Padel is exploding across the globe. Whilst Spain and Argentina are still the epicenters of padel, most countries are seeing a surge of interest in this incredibly fun sport.
Padel39 recently spoke with Richard Hall Smith, who is the managing director of Padel United, a UK company that is leading the way on the other side of the Atlantic.
What did Richard have to say about the state of padel in the UK?
I started my padel company in 2017 after a 14-year career in real tennis (for those that have heard of this sport). I managed to find a suitable location near my home in Maldon, Essex and worked with some excellent shareholders to create one of the first clubs in the UK.
That first club was built in 2019, but we then went on to create two other clubs nearby. In 2021, Padel United purchased a majority stake in the business. Although I sold the majority of my shares, I became MD of the company and remain a minority shareholder.
The landmark deal gave the company the finances to accelerate our growth and we are now building padel clubs across the country.
Our mission is to make padel more accessible across the UK.
We do this by building padel courts on brownfield sites, working closely with local authorities and embracing technology, such as remote gate access, to keep the sport as affordable as possible, whilst growing a sustainable business.
Padel is starting to grow really quickly in the UK. There is no doubt that countries such as Spain are years ahead of the UK, but we are seeing an explosion of interest and padel is proving to be very popular with players.
I don’t have the time to monitor other clubs, but can tell you that we have just finished a summer where we saw a utilization rate of at least 70% across all 24 of our courts.
A lot of people are trying padel for the first time, but it is great to see so many of them coming back for more. There is no doubt that we are seeing momentum build very quickly.
I think that padel’s key strength is its accessibility. This is especially true when compared to other racket sports, notably ‘traditional’ tennis - that has a very steep learning curve and tends to lead to more tears of frustration, rather than whoops of joy!
Whilst it is actually very difficult to truly master padel, most players can pick up the fundamentals very quickly and, crucially, have a great time learning.
You have to try it to experience it for yourself, but padel really is good fun and you can have players of all abilities sharing the same court, which is definitely not the case with tennis, yet remains one of the most significant crossover sports.
People enjoy the competitive nature of padel whilst also benefiting from a really good workout. You can play at your own pace, so it is especially good for individuals who find sports such as squash too brutal on their bodies.
Personally, I think that we can learn more from some of the mistakes that were made in the early stages of padel in the Nordics.
A notable issue in this area was the exclusivity of a lot of the early venues, which were primarily built as premium indoor venues in very expensive areas. This inevitably restricted the potential reach of the clubs and the high costs did not encourage people to get involved. Padel’s growth was therefore relatively slow to start with.
Having learned to play padel in Spain myself, I’ve learned that outdoor community clubs that offer a great price point is the key to attracting the masses. There is, of course, a place for premium clubs but we need to grow participation numbers - and making the sport affordable should be a key objective.
We are not blessed with the best weather here in the UK, so I can see the appeal of indoor courts, but our focus remains on injecting new life into existing venues and keeping capital outlay lower in order to be able to offer padel at affordable prices.
That is an interesting question - personally, I don’t believe that tennis is going anywhere anytime soon and the bigger tournaments are safe. Tennis is a great sport and is very attractive to advertisers, so I think that you will continue to see it on the TV for the foreseeable future.
Will we see a day where padel will be featured on prime time TV? I really don’t know, but it feels a little unlikely right now.
Where I do see more of an existential threat to tennis is at the grassroots level. Padel is so much more accessible than tennis and we are seeing a lot of unused tennis courts being converted to padel courts, so this will no doubt have an impact in the future as fewer players start playing tennis. Ultimately, I think the professional tennis game will not be impacted in the next decade, but I would expect that tennis participation will indeed take a hit at the expense of padel.
I am sure that increased exposure to padel, at any level, will help grow the sport but professional padel is very limited in the UK and I don’t imagine that many people are watching the World Padel Tour.
Maybe the professional circuit will grow, but I feel that the vast majority of new padel players in the UK are either existing racket sport players who want to try out the new kid on the block or people who are introduced to padel by friends who have tried, and loved, it.
To be honest, I don’t really know the process of a sport becoming an olympic sport, but why not?!
It must surely have a chance, as nobody can deny that it has become a global phenomenon and I think it would be great to see padel at the Olympics in the future, whether it makes it for 2032 or not.
Just enjoy it, have fun and don’t take it too seriously.
Padel39 would like to thank Richard for his time. It was great to chat and hear more about his experiences in the UK. We will watch the future of Padel United with interest.
