Padium announces shock move to Padel Mates
Padium drops Playtomic for Padel Mates
Padium – one of the UK’s most high profile padel venues – has announced it is switching booking platforms this summer, moving to up-and-coming Padel Mates from Playtomic, which currently has the lion’s share of padel court bookings in the UK.
The news is sure to send more ripples through the padel community coming just weeks after Rocket Padel announced the same move, delivering Padel Mates two of the most influential British padel venue operators.
An industry insider told The Bandeja: “This is incredibly significant for the booking platform landscape in Britain. Compared to Playtomic, Padel Mates is a small operator so for it to poach such a high-profile name as Padium means it has to be doing something right, both for operators and players. The big questions now are what names will follow suit and how will Playtomic react; a major criticism of its business model is owning player data, preventing clubs from accessing it for marketing and community building purposes. Will this have to change for it to retain market leadership? It’s gearing up to be a very interesting battle of the Swedes given that all players have Swedish roots.”
Strategic
Padium, in Canary Wharf, London, described the shift as a ‘strategic move that brings operational efficiency and user experience’ in line with its broader ambition to redefine how padel is delivered in the UK. Founder Houman Ashrafzadeh, who secured funding from Spotify co-founder Martin Lorentzon for the facility, said: “We’re excited to be making this change. It’s a step that helps us continue refining the experience we offer our players.”
Daniel Dawood, Padel Mates founder, said he was ‘incredibly proud’ that Padium had chosen the platform as its digital partner, adding: “Their commitment to providing a world-class player experience mirrors our own vision: building tools and technology that make exceptional padel both seamless and scalable.”
Signing up Padium is an important moment for Padel Mates’ growth in the UK. A small number of British clubs worked with it around two years ago but it failed to gain traction, losing out to Playtomic and Matchi. However, it has honed its tech and now has the British market firmly in its sights, with 15 padel venues – including Advantage Padel which has ambitious plans for a number of centres – already signed up. Worldwide it has almost 200 partner venues across the Nordics, Spain, Middle East, US, Africa and Asia.
Padium will move to Padel Mates in July, coinciding with development of its second padel centre in Cardiff Bay. The venue will have eight indoor courts, making it the largest padel facility in Wales when it opens in late summer.
It’s Canary Wharf location quickly became London’s flagship padel centre and an integral part of the UK padel scene after opening almost two years ago with seven indoor and two outdoor courts. Just this week it was revealed as host venue for the inaugural Evelyn Partners Padel Cup for organisations including the Big Four accountants, Magic Circle law firms and major banks, and has played host to a wide range of tournaments, corporate and padel industry events. 🎾
