Having just wrapped up its first season, with final matches in Milan, Premier Padel is looking to become pádel’s top tournament by 2024. Organized by the International Padel Federation (FIP), supported by the Professional Padel Association (PPA) and underwritten by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), the tournament is hoping to establish by then a slate of 24 events. It is also in negotiations with the International Padel Players Association (IPPA) to establish a women’s circuit.
Over the course of 2022, Premier Padel held eight events – in seven countries and on five continents (Africa, Asia, Europe and the two Americas) – and along the way, it says, set two attendance records for pádel tournaments. Two matches in Mendoza, Argentina, drew 55,000 and 11,000 spectators. The first season overall drew 200,000.
As for broadcasts, the matches were shown to some 150 million households in about 180 territories on six continents. Premier Padel has signed 11 multi-year deals with such channels as ESPN, beIN SPORTS, Canal+ and RTVE. A separate deal with YouTube for live and on-demand streaming generated 22 million views – 17 million of them live. The matches enjoyed the sponsorship of some 50 national and international brands.
On the social media front, Premier Padel says it has so far gained some 300,000 followers on its various channels. As of this writing, it has 20,500 on Twitter and 133,000 on Instagram.
