Premier Padel’s owner, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), has modified the league’s management. The changes were announced to some 200 players at the BNL Italy Major, which ran from June 15 to 23 in Rome.
QSI has made David Serrahima, Managing Director of the sports marketing agency Octogon, the league’s General Manager. While retaining his post at Octogon, Serrahima will be dealing with the “overall delivery” of what is now a 25-tournament, 17-country tour as well as with “promoters, players, the international match calendar, innovation, people, culture and brand.”
He will also serve on Premier Padel’s new Executive Committee alongside Vice Chairman Luigi Carraro (who is also President of the FIP, or International Padel Federation), Commercial Director Rob Mitchell and CEO David Sugden.
Sugden, incidentally, became league CEO in May, as Padel Alto reported, and the league’s Editorial & Brand Manager, Alberto Bote, announced on X. He replaced Eno Polo, who had assumed the post in November of last year (we reported that news a month earlier.) Sugden was a hire from inside QSI, having served both it and beIN Media Group as Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs & Legal Director for the past six and a half years.
Bote, a broadcast journalist, is himself a recent hire, and was introduced to the players BNL Italy Major. His duty is to “evolve the editorial standards and brand narrative of the project across broadcast, media and partner activations.”
Otherwise, Premier Padel has expanded its permanent staff from ten to 45, with more recruits to follow, and taken on Qatar Airways as the tour’s title sponsor. The other sponsors are Red Bull TV, Bullpadel, Wilson, Playtomic, MejorSet, Mondo (synthetic turf), NTT Data (IT services) and the WHO Foundation (WHO as in the World Health Organization).
