Italy growth: Number of padel courts exceeds 10,000 mark

The number of padel courts in Italy is now over 10,000, according to new figures from the International Padel Federation (FIP)’s Research & Data Analysis Department.

The latest figures, released during this year’s Premier Padel BNL Italy Major, held in Rome on 8-15 June, indicates there are now 10,017 courts in Italy, with 45% being indoor (around 4,500 courts) and a total of 3,716 clubs.

Since 2022, when the first Italy Major was held, the number of courts in the country has grown by approximately 29%, from 7,798 that year.

Italy has the second highest number of padel courts in the world, behind Spain, which according to FIP has around 17,000 courts, and ahead of Argentina, which has around 7,000 courts.

FIP also revealed that the region in Italy with the most courts and clubs remains Lazio, with 605 clubs and 2,014 courts (20.1% of the national total), up 30% since 2022, when there were 1,550 courts.

Next is Lombardy with 441 clubs and 1,409 courts, up 51% since 2022, followed by Sicily with 337 clubs and 822 courts. Lombardy is the leader in indoor facilities, with over 1,100 indoor courts, ahead of Lazio (760).

In Lazio, there are 129 municipalities where padel can be played: 55 in the Rome metropolitan area, 24 in Frosinone, 20 in Viterbo, 18 in Latina, and 12 in Rieti. Lazio has one of the lowest court-to-population ratios in the world, with one court for every 2,835 residents.

Rome is the Italian city with the highest number of courts (1,563, including about 600 indoor) and clubs (417), with an average of 3.7 courts per club and one court for every 2,700 residents – the second highest ratio in the country after another province in Lazio, Latina (2,588).

In 2022, Rome had 1,220 courts, meaning the figure has grown by 28% since then. FIP’s data also showed that Rome ranks as the third city in the world, after Madrid and Barcelona, for number of padel courts. Including amateurs and competitive players, nearly 250,000 people play padel in the Italian capital, out of a national total of 1.5 million players – meaning one in six padel players in Italy lives in Rome.

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