Padel Power Sweeping the World 11/26

The Pro Padel League and America's top five padel club operators have joined forces to launch the College Padel League, the first structured, competitive home for college padel in the US. Season One has a $20,000 prize pool and ends with the inaugural CPL Playoffs in Miami, December 3–5, 2026. Universities included in the College Padel League: Yale, UCLA, University of Southern California (USC), University of Miami, University of Texas, University of Texas at Dallas, Babson College, University of Arizona, Florida International University, LMU, Indiana University, Temple, University of VA, Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), Boston University, Michigan, Penn State.

New SFIA data has just named padel America's fastest-growing sport, with participation up 14.5%, overtaking pickleball after its five-year run at the top.

A few highlights:

The five founding operators (Ultra Padel, Padel 39, Epic Padel, Padel N9ne and Bay Padel) are all equity partners in the league

20+ universities across ten cities at launch, with a target of 40+ by the end of Season One

No campus courts needed: schools pair with their nearest operator for court time and coaching, with participation costs covered in full

The Miami Playoffs run alongside the PPL Finals, with up to 20 teams competing

Every player earns World Padel Rating points and is eligible for NIL opportunities

Read the full release here.

Mike Knowles

Padel Has Rating Systems. Does It Have a Common Language?

On Saturday I posted about Gilberto (Tito) Machado, the CEO of DUPR, and what he has built in pickleball. A comment on that post stopped me.

Alvaro Quintana Sanjuan is the Director of Padel at Centercourt in New Jersey. He wrote this:

"Today a 4.0 from Spain, a 4.0 from an app and a 4.0 from a tennis background are three different players, and the club pays for it with bad matches. Do you think padel will end up with one common rating like pickleball, or stay split by country?"

That is an operator describing what the split costs his club: the same number arriving with three different meanings.

Read the full article

Patricio Misitrano

Misitrano Consulting published the US Padel Report 2026.

UK Padel's $300M Boom Shows Cracks As Two Operators Go Under

• Rapper Stormzy and former tennis star Andy Murray are among investors in padel, a racket sport Britain only officially recognized in 2020.

• Social Sports Society, one of Britain's largest padel operators with five sites, entered insolvency proceedings, and rival Padel XO closed this year.

• Courts surged to 1,825 from 69 in six years, risking an oversupply like Sweden's, where nearly 90 padel firms went bankrupt in 2023.

Pro Padel League Partners With MGM Resorts For Inaugural Las Vegas Tournament

• MGM Resorts, a global hospitality giant, will sponsor the league's four-day November event on the Las Vegas Strip.

• The tournament aims to expose the fast-growing sport to the 300K visitors expected in the city during a major sports week.

• Ten franchise teams will compete for eight spots in the Miami finals, with the final match broadcasting nationally on CNBC.

Sign up for the Daily Playbook here.

Premier Padel to sell data, streams to betting industry

Premier Padel has appointed iGame Media as its exclusive distributor of official betting data and live streams, covering more than 2,400 matches a year from the 2027 season – a deal the tour says will generate new revenue to reinvest in the professional game.

Sign up for SGI Europe here

Introducing: Steffi Merah

Steffi Merah is a French professional padel player and member of the French National Team.

In 2026, she earned her first selection for the French National Team at the Mediterranean Games, reaching the quarter-finals against Spain in the first-ever edition of the Games to include padel.

Only a few months later, another major milestone followed: Steffi was selected to represent France at the 2026 World Padel Championships.

After only three years in padel, she is determined to continue her progression and establish herself at the highest international level.

LOOKING FOR FINANCIAL PARTNERS

Steffi is currently looking for financial partners and sponsors to support the next stage of her international career.

Competing at professional level requires significant investment throughout the season, particularly in international travel, tournaments, training, coaching and high-performance preparation.

Her goal is to build genuine, long-term partnerships with companies that share values such as ambition, performance, commitment and perseverance, and that would like to become part of her progression on the international circuit.

My CV:

My Contact information:

Steffi Merah can be contacted via WhatsApp at +33695020116

Padel Basque Country - An Experience Your Clients Won’t Forget

By Raúl Pascual

With the massive wave and growing interest in padel hitting the U.S. market right now, I’m reaching out to Racket Business readers. As the founder of Padel Basque Country, based in northern Spain, I design bespoke padel and culinary retreat experiences.

We combine personalized, high-level padel coaching with immersive experiences in the Basque Country—globally recognized as one of the world's premier culinary regions—featuring private tastings of world-class Rioja wines and Michelin-starred gastronomy.

Given how much U.S. travelers value authentic culinary and sports culture, if you or your readers are ever looking for an international angle on how regional food, wine, and padel are merging in Europe, we’d love to share some insights.

For readers who'd like to bring a group (clubs, coaches, or friends), we also design custom trips. Please reach us at [email protected]