Ben Nichols, CEO and founder of communications consultancy Padel 22, continues his series assessing the truth behind the ‘padel boom’ in its key growth nations around the world
Until recently, Aussies and padel have been near strangers – but that is all about to change.
Australia’s love affair with sport doesn’t stop with the traditional sports that it has dominated for decades. Padel is Australia’s latest plaything and the padel world has been put on notice, because as we all know, when Australia does sport, Australia does sport well.
Tennis Australia – arguably the world’s most progressive governing body, having taken athlete representation and the Laver Cup under its wingspan – has now adopted padel as its own. The governing body has a padel department and national strategy, led by the impressive Callum Beale.
The 2022 Australian Open saw a pop-up padel court erected at Melbourne Park was passers-by invited on for a hit.
The 2023 edition went further: the first Australian Padel Open was held simultaneously with its tennis equivalent on a court in the shadow of the Rod Laver Arena. Nearly 12,000 people tried it out and many more passers-by witnessed the game for the first time.
Game4Padel, with its celebrity investors such as Andy Murray and Virgil van Dijk, recently launched an Australian enterprise.
It was they who installed the pop-up court at Melbourne Park. During the Aussie Open, Game4Padel CEO Michael Gradon toured Australia looking at potential venues for new clubs.
He said: “I would say Australia is roughly where UK padel was when we started Game4Padel. I was there before Covid and there was almost no awareness of the sport, but it has definitely grown since. It’s got a long way to go, but the buzz is certainly starting.”
There are currently only five padel clubs in Australia (yes, five) in Perth, Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne. Expect that number to swiftly look outdated.
Australia’s journey to padel greatness will not be an overnight success. The country has already had some setbacks in its efforts to develop the sport, such as the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games’ failure to back padel as one of its new sport entries.
But with Tennis Australia getting the padel bit between its teeth and Game4Padel leading a legion of investors, expect the Aussie public’s familiarity with the sport to rise. The UK and other emerging padel nations will surely be taking note.
See also:
State of the Game: Padel in the UAE
State of the Game: Padel in the UK
State of the Game: Padel in the USA
