By RJ Mitchell
International Padel Federation president Luigi Carraro has hailed the success of the Mendoza Padel Premier P1 in Argentina as an “historic milestone for padel”.
The Mendoza Premier Padel P1 saw an 11,000-capacity crowd enjoying the spectacular final at the Aconcagua Arena stadium where Franco Stupaczuk and Pablo Lima clinched the title earlier this week.
The first ever Premier Padel event to be held in South America proved a huge success for governing body FIP and was supported by the Professional Padel Association (PPA) and Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) with an all-time record of more than 55,000 spectators attending Mendoza over the event’s duration.
Not surprisingly Carraro was keen to reveal his delight at the event’s success: “What has happened in Argentina has marked a historic milestone for padel! We attracted more and more fans from all around the world – the energy and momentum of our sport is quite amazing.
“I believe that padel is rising to become one of the biggest sports on the planet – this is founded on putting the players at the heart of everything and having the best partners in world sport. This is only the first step: the best is yet to come and I am sure it will be spectacular.”
In addition, the Mendoza Premier Padel P1 was broadcast live in more than 180 territories – continuing to give the sport exposure to new audiences worldwide.
Last week’s event in Argentina was the 5th international tournament hosted by Premier Padel and marked the tour’s arrival in South America.
Premier Padel Board director Ziad Hammoud admitted he was wowed by the reaction reserved for the players by thousands of passionate South American padel afficionados and he said: “The welcome that the players received from the local fans was simply amazing, and we thank the International Padel Federation (FIP), the Argentinian Padel Association (APA), the Professional Padel Association (PPA) and all our partners for making this outstanding event possible.
“The most exciting thing is that this is just the beginning for Premier Padel in South America.
“We are also proud to have hosted another ground-breaking tournament on the Premier Padel tour here in Argentina, achieving record numbers and making history for the sport of padel.
The padel magic in Mendoza continued hot on the heels of another sell-out success in Spain where Madrid’s WiZink Center saw 30,000 fans attend over a week of ‘battling’ action which culminated in Spanish superstars Lebron and Galan winning their third Premier Padel title over Qatar Major champions Navarro / Di Nenno.
Broadcasting figures were equally as strong in Spain with the competition viewed across more than 180 global territories and broadcasters included ESPN, beIN SPORTS, Sky Sports, Supersport, Charlton, Viaplay, Arena, Cosmote and Coupang in addition to Spain’s TVE.
Online engagement was just as encouraging, with YouTube subscribers reaching over 100,000 during the Madrid P1, and the tournament reaching new heights with 3 million views on the platform throughout the week, a 15% rise from the Paris Major last month. The tour’s Instagram presence also grew by 12k followers during the Madrid P1, finally reaching 100k.
Premier Padel will be back in Latin America for the Mexico Premier Padel Major from 28th November to 4th December at the Club Sonoma.
