The recent Padel World Summit saw three of the sport’s rival tours sit around the table for the first time ever to discuss the future of the professional game.
Rob Mitchell from the world’s biggest and most lucrative tour, Premier Padel, was one of the industry big-hitters at the event in Malaga. He joined Marcos Del Pilar from the US-based Pro Padel League and Sergio Lewin from the Hexagon Cup, which debuted in Madrid in January, in a live main-stage panel.
The Padel Paper caught up with Rob – who was appointed as Premier Padel’s Commercial Director in January following its takeover of The World Padel Tour – and asked him what he had learned from the Padel World Summit about the globalisation of the sport.
What did you learn from the Padel World Summit?
Firstly, I would like to thank Padel World Summit for a really fantastic inaugural event in Malaga – it was brilliant to see attendees from all corners of the globe come together and talk collectively about the incredible potential and future of the sport around the world. The diversity of the attendees at the summit itself demonstrated the direction of travel within the sport and shed a light on the new and emerging markets embracing our amazing sport.
This reiterates our thinking at Premier Padel – as a tour this year, we are hosting 25 tournaments across 17 countries and have already completed several magnificent tournaments across the Middle East, Europe and South America. We are looking forward to bringing our tournaments to more new locations during the remainder of the season and helping to support the global growth of padel. We firmly believe we have a role in shaping the future of the sport and transforming the game of padel into a global sport.
What were the take-aways in terms of important emerging markets for Premier Padel?
It is very clear there is a real excitement around the growth of padel, particularly in the US – but it was also great to have conversations with attendees from across the world who were speaking passionately about the potential for padel across new markets in Asia, Africa and even Europe. This was pleasing for us to hear at Premier Padel as we are seeking to bring the tour to new fans and locations.
Who were the most interesting and enlightening speakers and why?
The entire line-up of speakers and exhibitors from across the global padel community was fantastic and it’s a real testament to the hard work put in by Alex Ponseti and his team. It was great to catch up with our key partners including Playtomic, MejorSet and Mondo who all had a significant presence at the event. It wouldn’t be fair to single out one particular speaker – everyone was incredibly passionate about the future of padel – however what was very clear is that everyone was united behind a common goal; growing the game of padel and giving it the global visibility it truly deserves.
What is the potential for next year and beyond for the event?
I imagine it will become even bigger and even better with more exhibitors, delegates and speakers! Maybe the Padel World Summit team could consider holding it at the same time a Premier Padel tournament is in town…
