Marcelo Cascabelo, of the brand Drop Shot, believes in the continued expansion of pádel but warns of a difficult year. The chief executive revealed to CMDsport that his company’s revenues for 2022 were up by 120 percent year-on-year, amounting to €20 million, but that the figure for first-quarter 2023 is flat. Things would be worse if not for Drop Shot’s dual business. The installation of pádel courts makes up 15 percent of its business and enjoyed 20 percent growth last year, offsetting the drop in racquet sales. His rosiest forecast for the current year is a repeat of 2022.
The expanding markets for courts are in the Middle East and especially Latin America, where Drop Shot has found business in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Another key market is Southeast Asia (Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and China).
Racquet sales, according to Cascabelo, are down for two reasons: the international glut in supply and the price war, especially online, that has broken out because of the glut. Drop Shot has a good view of this, as exports make up 70 percent of its sales. More racquets have been manufactured than the market can absorb. “The pádel industry was once in Spain, but now there are brands in Italy, Sweden and other new countries.” He believes there will be a culling of the herd.
Last month, as we reported, Head Spain’s business manager for racquet sports, Ricardo Brigolle, told CMDsport the same thing. Many small pádel brands went into business with the boom, but customers “no longer want them” and are opting instead for established brands. There will be less consolidation than has occurred in tennis, but it is “foreseeable,” said Brigolle, “that only some 20 brands will endure.”
