New report outlines padel’s 'zeitgeist' moment in UK

Padel is experiencing a “zeitgeist” moment in the UK as the popularity of the sport continues to grow rapidly, according to Ray Algar, the author of the first UK Padel Report.

Published by Oxygen Consulting, the 94-page report – the first comprehensive examination of padel’s development in the UK – was launched at an event in London hosted by the real estate services firm Savills on 8 April, attended by around 90 senior figures from the padel industry in the UK and elsewhere.

The report found there were an estimated 710 padel courts in the UK as at the end of 2024, up from 187 in 2021, representing a CAGR of 56% over four years. The figure was based on an average of available year-end estimates from a variety of sources.

Between 2016 and 2020, the number of courts rose from 40 to 88 – a CAGR of 22% over five years.

Algar pointed to the Covid-19 pandemic as a turning point, with analysis of Google Trends illustrating a “post-pandemic wellness shift” from around October 2021 as more people sought healthier lifestyles and new ways to be active, and a greater desire for “competitive socialising” as an alternative to just meeting to eat or drink.

These shifts, combined with growing celebrity and social media influence and the attraction of the sport to new investors, have helped drive padel’s phenomenal growth since the pandemic.

Algar said it was a “zeitgeist” moment, describing such a shift as being “when a sport connects socially, emotionally and culturally”.

The UK Padel Report pointed to further signs of the potential for padel to continue its rapid expansion, with survey data suggesting that padel is beginning to substitute tennis. Of the padel players questioned in the research, 26% said they intend to play less tennis in the future.

The survey also found that most people are playing padel due to “intrinsic factors” such as the sheer enjoyment of the sport, more than “extrinsic factors” like the opportunity to socialise or improve their appearance.

Looking ahead to the next five years, the UK Padel Report provided three scenarios for padel court growth by the end of 2029:

“Conservative” – up 10% to 1,143 courts; 16 courts per million people.

“Ambitious” – up 20% to 1,765 courts; 25 courts per million people.

“Transformative” – up 30% to 2,656 courts; 38 courts per million people.

Algar said padel’s development in the UK will largely depend on the strategies of the major operators, including their pricing models, and the extent to which participation spreads across the country.

The report found that 91% of padel courts in the UK are in England, and that there are 278 courts in London and the south east, 130 in the north, 117 in the south west, 68 in the east and 50 in the midlands.

As previously revealed by Padel Business Magazine, the report discovered that padel venues are currently 6.5 times more prevalent in England’s most affluent neighbourhoods than in its most deprived areas.

The analysis used the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), a government measure that ranks neighbourhoods based on factors such as income, health, education and housing to identify areas of relative deprivation.

The report also found that from its survey of padel players, the biggest access barriers to playing the sport are a lack of courts and an inability to book a court, while the biggest cost barrier is the hourly court fee, followed by padel membership fees and travel costs.

“Scarcity and pricing are shaping access. How inclusive do we want padel to be?,” Algar said.

·    Read our interview with Ray Algar, the author of the first UK Padel Report, here: UK Padel Report author spots opportunities for growth amid elitist concerns 

·    For further analysis of the UK Padel Report, and to join the conversation, follow Padel Business Magazine on LinkedIn

·    To purchase the UK Padel Report, visit: Strategic sports & fitness industry reports | Oxygen Consulting

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