be hard on the knees. Avoind playing in clubs where they use surfaces withe little sand, and curly haired carpets. Those will kill your knees, hips and ankles, and will be realy taxing on muscles and tendons. They're even more abbrassive than cement, and cement is already bad for your joints and tendons. If you can't see the sand on the court, don't play on them. Please consult a specialist who treats tennis and padel players and follow their advice. Where I play there are 8 normal courts (with sand) and one "professional surface" court (little sand, you don't see it). No one wants to play in this last one, as they'll get injured.

[@superhans8668]

@@Eric-rf6tereally? I’ve played on a lot of non sandy courts and have coincidentally got issues with knees and my leg.

[@Eric-rf6te]

@@superhans8668 Yeah, the problem with hard surfaces, like cement, and these new padel surfaces with little sand is not so much "impact", but their abbrassive nature. The sudden and fast change in direction in sports like tennis, padel, basketball, pickelball, etc. is bad for your joints. Young people, or trained people, won't feel it at first. But you'll see them with knee, and hip issues at 40. IMHO these new padel surfaces, with curly hair and little sand are even more abbrasive than cement (I played quite a bit in cement); your foot is like stuck to the surface, that's really bad. If you value your joint health, play tennis in clay surfaces, and padel in courts with straight hair and sand, where your feet can slide. If you don't have this option don't play, or if you REALLY want to play and there's no good courts, first strengthen your legs at the gym for a few months, and play on the ball of your feet, especially when pivoting on defence. And don't play with padel shoes designed for sand. They're made to avoid slippery in sandy courts. Consult any sports medical speciallist who treats tennis players. This is 101 knowledge.

[@Muzakman37]

This is everywhere in Spain and has been for years.

[@kelvinlockwood8390]

and Portugal

[@Lay...]

Padel needs to be accessible to be successful in emerging markets. That means cost of entry should be as low as possible. In Spain there are many padel centres in every City so the cost of entry is low. You can play padel 4 or 5 times a week for 20-30 euros. The prices I've seen in the UK are pretty crazy so far with £15-20 for one match in some places. Padel Centers should reduce their prices after breaking even.

[@jbelisario001]

I wish in the US "pretty crazy" was $15-$20...in miami it's ~$100 for 4 people and in New York it's like $300 at one club....

[@Bonifacio2A]

in paris is 20-25€ per person per hour

[@lebbeus]

Thumbs up if you think some Americans are gonna comment something about pickleball 😂

[@MayorSom]

It'd imagine this is right up the alley of 00s Canary Wharf bankers and the £10 cereal bowl Shoreditch crowd

[@RBC0405]

Hipsters?! 😂😂

[@MayorSom]

@@RBC0405yes 😅

[@juandenz2008]

It looks like a fun sport. It will be interesting to see how the market evolves over the next few years. Pickleball is also taking off and it would seem to be a cheaper option as existing tennis courts can be easily adapted. POP tennis (which used to be called Paddle Tennis) doesn't seem to have participated in this recent surge in popularity of similar sports.

[@rodrigos7070]

I don't think pickleball is growing outside of the US.

[@user54840]

@@rodrigos7070 yeah no one in europe plays pickelball, its mainly padel/racketball

[@jaysontang]

the cost of playing padle compared to pickleball is much higher, I'm sure it will take off as fast

[@Eric-rf6te]

To new padel club owners and investors (from a seasoned padel player): When selecting court surfaces, consider player safety over professional tour standards. The professional circuit's preference for less-sand, curly-haired surfaces aims to enhance TV broadcast quality, not player comfort or safety. This choice has led to a higher injury rate, a trend observed with hard surfaces in Argentina, which caused significant player injuries. In contrast, Spain's adoption of straight-haired carpets with more sand has successfully reduced injuries, proving safer for players. New clubs in the US and some European countries are making the mistake of prioritizing appearance over safety, following professional standards unsuitable for amateur play. Learn from these experiences: consult sports medicine experts and choose surfaces that protect your players' health. Prioritizing safety ensures the longevity of your players, your club, and the sport as a whole.

[@nicolaceresoli1377]

Correct! Safety must be the first priority for everybody! That’s why companies like NXPadel exist. They manufacture next-gen courts with unbreakable glasses (ComfortGlass) and Fiberglass structure (elastic and shock-absorbing) and even the first ever padel turf with 0kg of sand 😮 @nxpadel

[@elmori616]

This sport was very popular on the 90's in Argentina... but it has actually stopped growing in the Last 20 years.

[@padelfyi]

not in europe

[@cole3835]

Why has it stopped growing?

[@gregvanpaassen]

Whoopee.

[@gasperm3]

How is this different than platform tennis that's played in the northeast? Other than the ball bouncing differently and being a cold weather sport they look identical

[@user54840]

platform tennis has a difference surface, different bats, different walls and different court size. the court in padel is taken up by the entire floor, whereas platform tennis has an out, even if the ball hits the ground first.

[@gasperm3]

@@user54840Ok, but overall it's the same concept minus a couple minor rules. Appears to me like they copied paddle.

[@Jabberstax]

Remember when squash was the next big sport in the 80s? Yeah this'll go the same way.

[@alfredtomey]

No, it won’t. There are hundreds of thousands regular players across Europe, and many more in South America. Padel is growing fast in France, Sweden, Italy and Portugal. It’s the second most popular sport in Spain and Argentina, right after football. It’s a very fun sport to play and watch (which has never been the case with squash). Search for World Padel Tour and get amazed by the highlights of any of the professional tournaments played in the last year

[@Mauruud]

squash is much more one dimesional i feel

[@hansklok3564]

Here “the netherlands”, squash is fairly popular. Just very little people actually compete or play the game competitively, sort of like table tennis.

[@dk2373]

Completely different game. Squash beginners can't even get a ball warm to have a proper hit. Padel, like pickle, has a very low barrier to entry.

[@Tjamp]

very very very bad take. you obviously havnt tried Padel. Its much more like tennis than sqush. An easier way of playing tennis. How popular is tennis, sherlock?

[@fintamaria2429]

😂😂😂😂

[@hallockstuart7899]

pickelball, padel, squash, tennis, ping pong. It's too much! make up your mind

[@leondarcy7367]

nature loves diversity

[@jumping438]

Wait i thought pickleball was the hot thing

[@AustinConlon]

In the U.S. it is.

Only in the U.S.

[@jibrandoesthings]

3 pickleball courts at the big tennis facility (lyttos beach tennis academy) in. Crete, Greece. i used to think pickleball was also only popular in the US, but business people across the world see the opportunity in it

[@EmperorsNewWardrobe]

Pickleball has far more potential than padel. Virtually no cost building courts and 4 courts per tennis court. Incredibly beginner friendly but skilful enough for pros to compete intensely

[@frane1201]

All great, but padel is faster and more entertaining, at least for younger and mid-age population.

[@sergioar6516]

Is super boring pickeball, I can’t watch even 10 seconds

[@sdsaints4559]

Nah . Pickleball is cool ... mainly for older people ... But padel is far more entretaining and the potencial in a sport comes from how entertaining can be .

[@EmperorsNewWardrobe]

@@sergioar6516 sure, it’s less entertaining to watch but way easier to participate in

[@bagpussmacfarlan9008]

Pickleball is like a toy sport, just a pass time

[@03anish03]

Everything sucks in front of Tennis. Table Tennis and Badminton are the next best racket sports imo.