Hello dear readers, friends, and racket sports enthusiasts.

Who’s Making the Racket Sports Boom Pay?

More players, more courts, more investment. Racket sports has plenty of good news to share. But for the people running clubs, coaching players, selling equipment and organising competitions, the question is becoming more practical: where is the lasting business?

November’s Racket Business examines some uncomfortable realities alongside the opportunities — from the finances of professional tennis to the decisions that determine whether a busy club actually makes money.

As always, we begin with our Founder Rich Neher, who asks Is This the End of the PTR? His examination of departures and leadership concerns at one of tennis’s best-known coaching organisations raises questions about its future and the professionals it serves. Meanwhile, we investigate why women’s tennis is still struggling to pay its way, despite its audience, star power and commercial potential.

Those questions about financial sustainability extend well beyond the professional tours.

In Peak Padel? Britain’s Club Economics Under Scrutiny, we consider what happens when rapid expansion meets the realities of operating costs and competition. Our companion piece, The Truth About Investing in Padel, explains why full courts alone cannot guarantee a successful business — and why prospective investors should pay closer attention to the economics of standalone gyms.

Pickleball offers a similarly important warning: the players keep coming, so why are some clubs going broke?

There are opportunities, of course. The challenge is understanding which ones suit your business.

We explore what the FIP Padel Report reveals about padel’s $8.6 billion economy, while the Elcot Park planning refusal provides a reminder that demand does not automatically secure permission to build. Our regular Padel Power Sweeping the World and Pickleball Buzz Beyond the Kitchen round-ups bring you more developments from both sports.

For clubs and coaches looking beyond their existing court bookings, Jaron Shoptaugh and Ryan Magill examine the potential for travel revenue in Asia in 2027. In India, Dinesh Sood shares the Rackonnect journey, showing how venues, coaching, technology and events can work together to build a sporting community.

Tennis has plenty to contribute to that conversation. Gary Horvath considers the continuing impact of high school sports and tennis, while Rod Heckelman looks beneath the headline of fewer senior tennis tournaments. We also ask whether squash can turn its LA28 Olympic opportunity into lasting club growth.

Technology is opening other doors. The US Open’s IBM renewal puts the business value of fan engagement under the spotlight, while Gaming. Playing. Winning. explores virtual tennis and fantasy sports. Our Racket Sports Tech coverage brings together more ideas for an increasingly connected industry.

There is plenty here for the everyday business of serving players, too: From Court to Café examines racket sports retail; Susan Nardi contributes In the Trenches: Chaos Breeds Creativity; and we go On the Court with Ken DeHart. You will also find our latest Facilities, Supplies and People, Never Stop Learning and Multimedia Picks.

And because the industry should never take itself too seriously, The Commish offers a satirical take on tennis’s new “fairness competition”.

Complete your reading with the latest Racket Sports Industry News, Letters from October, and our preview of RacquetsUp Expo. Check the Events Calendar for more opportunities to meet the industry, or catch up with October’s issue.

Finally, a subject that connects much of this month’s coverage: keeping the members you already have. Attracting someone through the door is only the beginning. Giving them a reason to return is where much of the real business happens.

Have an experience or opinion the industry should hear? Contribute to Racket Business. The most useful lessons often come from people doing the work.

See you courtside,

Rich & Tim (Learn more about us)

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From inside the lines…

An exclusive series of short features, only available to newsletter subscribers, from the owner’s of Racket Business. This month…

Two Booms, One Industry, No Rulebook: Are Padel and Pickleball Growing Too Fast?

The simultaneous explosion of padel and pickleball is creating an extraordinary opportunity for the racket sports industry, but with so little historical precedent to guide investors and operators, could patience and caution prove more valuable than ambition?

There is something remarkable happening in the racket sports industry that perhaps hasn't received enough attention. We're witnessing the extraordinary growth of not one but two sports, padel and pickleball, at almost exactly the same time, with both attracting millions of new players, substantial investment and an expanding network of facilities.

Sporting participation booms are relatively rare, particularly those significant enough to attract serious commercial investment, but two emerging sports experiencing this level of growth simultaneously, within the same broader industry, is an almost unprecedented situation.

And that presents a problem, because nobody really knows how this will play out.

Investors, governing bodies, equipment manufacturers and facility operators are making significant financial decisions based on forecasts of future demand, yet there is remarkably little historical evidence to demonstrate what happens when two sports expand so rapidly while potentially competing for the same customers, leisure time and investment capital.

Growth doesn't guarantee profitability

The numbers are undeniably impressive. According to the LTA, approximately 1.5 million people now play padel in Britain, compared with just 15,000 in 2019, while the Sports & Fitness Industry Association reports that pickleball participation in the United States reached 24.3 million in 2025, having grown more than fivefold since 2020.

These figures explain the enthusiasm, but they don't necessarily tell us whether the businesses being established to accommodate this demand will ultimately be profitable.

One of the most dangerous assumptions in any rapidly expanding industry is that growing participation automatically creates successful businesses, when in reality the relationship between consumer demand, competition, operating costs and investment returns is considerably more complicated.

Traditional tennis and golf clubs often developed organically over decades, frequently through member ownership rather than commercial investment, allowing facilities to expand as demand increased without the pressure of generating returns for external investors.

Today's commercial padel operator might invest hundreds of thousands before welcoming a single customer, with the resulting business expected to cover operating costs, finance repayments and investor returns from day one.

And while pickleball facilities can often be established at a lower cost, the underlying commercial challenges are much the same.

We've seen this before, but never quite like this

Other industries offer some useful lessons, particularly the boutique fitness sector, where the rapid expansion of spinning studios, specialist gyms and premium fitness concepts attracted substantial investment before increasing competition exposed the weaknesses in some business models.

The electric vehicle industry provides another example, with enormous investment in manufacturing and infrastructure based on expectations of future demand, yet the sector's long-term potential hasn't prevented individual businesses from experiencing serious financial difficulties.

Perhaps the most obvious comparison is the dot-com boom, when investors correctly identified that the internet would transform the global economy but frequently backed businesses that weren't financially sustainable.

In each case, the underlying opportunity was genuine, but enthusiasm encouraged investment to move faster than the market could necessarily support.

The difference with padel and pickleball is that two emerging sports are developing simultaneously, creating additional uncertainty around how consumers will divide their time and spending, and whether the two sports will complement one another or compete more directly as their respective markets mature.

There is also the question of expertise. While the industry now has an expanding collection of consultants, developers and operators offering advice, even those with successful businesses have relatively limited experience of how these markets behave once competition intensifies and the initial excitement begins to settle.

A padel venue that has performed exceptionally well as the only facility in its area may face a very different commercial environment when several competitors open nearby.

Why patience might be the smartest investment

Legendary investor Warren Buffett famously advised investors to be "fearful when others are greedy", a principle that seems particularly relevant when so many businesses are rushing to secure locations, raise finance and announce ambitious expansion plans.

There are undoubtedly advantages to being first into a market, particularly when securing exceptional locations or establishing strong communities, but there is also considerable value in allowing others to demonstrate whether a business model is sustainable before committing significant capital.

At Racket Business, our experience of working with and speaking to clubs, coaches, manufacturers and operators across the industry suggests that the fundamentals of running a successful racket sports business haven't changed simply because the sports themselves are enjoying extraordinary growth.

For anyone considering investing in padel or pickleball, we believe several principles are worth remembering:

• Start smaller than your ambition. Where possible, establish genuine local demand before committing to major developments, and consider whether a phased investment could achieve the same long-term objectives with less financial exposure.

• Challenge the forecasts. Financial models should demonstrate what happens when occupancy falls below expectations, competitors enter the market or operating costs increase, rather than relying on consistently optimistic assumptions.

• Invest in communities, not just courts. Tennis has demonstrated over many decades that coaching, competitions, social activities and junior development are essential to retaining players, and the same will be true of padel and pickleball.

• Understand your local market. A successful facility in Madrid, Miami or London doesn't necessarily provide a suitable blueprint for a business in a smaller British town, where property costs, demographics and consumer spending may be entirely different.

• Protect cash flow and retain flexibility. Businesses that avoid excessive borrowing and maintain sufficient working capital will be better positioned to withstand changing market conditions and take advantage of opportunities that emerge later.

None of these principles is particularly revolutionary, but that is precisely the point. The excitement surrounding new sports shouldn't encourage businesses to abandon the disciplines that have always distinguished sustainable companies from unsuccessful ones.

Could the biggest opportunities still be ahead?

One possibility that deserves more consideration is that some of the best commercial opportunities in padel and pickleball may not emerge until the initial expansion phase begins to settle.

If competition increases and some operators discover that their original projections were overly optimistic, there could be opportunities for better-capitalised businesses to acquire existing facilities, establish partnerships or enter markets where demand has already been demonstrated.

This doesn't necessarily mean widespread business failures, but rapidly growing industries frequently experience periods of consolidation as the market begins to distinguish sustainable operations from those built on overly ambitious assumptions.

Howard Marks, co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management, captured this approach particularly well in the title of one of his investment memos: "You Can't Predict. You Can Prepare."

That seems an appropriate philosophy for an industry attempting to navigate a situation that almost nobody has experienced before.

An extraordinary opportunity that deserves a measured approach

At Racket Business, we remain enormously positive about the long-term prospects for both padel and pickleball, not least because their growth is introducing millions of people to racket sports, creating new opportunities for coaches and suppliers, and encouraging investment in facilities that might otherwise never have existed.

However, we should also recognise that the simultaneous expansion of two sports on this scale creates an unusual degree of uncertainty, and that even experienced business operators are making decisions without the benefit of an established historical blueprint.

Some mistakes are inevitable, particularly when investment decisions are influenced by enthusiasm, competitive pressure and the fear of missing out, but there is no reason why the industry cannot learn from the experiences of other sectors and approach this extraordinary opportunity with greater discipline.

The businesses that ultimately succeed may not be those that open the most venues, attract the largest investment or expand into the greatest number of markets over the next few years, but those that understand their customers, manage their finances carefully and build operations capable of remaining profitable when growth inevitably becomes less spectacular.