Latest news with #padel
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
The incredible numbers behind the world's fastest growing sport: New study shows why everyone is talking about padel
Padel has taken the world by storm over the past few years and a new study has revealed the staggering numbers which demonstrate its rise in popularity. The sport, typically played in doubles on a smaller court enclosed by glass - was invented by a Mexican businessman in the 1960s. It has now garnered the title of the planet's 'fastest growing sport' with a meteoric rise in recent times. Playtomic's 2025 Global Padel Report, which is widely referred to as 'the Bible of Padel' has highlighted the continued international rise and impact of the sport. 3,282 new clubs opened worldwide in 2024 at an average on almost nine new openings a day (a 22% increase from 2023). 7,187 new courts were built which put the total number of courts worldwide above 50,000. The 26 per cent year-over-year growth in clubs and 17 per cent growth is reflective of a sport that has now made its way into the mainstream. And it is only expected to continue picking up pace with more than 81,000 padel courts are expected to be built by 2027. Unsurprisingly, international investors are flocking to padel, including several famous faces. Andy Murray backs Game4Padel, a padel court building company which is bringing the sport to Westfield London, and Cristiano Ronaldo has put money into a giant facility in Lisbon. Padel was recognised by the International Olympic Committee in 2019, was officially designated a discipline of tennis in Britain in 2020. It was played at the European Games in Poland in 2023, in its first appearance in a major multi-sport event, and the annual Hexagon Cup - a visionary competition held in Madrid played between teams helmed by celebrities including Lionel Messi and Andy Murray - held its draft for the February 2025 tournament at the start of last month. PwC's Head of the Global Padel Report, Elena Martin mentioned: 'We are delighted to see that the sector has returned to a path of organic and sustainable growth, following the post-COVID activity surge and the adjustments made in 2023. 'With over 50,000 leads currently, development remains strong, particularly in key markets such as France and the United Kingdom. Our projections suggest that this growth momentum will continue in the years ahead.'
Times
a day ago
- Business
- Times
Padel is the UK's new obsession. Meet the companies making it happen
Like many of the UK's growing ranks of padel devotees, Sammy Arora, 24, was hooked from his first swing of the racket. It was seven years ago, and he was sharing a court with his family, 'who hadn't really played sports before' but still managed a decent rally. As the Aroras found, padel is easy to pick up, regardless of age or fitness. Often described as tennis with walls — which the ball can bounce off — it is the UK's fastest-growing sport. It wasn't until Arora's university days in Durham, where he wrote his dissertation on the potential growth of padel, that he began to mould his passion for the sport into a business idea. 'I spoke to my dad and he said, 'It's a great opportunity, you've got to do it.'' • Explore the Sunday Times 100 — interviews, company profiles and more His father, Bobby Arora, knows a good business opportunity when he sees one: he is a multimillionaire who made his fortune from building the budget retailer B&M. He put up the majority of the £450,000 Sammy needed to open his first Pure Padel club in Cheshire, with three courts and a shop. 'I managed to balance my last year of uni and starting the business', Arora says. 'My first site opened in October 2023, about five months after I graduated.' Now, just over two years since sitting his finals (he got a 2:1), Arora is among the entrepreneurs feeding the craze for padel in the UK. It has drawn 400,000 players at last count, David Beckham and Stormzy among them. The Lawn Tennis Association, the sport's governing body, says there are now 893 padel courts at 300 venues across Britain. These courts can be indoors, often in converted warehouses; or outdoors, either exposed to the elements or covered by a giant canopy. Arora is hedging his bets and creating a mix because 'no one really knows' which will prove the most popular in the long run. Pure Padel now has five clubs, with another seven planned this year. His father continues to finance the business, having so far invested £1.4 million together with other friends and family, some of whom also assist in running the venture. Sammy's uncle, Simon Arora, B&M's former chief executive, is 'helping on the legal leases and land deals'. Paul McDonald, the retailer's former chief financial officer, is 'helping with the company finances'. • The No 1 networking spot now? The padel court The result, so far, has been sales of £1.6 million in the eight months to the end of March 2025. The young company hasn't yet achieved the propulsion to make it on to the main Sunday Times 100 table. But it is one of a growing number of padel startups — our Ones to Watch — that have flourished in parallel with padel's growth in the UK. When Michael Gradon started another of our promising future stars, the club operator Game4Padel, in 2019 'most people hadn't even heard of the sport' and thought it was a 'mad idea', he says. But Gradon, 66, had already caught the bug, having played padel in Spain, home to 5.5 million players. 'We managed to persuade Andy Murray to come in as a small investor,' says Gradon, a former Wimbledon board member. Other investors, including the footballers Virgil van Dijk and Jamie Vardy, have since handed the business more than £10 million, for a valuation of £27 million. Game4Padel now runs 21 padel clubs in the UK and four overseas, and generated sales of £2.4 million last year. It plans to open about ten more clubs this year, but Gradon notes the UK is still far behind countries like Spain. 'We're still in the very early stages of the boom,' he says. Operators including Game4Padel sometimes pair their padel offering with pickleball, another fast-growing racket sport, played on a smaller court with a slower ball. But whereas padel courts can cost about £160,000 to build when an overhead canopy is included, a tennis court — or even indoor badminton courts — can be easily converted to pickleball. It just requires a lower net and some lines, meaning local groups of players can improvise with existing facilities. Yet finding business success with padel isn't easy. As well as the expense of building courts, planning permission and building regulations can mean projects take years to bring to fruition. Then there is the noise: complaints from nearby residents about the noise of hard shots add to the challenges of site selection. But that hasn't stopped enthusiasts rushing headlong into the market. Gradon likens it to a 'gold rush'. Paul Regan, whose company, Pro Padel Courts, has six years' experience in installing courts, says clueless construction companies are flooding the market, some of which 'cut corners on groundworks which fail, and courts have fallen down'. A serial entrepreneur, Regan expects his company to build about 100 courts this year, almost doubling its present tally. He thinks this will lift sales beyond the £900,000 his company served up in the 12 months to February. Regan, who is also a former tennis coach, is in little doubt that padel will 'overtake tennis very quickly' in the UK. Part of the appeal is the social aspect of the game. Operators like Pure Padel and The Padel Club are opening bars and cafés alongside courts. Also, as Arora says, compared with sports like tennis, 'it's a lot more informal, you can wear trackie bottoms'. • Meet the padel addicts spending £100 a week Pure Padel, Game4Padel and the like — others among our Ones to Watch include Padel4All and Smash Padel — are up against more established businesses that have turned their attention to the sport. Slazenger Padel Clubs, backed by Frasers Group, and the five-a-side football provider Powerleague are spending millions to roll out courts. Foreign operators are making inroads too. The Denmark-headquartered Rocket has four clubs in the UK, having sold its suite of clubs in Sweden and Norway to focus on the UK market. The race is on to spread padel across the UK, and profit from the fruits of its popularity. But for now padel entrepreneurs see no end in sight to Britain's appetite for the game.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Padel moves into the sporting mainstream
MADRID: Playtomic, the world's largest community of racquet sport players and clubs, and PwC's Business Strategy Consulting arm, Strategy&, have released the Playtomic 2025 Global Padel Report, widely referred to as the 'Bible of Padel.' For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport This report offers the most comprehensive look at the continued international rise and impact of padel, the world's fastest-growing sport. In 2024 alone, 3,282 new clubs opened worldwide, averaging nearly nine new clubs per day (a 22% increase from 2023), and 7,187 new courts were built pushing the global total past 50,000. This 26% year-over-year growth in clubs and 17% growth in courts reflects a sport that is not only scaling rapidly but maturing sustainably and entering mainstream society. The sport's growth is not expected to slow down anytime soon either as more than 81,000 padel courts are expected to be built by 2027. Playtomic Co-Founder and CCO, Pablo Carro said: 'With a new court opening every two and a half hours worldwide, padel has finally joined the top table of the world's sporting elite.' Key Findings from the 2025 Report Global Growth Surge: Padel is now established in over 90 countries, with high-growth markets including Portugal, the Netherlands, U.S., UK, UAE, Mexico, India and Indonesia. Tech-Driven Success: Padel clubs using digital tools like Playtomic's platform are outperforming competitors by 3-5x, showing how data and smart booking are supercharging padel's global ecosystem. The 'Sticky Sport': Once people try padel, they're hooked. With a 92% return rate, padel boasts an incredibly high return rate after just one session, driven by its accessibility, social nature and addictive gameplay. Pickleball Parallels: While often compared, the two sports are increasingly coexisting with 30% of U.S. pickleball venues now offering padel courts––a significant shift from 12 months ago. Olympic Ambitions: With backing from the International Padel Federation (FIP), 2025 is a pivotal year for padel's push toward inclusion in the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games. Playtomic Managing Director Antonio Robert Aragones said: "Padel isn't just gaining popularity, it's driving a global movement. This report doesn't just reflect the sport's growth; it helps guide it. Positioned at the heart of padel's global ecosystem, we offer an unmatched perspective through our data, technology and deep connection to the community.' PwC's Head of the Global Padel Report, Elena Martin mentioned: 'We are delighted to see that the sector has returned to a path of organic and sustainable growth, following the post-COVID activity surge and the adjustments made in 2023. With over 50,000 leads currently, development remains strong, particularly in key markets such as France and the United Kingdom. Our projections suggest that this growth momentum will continue in the years ahead.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Dr Tom Naylor's tips for Tendonitis
Here's everything you need to know about managing your Tendonitis:Tendonitis is when a tendon swells (becomes inflamed) after an injury. It can cause joint pain and stiffness, and affect how a tendon may hear medical professionals refer to tendon issues as 'Tendinopathy', and that includes the early painful inflammatory stages known as Tendonitis, but also the later, niggling, annoying pains that are more difficult to are four places where we see it most often: the Elbow, Achilles, knees, and elbow - excessive strain and repetition in wrist extensor tendons, causes irritating and often quite debilitating pain around the lateral side of the elbow (think a "back-hand" movement).Golfer's elbow - the same, but on the opposite side of the elbow, from strain in wrist flexor tendonsAchilles tendonitis - from pushing off and lunging. Very common movement in padel, also common to get from runningPatellar tendonitis - from squatting, jumping and lunging external is a link to some more information on treating Tendonitis. Here, external is a link to some stretches to help manage Achilles Tendinopathy. Here, external is a link to some stretches to help with Tennis Elbow.
Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Times
Anger at plan to convert Olympic Park tennis courts to padel
Indoor courts at the Olympic tennis centre are set to be replaced by padel courts, prompting a backlash from 'extremely livid' local residents and wheelchair tennis players. The Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre informed members by email on Tuesday that it was converting its indoor hall of four tennis courts into seven double and two single padel courts to 'grow participation across all ages'. The email said that the centre was planning for work to begin this summer and finish by the autumn, with scheduled courses moved to its six remaining outdoor courts. However, within two days 650 locals had signed a petition calling for a reversal of the decision, which has been labelled 'disappointing' by the Lawn Tennis Association less than a week before Wimbledon. The petition was started by James Labous, a father of two from Walthamstow, east London, who has been playing tennis there for ten years. 'Indoor courts are actually vital for the tennis infrastructure in this country, considering our climate,' he said. • How padel fever is making a racket all over Ireland 'There aren't enough indoor courts in the country and that's probably why the sport isn't played all year round and partly why we're not developing the players we should be. This facility is a jewel and it's going to be lost.' The centre in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was purpose-built for the 2012 Paralympics — the Olympic tennis was hosted at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon — and opened to the public in 2014 after a £30 million renovation. The indoor courts, Labous said, are rarely available to book on weekday evenings due to their popularity, with sessions for university groups and some 'really promising juniors'. He said regular players at the centre were 'all extremely livid'. 'It's an Olympic legacy site, it's state-of-the-art, it's a wheelchair-accessible centre,' he said, 'There was no consultation with the users of the centre. They're clearly trying to push this through really quickly.' Labous described the pay-as-you-go courts as inclusive, unlike several 'stuffy tennis clubs' in the country, adding that the year-round coaching was good value. He questioned why the centre could not redevelop other spaces, such as one of two car parks. Manoj Soma, the founder of Choice International UK, a disability equality charity, has been coaching and managing wheelchair tennis sessions at Lee Valley every Sunday for almost five years. 'I was extremely disappointed, because this was one of the only fully accessible, disabled-friendly venues in east London,' he said of the decision. Although he welcomed the opportunity for disabled people to try padel, he said: 'Wheelchair tennis is one of the paralympic sports — not padel as far as I am aware.' Soma said he had not been consulted about the change. He questioned why the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA), which owns the centre, had not proposed converting only some of the indoor courts or even creating outdoor padel spaces. • Andy Murray to get a statue at Wimbledon The LVRPA, a public authority part-funded by a council tax levy, did not hold a public consultation before announcing the plans, which will cost £490,347. Shaun Dawson, chief executive of the LVRPA, said that the Better leisure centre group, which operates the facility, had originally come to him with a proposal for padel courts. He said the LVRPA had rejected an earlier 'hybrid' proposal to retain some of the indoor tennis courts due to volume levels of padel alongside tennis. He said that they did not consider building a new structure on the site as it was designated Metropolitan Open Land, making planning approval more difficult. 'We want to make it far busier, more inclusive, more accessible in terms of different sports, and clearly there's a bottom-line dimension to that as well: more footfall makes the venue more viable and sustainable in the long term,' Dawson said. There will be nine padel courts, which he said would be available to rent for a 'similar price' to the four current courts, which were recently increased to £30 an hour. 'This isn't about running down tennis, it's about diversifying the offer,' he added. 'Padel is exploding in popularity. It's a smaller racket, it's just an easier game to play for more people. 'The Olympic legacy evolves, it doesn't stand still. We need to respond to trends and that's what we're doing.' A Lawn Tennis Association spokesman said: 'These plans are particularly disappointing as the LTA and Tennis Foundation invested half a million pounds in the original tennis facility and we understand the indoor tennis courts are heavily used. 'The data cited by LVRPA on tennis participation is incorrect. We will be engaging with the LVRPA and the operator GLL [Better] to encourage them to consider other options that can see both tennis and padel played on site.'
