Minter Dial: economic phenomenon that is padel
Padel World Summit highlights
by Minter Dial
The Padel World Summit in Barcelona, round two, having swapped the sunburn of Malaga for the hipster vibes of Catalonia’s capital. This year’s shindig, held at the large-scale Fira de Barcelona, saw some 6,062 entrants over the three days descend upon the venue (or, as I like to call them, ‘people who’ve figured out how to make money from a sport that looks suspiciously like tennis played in a glass box’). More than 100 exhibitors set up shop, flaunting everything from fancy racquets to court management software that probably files your taxes while you por tres a ball.
The summit wasn’t just about ogling shiny new racquets (though let’s be honest, that’s most of the fun) and the myriad ways to build a premium court. There were congresses, investor forums and enough networking to make even a used car salesman blush. Eight courts meant plenty of product demos, exhibition matches and clinics run by some of the world’s leading academies. A hot topic throughout was the power of padel as a networking activity (‘padel is the new golf’) and exhibitors such as Business Padel Tour and Weebora.
…with a market value for the padel industry poised to eclipse £3 billion in the next year, it’s clear that padel isn’t just a sport it’s a full-blown economic phenomenon.
Whether in investment round tables, the Global Padel Report, or in conversations with brands (shout-out to Joma), the common chorus was that padel in the UK is red hot and brimming with potential. One panelist, asked if the UK boom was a bubble about to burst, confidently stated that the surge has only just begun. There were several British personalities on show, including among others, the dynamic and supremely bilingual Emily Kilner animating the Innovation Arena, Sarah Horrocks (Palair), Michael Gradon (Game4Padel), as well as Alexander Inglot (All the Angles), Ben Nichols (Padel22), Jeevan Gill (PadelStars) and our Swedish import, Sebastian Gordon (Rocket Padel).
The big picture
With 30 million amateur players worldwide and a market value for the padel industry poised to eclipse £3 billion in the next year, it’s clear that padel isn’t just a sport it’s a full-blown economic phenomenon. Spain leads the charge with some 17,000 courts, but let’s be honest, everyone else is just trying to keep up. Olympic inclusion was a popular topic at many of the panels. The consensus seemed to be that it will be difficult to achieve Olympic status if there are only two real contenders (🇦🇷 or 🇪🇸). I must say that didn’t stop, for example, basketball becoming an Olympic sport (with the USA dominating gold medals 10/12 for the women and 17/21 for the men).
The growth of the sport was confirmed in the sneak preview of Playtomic’s Global Padel Report 2025 which anchored the PWS, showing continuing double-digit growth worldwide. Things that are crimping growth? One elephant in the room is how to develop (or import) bona fide padel coaches in the rest of the non-Spanish-speaking world, much less second or third tier markets. [Padelmba and Hello Padel (Mauri Andrini) were on hand to show off their academies.]
Stronger together
Industry leaders put out the smoke signals for unity in the sport to help it grow. Meanwhile, there was plenty of debate on the idea of whether padel is better off as an independent federation (eg Spain, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina…) or under a shared tennis & padel federation (Italy, France, USA, and the LTA in GB). If you ever wondered why padel is growing everywhere but still can’t decide if it wants to live with tennis or go solo – well, that’s the magic of sports politics: tangled, passionate, and maybe a little dysfunctional. It was interesting to see that Spain and Argentina now only account for 35% of global courts, down from 85% before 2018. Also, 40% of the global player base are women. And, as further proof of its inclusivity, adaptive (or wheelchair) padel was regularly on exhibit throughout the summit.
So, what’s up in padel? A lot. Including the growth rate. If you missed the Padel World Summit this year, don’t worry. It will be back, bigger, louder in 2026 (same location) and with even more people pretending they know what ‘bandeja’ really means. And if you’re lucky you might even get a selfie with Fernando Belasteguín – the Babe Ruth of padel – before he disappears into a cloud of sponsorship deals and autograph requests.🎾
