Padel Tennis Opportunity for Golf Clubs
The Fastest Growing Sport in Europe
Padel Tennis has been experiencing significant increases in participation and interest in recent times. The sport, a hybrid between tennis and squash, is proving so popular that it’s forecast to overtake traditional tennis in many countries by 2025 and is muted as a possible new Olympic sport for the 2032 Games. Yet the supply of affordable and accessible padel tennis facilities within the UK is small, affording an interesting opportunity for well-located golf clubs or driving ranges with potential spare land.
Padel is easy to learn, perhaps the most straightforward racket sport to play, but one that is also difficult to master. Like golf, it’s highly sociable, given the game is always played as doubles and conversation tends to flow throughout. As regular players will tell you it’s also great fun, with long rallies and plenty of laughter. It’s also great for body and mind – with each game burning between 700 and 1,000 calories. The demographic of participants also marries well with golf, attracting a high proportion of ABC1’s.
What points even further towards a potential interesting partnership with golf clubs is the relatively small amount of land needed to build a court – each taking only 30% of the space of a traditional tennis court. The enclosed nature of the court allows for self-managed booking and access via a keypad and/or app. No dedicated reception or check-in process is required.
Andy Knee, Founder and CEO of PadelStars, talks passionately about the sport and the mutual benefits and opportunities to integrate a padel tennis offering within golf, “It’s clear that the sport is at the beginning of an exciting journey and has the potential to become even more popular in years to come. Yet that popularity isn’t being serviced by provision. Golf clubs are in a terrific position to benefit from that, many with accessible pockets of land that would be an ideal home for between 2 to 4 padel tennis courts.”
Andy continues, “The addition of padel would add great value to the core golf proposition, drive revenue, as well as generate ancillary income from food and beverage. Given the synergy between the sports it’s a great opportunity for golf clubs as well as driving ranges to attract greater interest in their facilities and broaden their appeal.”
PadelStars are leading the way in securing the additional padel facilities needed to meet the growing demand, with three sites in Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey already in development. They are also exploring the development of ‘pop-up’ courts that offer a temporary, short-term solution that both tests the market in the locality and provides a revenue and awareness boost for the venue. PadelStars cover all construction and operational costs with zero capital outlay for the club, along with significant rental payments.