Former sports journalist Lee McLaughlan has launched Sweetspot Communications – a public relations business for padel.
McLaughlan will bring more than 20 years of sports journalism and PR experience to padel as the sport grows at an immense pace across the world, with an estimated 25 million players in 110 countries. The industry was valued last year at $327m.
McLaughlan believes his experience as a sports journalist covering major tournaments and engaging with players, coaches and clubs, combined with a decade of experience working with the UK-based Professional Golfers’ Association, will bring a new dimension to padel’s PR and communications, helping to showcase and promote the sport’s stakeholders to a wider audience.
He said: “This is PR for the padel revolution. This year has seen lots of developments with new clubs, courts, players and leagues starting around the world as padel continues to expand.
“However, from talks I have had with people in padel, public relations hasn’t kept pace and hasn’t been a main priority. However, with the expansion, more investors and more businesses are entering the padel sector so that does appear to be changing. Given that, I’m here to deliver high performance PR to the sport.”
He added: “It’s a return to my sporting roots having worked on a freelance basis across a range of sectors. I think this will be beneficial to padel as I can use this experience and knowledge to take the sport to a new audience.
“I’ll be bringing experience from a decade working in golf, where I proactively promoted the game, raised the profile of its experts and stakeholders to a wider audience, which is what padel needs.
“I also bring more than a decade of journalism experience in print and radio covering major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup, The Ryder Cup and Wimbledon, as well interviewing some of the biggest names in football, golf and tennis.”
McLaughlan, was a sports reporter for the Birmingham Post & Mail, The Coventry Telegraph, Shropshire Star as well as football commentator for two Midlands radio stations, prior to joining the PGA.
For more information go to sweetspotcommunications.co.uk or connect on LinkedIn and Instagram.
