Luigi Carraro picks out US and India as key future markets for padel

The FIP president and Premier Padel vice chairman has shared further details of plans for the continued global expansion of the sport.

Author

Jonathan Dyson
October 25, 2024

Luigi Carraro, president of the International Padel Federation (FIP) and vice chairman of Premier Padel, has said that the US and India have been targeted as key growth markets for the sport, with plans underway to build on padel’s rapid global expansion over the coming years.

Speaking at the annual sports industry gathering Leaders Week London, held at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham last week, Carraro said that in his roles at the top of both padel’s world governing body and its official global tour he is continually looking for new ways to drive growth for the sport internationally.

The first ever representative of the padel industry to address Leaders delegates, he noted that padel is now played by 30 million people in 150 countries, with 85 affiliated national federations members of the FIP. He also pointed out that Premier Padel is holding 25 tournaments in 18 countries during the 2024 season.

“Our goal is to transform padel into a global sport,” he said. “We want to continue growing in our historical countries, like Spain and Argentina, but we're growing in new markets. Next year we'll have the first Premier Padel event in the US, which is very important for us. We are also working to have something in India, which is another big market that will join. And I believe we have to continue with this [expansion].”

Luigi Carraro, president of the International Padel Federation (FIP) and vice chairman of Premier Padel, speaking at this year’s Leaders Week London. Image credit: Leaders Week London.

In the US, Carraro acknowledged that padel faces strong competition from pickleball, which is played by an estimated 5 million people in the country. By comparison, according to Playtomic’s latest Global Padel Report, at the end of 2023, 100,000 people were playing padel in the country, with the number of courts reaching 454 that year, up from 180 in 2022 and just 30 in 2020.

“Pickleball is very popular, but padel is growing a lot now in the US,” Carraro said. “I’m sure the first Premier Padel event there will be a great success.” Details have yet to be released on the venue and dates for the addition to the global tour in the States, after the move into the country was announced in August.

Carraro also provided an update on padel’s search for a place at the Olympics, with a potential debut identified at Brisbane 2032. He said the FIP is continuing its dialogue with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the prospect.

“Every time I go to an Olympic Games, I say to myself, how is it possible that padel is not there? A sport played everywhere, by men and women, where 50% of the players are men and 50% are women, which is unique. We are played all over the world and we are broadcast all over the world. But I fully respect the IOC procedural. We are working closely with them.”