America has built its 1000th padel court — and with investment flooding into the game Stateside, its growth rate is spiralling.
With more courts bringing more opportunity for people to check out what all the hype is about, padel may soon challenge pickleball’s domination of the US recreational racket sport landscape.
The court that saw America tick into four figures was in the padel heartland of Miami at Thesis Hotel at Coral Gables. Beyond Florida, padel now has a presence in 37 states, having been completely unheard of just five years ago.
The United States Padel Association (USPA) expects that by 2030, there’ll be 20,000 courts and 15 million players across the States.
Membership in the USPA grew more than 50% in the last year, and the organisation is clearly backing the sport, supporting the debut season of US National Padel – an amateur tournament across the country, which featured over 160 teams, from 19 different clubs, in 37 cities.
The league’s National Finals took place earlier in March, and all finalists received three-day passes to the RacquetX expo in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which itself has been banging the drum for the sport since 2024.
The racket sports conference provides an opportunity for athletes, brands, creators and investors in not only padel, but tennis, pickleball and other racket sports, to come together, share ideas, collaborate and unify to maintain their growth.
Attendees exceeded a record 5,000 including big names such as NFL star Jarvis Landry, alongside business owners and entrepreneurs, sharing ideas and their love for their respective sports. Over 1,000 industry leaders were in attendance, with more than 125 companies on show.
The expo provides a yearly opportunity to see how others operate and take ideas forward and that it is growing year on year is evidence that the sport of padel is only going to continue its rise.
The US is the main home of the Pro Padel League, the only professional padel league in the world, in which 10 teams from the States, Canada and Mexico compete, showcasing the best players in the world.
Multiple teams are now valued in the tens of millions of dollars, with the Los Angeles Beat purchased by David and Corey Eisen for a reported $10million, and the Toronto Polar Bears, who are part-owned by Edward Rogers — who has a stake in Toronto’s MLS, NBA, NHL and CFL teams — valued at $25million.
The league itself has recently announced its own large investment — $15million in a Series A funding round led by Charlotte Hornets co-chairman (NBA) Rick Schnall. It follows a $10million round for the PPL in March 2025, with money going towards league growth, team infrastructure and player development.
Big names in other colossal sports putting their faith in padel proves that the US is serious about its growth, and sees a genuine future in which the game can be a similar size to the biggest and most-watched in the world.
It’s a reflection of the growing appeal of the sport and the hope from Schnall is that the PPL “established itself as a premier sports property.”
The PPL also now has two tiers, with the rung below the top division filled with North American talent. Players applying to feature in PPL II had to have residency in one of the three base countries, and the talent on show is largely already ranked in the top 10 in the US rankings, though mostly outside of the top 100 in the world.
The dream for the US, as with many countries outside Spain and Argentina, is to have players breaking firmly into the upper echelons of the professional game.
The country sees the top players up close annually, with Miami holding one of Premier Padel’s P1 tournaments. It sold out in its debut year of 2025 and the strong demand remained in 2026, and there’s nothing to suggest that won’t continue.
