Ben Nichols, CEO and founder of communications consultancy Padel 22, assesses the truth behind the ‘padel boom’ in its key growth nations around the world
There is a lot of talk about padel ‘exploding’ all over the globe and becoming the nemesis of tennis, with the sports’ relative participation rates heading in opposite directions.
Whilst, yes, the statistics supporting padel’s remarkable ascent are impressive (all the more so as it grew during the Covid pandemic, unlike so many other sports) the truth of padel’s ‘explosion’ is in fact more nuanced.
Growth is occurring in geographical pockets. It is in many ways sporadic, ebbing and flowing depending on regional and national quirks and cultural issues.
So, with the estimates of global padel participation ranging anywhere between 12m – 25m, where are the areas where the sport is truly growing? In this series, I’ll attempt to cut through the hyperbole, nation by nation.
We’ll start with one of its key hotbeds, the UAE and the wider GCC region.
Whilst Qatar has stolen some of the limelight the past 12 months with its audacious bid for padel tour supremacy with the QSI-led Premier Padel, it is the UAE where the more sustainable* long-term growth at the elite and club grassroots levels of the game seem to be developing.
As of 12 months ago, there were an estimated 350 courts in the UAE. That’s 100 more courts than the UK, with just one sixth of the UK’s population!
As a former UAE resident, I can say that compared to the UK’s strict, cautious approach, the UAE has a more dynamic “build and they will come” approach to construction (wasn’t it said that up to 25% of the world’s active cranes were in Dubai at any one time?).
The warmer weather helps. The truly globalised population ensures the perfect ingredients of Western and South Asian ex-pats and Emiratis competing on court – the sport really has something for everyone.
Pioneering padel club brands such as Padel Pro UAE, World Padel Academy and even the LeDap-owned We Are Padel mean that the melting pot of residents and visitors across the UAE have an abundance of outdoor and indoor facilities (for when it’s too hot) to choose from.
There’s then the impressive structure catering for the amateur players who want to play casual matches. Padel Pro UAE have a popular match-making service to bring padel players onto court together. The Dubai Fitness Challenge-led Dubai Padel Cup has helped feed grassroots interest in the sport across the Emirates. There are abundant leagues and box matches to service players of all ages and levels.
And then there’s the other end of the pyramid, with the FIP World Padel Championships, title sponsored by UAE-based DP World, who have made the leap to invest at the top level of the sport, as they have with golf – plus the recent debut of the World Padel Tour’s Abu Dhabi Masters.
All in all, the UAE is a trailblazer for the whole GCC – a region where we can expect padel to grow exponentially in the coming few years.
Next: Ben analyses the padel industry’s growth in the UK.
(*if it doesn’t venture down the Swedish boom and bust road).
