Playtomic and Strategy&, a division of the PwC accountancy and consultancy, have released the 2024 edition of the Global Padel Report – a 50-page presentation filled with charts and other visuals. It is available online.
Our readers might find it useful to compare this with the World Padel Report, which we reported on in May.
Pádel on the internet
Searches on Google for the keyword “padel” are up 18 percent since 2016. Most of this growth appears to have occurred since mid-2020, the lockdown year, which also contains the most significant dip in search volume.
The 15 countries that have seen the greatest rise in Google searches since 2023 are (in decreasing order): Denmark, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Panama, Italy, Chile, Norway, South Africa, Croatia, Paraguay, Finland, Argentina, the UAE and France.
Courts
The year elapsed from 2022 to 2023 saw an increase of 27 percent in clubs opened (from 9,994 to 12,651) and of 16 percent in courts built (37,433 to 43,249). The figure for clubs excludes accommodation facilities, while that for courts is grounded in the sales of major manufacturers. Note, however, that both figures, for lack of reliable data, exclude one of the world’s natural regions for pádel: Latin America.
No place saw more courtwork in 2023 than the Iberian Peninsula. As the report reads, however, this was focused on “court renewal, private projects, and high-end condominiums, particularly in the foreign-populated areas of southern and eastern Spain.” France added the most courts as a single country, followed by Benelux, Italy and Scandinavia, while Central Europe kept its “momentum.” Manufacturers otherwise turned their attention to Germany, the UK, other parts of Europe and the US. The Middle East and the rest of the world each contributed as much as France: about 670 courts.
Spain retained its considerable lead in total courts (16,126). Its closest competitor, Italy, had a bit more than half of that (8,347). France came in third (2,179), followed by Belgium (1,763) and the Netherlands (1,733). The US was in 11th place (454), with nothing but European countries ahead of it.
The report concedes that its previous edition was optimistic with its forecasts for courts added for ten of these top 11 countries. Its longest overshot was for Spain, which built 1,239 fewer than expected. It was overly pessimistic only with France, with exceeded expectations by 199 courts.
The big three
Europe has a “big three”: France, the UK and Germany. At present, they rank in that order, with France having a big lead. The report projects growth in all three but also that Germany will overtake the UK and then France in about 2029.
Until late 2026 or so, Germany will be putting the brakes on its own growth in the sport. The report provides two reasons. First is building codes, which for courts apparently rival those for houses in cost and complexity. Second is the non-profit status of most of Germany’s sports facilities, which frees them of taxes but also caps their fees and, therefore, limits their revenues.
France – with its 500,000 amateur players and 741 venues – saw the number of its courts increase by 30 percent from 2016 to 2023 and has reached a “court saturation” of 8.8 percent. Over the same period the UK – 120,000 amateurs and 170 venues – has seen even greater growth in courts, of 43 percent, and reached a court saturation of 3.6 percent.
How does Germany compare? It has 100,000 amateurs, 171 venues and a court saturation of 1.8 percent. In 2023, it became the 20th country to host a tournament for the World Padel Tour.
The big two
In some respects, the US is on par with a mid-level European country in pádel. It has 100,000 amateurs and 82 venues. Because of its bigger population, however, it has a court saturation of just 0.4 percent. This has, in turn, allowed for an eight-year increase in total courts of 61 percent. The reports expect 2024 to be the country’s “breakthrough year,” with interest rising in the most populous states: California, New York, Texas and Florida.
The other big pádel country in North America is Mexico, which raised its total clubs by about 33 percent in 2023 alone to 400 or so. This rise in interest (measured in court bookings) appears to have spread well beyond Mexico City.
The world and success
According to the report, the planet should boast some 70,000 pádel clubs by 2026. Overall, court additions have reached a stable and “healthy” 17 percent per year.
The report contends that the rise of pádel has five things behind it. First, it is easy to play, because it requires little in the way of gear and is not physically taxing. Second, it meets the human need for social connection and recreation. Third, it enjoys steady investment from the rich and from funds. Fourth, the proliferation of apps is spreading the word of the sport and expediting things like court reservations. Fifth, the proliferation of professional tournaments, leagues, and so forth, and the coverage they generate, have also spread the word. According to the report, the fourth and fifth points are the most important.
The Global Padel Report also covers other topics. For instance, it breaks down the costs of installing and operating a court and reviews the standard social and sporting services associated with one. It also contains a small case study comparing average revenue and real-estate costs for courts in Barcelona, Amsterdam, London and Monterrey.
