Pallap, the European padel brand building a reputation in the U.S., is looking forward to seizing opportunities for further growth at the second RacquetX in Miami on 22-24 March.
RacquetX, the giant cross-racquet sport expo which made a spectacular debut last year at the Miami Beach Convention Center, is the nucleus of Miami’s ‘Racquets Week’ which includes tennis’ prestigious Miami Open and Premier Padel Miami, the circuit’s first ever tournament in the USA.
Despite strong pickleball and tennis representation, padel was acknowledged to be the big winner at last year’s RacquetX, with showcourts, clinics, activations, roundtables and presentations kindling the curiosity of punters, brands and investors.
This year, there will be five padel courts in the arena and a dynamic and diverse agenda including RacquetX kids day, exhibition matches, the X-Clubs Tournament, a women’s padel tournament, a Start-Up Pitch competition, and, erm, on-court puppy yoga!
There will also be discussions on celebrity investment, the rise of racquet sports tourism, pathways for young athletes, the integration of AI in mental training, advancements in sports recovery, strategies for leveraging social media and much more.
Pallap will be amidst all the action and racquets industry veteran Philip Mintz will be spearheading the brand’s activation activities including demos, promotions, giveaways and clinics with their ambassador, the renowned Spanish player and coach Hugo Cases.
New Yorker Mintz has 30 years’ experience with global racket brands including Dunlop, HEAD, Penn — but is also a key figure in helping to launch the U.S. padel revolution during his time as CEO of All Racquet Sports LLC, which installed many of the original padel courts around the U.S, as well as launching the adidas padel brand in the U.S.
Pallap is already well-known in Europe (they sponsor emerging GB player George Weller), but Philip is now driving the brand’s integration into the American market. Distinctive for its cutting-edge technology and superior craftsmanship, Pallap is competing with well-known brands such as Wilson, Babolat, HEAD and Technifibre which consumers will recognise from tennis, as well as padel specialists such as NOX, Bullpadel and Siux.
For such a nascent sport in America, padel is already a crowded marketplace. But Philip’s expertise and ample contacts book has already seen him establlish Pallap in some of America’s most high-profile padel clubs and racquet sports retailers, including NYC Racquet Sports, Padel Haus, Tennis Plaza (located throughout Florida), and Paddlegalaxy.com.
Before heading to Miami, Philip told our sister title, The Padel State: “With Pallap, we’re brand building. Our challenge at this stage is brand exposure and brand recognition. I’m very confident in our product, our future development and our technologies. We have a very high quality product and we have a great story. The challenge is to get people to know our brand name.
“You can’t just do it once, it’s about repetition. We’re in an industry that we know is going to explode, so it’s about building a position within it. Your name needs to keep being in front of people.”
RacquetX offers a gift-wrapped opportunity to do just that, not just raising awareness amongst grassroots players, but retailers too, giving all attendees the chance to try the products on court. Pallap’s specialty, high-performance brand is set to flourish in Florida.
