Padel Has Escaped the Sports Club – And Other Racket Sports Should Take Note

Padel has been the fastest growing sport in the world for quite a few years now. This meteoric rise has not happened by chance.

Padel is quick to build, highly social, and easy to monetize. What more could a new sport want?!

Padel is also blessed with innovative marketing teams working on overdrive to make everyone aware of its existence and how fun it is. They are constantly looking for new ways to expose their sport to a new audience.

For the month of August, there have been 3 padel courts set up right in the heart of Munich Airport. Genius idea.

Padel is blessed with a super easy set-up. All is really needed is a small section of floor space, some Perspex walls and a net, and you’re good to go!

Padel quickly realised that they did not have to follow the standard model of belonging in sports centres. In Europe, we can now find padel courts almost anywhere; a car park, an industrial estate, a shopping mall, a floating barge in Stockholm, inside a Dutch renovated church, and an airport.

Of course, we mainly see padel in gyms and sporting clubs – but they are not only bound to these venues.

Padel is in the club scene, where people go to play sport, but they have also found a way to bring their sport to you – whether you’re shopping or catching a flight.

Think about Ten-Pin bowling… they have also enjoyed this model. They have long understood that they do not need to be a stand-alone sporting destination. You find bowling alleys in shopping and entertainment centres, alongside restaurants and cinemas.

Of course, with ten-pin bowling, you don’t sweat, so you can have a game before going to a nice restaurant, without the need of a shower. Padel is similar – you could play a fun 20-minute game of doubles and probably won’t work up much of a sweat. Pickleball you certainly wouldn’t sweat. Tennis may also be possible if you have a fun doubles game or two. However, squash and badminton would more than likely require a shower afterwards, even after only 20-minutes.

We should all take note - Padel is showing other racket sports how making the sport as accessible as possible, will massively and quickly boost popularity.

Squash has a new company called Access Courts on the scene. They can build a modular glass court almost anywhere in a matter of days; inside or outside. The aim is to try to make squash more accessible and more affordable – exactly what padel is doing. But as I mentioned above, because of the intensity of the sport, squash generally needs to be linked to facility or club house to provide shower access. But – squash is trying. Exposure is the key.

Tennis is a global super-sport and always will be. Tennis likely doesn’t need to try to bolster popularity. Squash, Badminton and Pickleball could all do with a boost.

We’ve seen how East Glos Tennis, Squash & Racketball Club have incorporated padel into their facility. Introducing a single rackets membership, so every member has access to all sports on offer, has grown memberships and created an increasingly popular club with all sections thriving. But racket sports don’t have to stop at the club boundary – we should learn from padel and ask ourselves “what can we do to elevate the popularity and awareness of all racket sports…?”