As the Spanish press reports, racquet manufacturer Starvie has struck a sponsorship deal with Asics for its roster of professional pádel players, who as of this month will be competing in the Japanese brand’s apparel and shoes. Among these players are Bea González, Coki Nieto and Javi Garrido.
Quoted in CMDsport, Starvie’s CEO, Jorge Gómez de la Vega, expects the two companies soon to be collaborating on design and manufacturing.
Diffusion Sport, meanwhile, spoke with both Gómez de la Vega and Asics Iberia marketing manager Santiago Martínez, who sees sports competition as a proving ground for his company’s products, as “players take products to their limit, and that’s the best way to test that we’re truly manufacturing the best we can put out on the market.”
According to Starvie’s CEO, players of all levels appreciate the brand’s investment in resins, rubbers and other materials. This – along with the company’s turn to focus on racquets and, as Gómez de la Vega acknowledges, the effects of pandemic measures – has resulted in overall sales of €7.5 million. Starvie’s pádel operation now extends to 55 countries, but the company hopes to equal its current tennis reach, which is close to triple (150 countries). Expansion beyond the Iberian peninsula is a priority for this year.
Starvie’s collection for 2023 – made entirely in Spain, as usual – includes two new models, scheduled for release in May.
Martínez, for his part, believes the Spanish market for pádel, while mature, can still grow, even if its players there already outnumber those of tennis. It is simply too easy a sport to take up. “Anyone who begins playing pádel,” he explains, “is having fun practically from the first moments.” There’s a social dimension as well, he continues. Your match lasts an hour and a half, you’ve seen your friends and had a good time, and you’ve gotten some exercise in the bargain. Plus, it’s less of a strain on an aging body than, say, football.
