Executive Summary & Strategic Analysis

Prepared by PADEL1969 | CEO Atte “Alejandro” Suominen | December 2025

Executive Overview

The FIP World Padel Report 2025, presented at the General Assembly in Acapulco, Mexico on November 28, 2025, confirms padel’s position as one of the world’s fastest-growing sports. This second edition of the comprehensive analysis demonstrates remarkable acceleration across all key metrics, validating the sport’s global expansion trajectory.

Key Performance Indicators at a Glance

Strategic Highlights

1. Infrastructure Explosion

The sport witnessed unprecedented infrastructure development in 2025 with 14,355 new courts built globally. Clubs increased by 4,775 units, demonstrating the commercial viability of padel as a business model. Europe leads with nearly 48,000 courts (170% increase since 2020), while emerging markets in Asia, Africa, and North America are accelerating rapidly.

2. Global Geographic Distribution

• Europe: 61.3% of global players – mature market, consolidation phase
• South America: 19% – Argentina remains powerhouse with established padel culture
• Central & North America: 7.7% – Mexico booming, US accelerating (650+ courts)
• Asia: 6.8% – Middle East investment driving growth, China emerging
• Africa: 4.9% – South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia as key markets
• Oceania: <1% – Australia expected major boom in coming years

3. Digital & Media Dominance

FIP’s digital footprint expanded dramatically with 3.8 million unique website users and 70 million page views (10x increase vs 2023). Social media followers surged 400% in two years – from 210,000 (2023) to 850,000 (2025) across Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

4. Professional Circuit Evolution

The three FIP circuits – Premier Padel, CUPRA FIP Tour, and FIP Promises – expanded from 182 tournaments (2024) to 290 (2025), a 59% increase. This growth involves over 11,000 athletes from 91 countries, with Spain (28.7%), Argentina (7.1%), Italy (5.6%), and Portugal (4.5%) leading player representation.

PADEL1969 / CEO Commentary

Atte “Alejandro” Suominen, CEO – PADEL1969

Our Analysis & Market Perspective

The FIP World Padel Report 2025 validates what we’ve observed through our own content research and monitoring systems. The 35+ million player figure represents only the beginning of padel’s global journey. Based on our data analysis, we see several critical insights:

1. Content Demand Surge: The 10x increase in FIP website traffic correlates directly with what we see in news content availability. Our automated systems track significantly more padel news sources than even 12 months ago, indicating growing media attention and audience appetite for padel content.
2. Nordic Market Reality Check: While FIP data shows Sweden’s post-COVID growth, our research reveals a more nuanced picture. The Nordic region (Sweden, Finland) experienced a classic boom-and-bust cycle – rapid expansion followed by market correction. Norway remains a very small market, and Denmark is equally limited in terms of market size. This serves as a cautionary tale: explosive growth doesn’t guarantee sustainability. Content creators should focus on markets with proven long-term trajectories rather than hype cycles.
3. Digital-First Audience: The 400% social media growth validates our multi-platform content strategy focusing on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, and web content. The audience is demonstrably hungry for quality padel content across all platforms.
4. Professional Pathway Maturity: With 11,000+ ranked athletes and the FIP Promises circuit exceeding 2024’s total in just H1 2025, the professional ecosystem is creating legitimate career paths, which will drive grassroots participation.

Looking forward to 2026-2027, we anticipate the 50 million player milestone within 24 months, with North America, Africa and Asia as the key growth frontiers. The Olympic pathway discussions will be pivotal for long-term institutional legitimacy.

Strategic Implications & Opportunities

For Content Creators

• Growing audience across all major platforms presents significant opportunity
• Multi-language content needed as sport globalizes beyond Spanish-speaking markets
• Educational content for new markets (rules, techniques, equipment guides)
• Tournament coverage opportunities expanding with 290+ FIP events annually

For Investors & Developers

• Court construction costs (€25,000-€150,000 per court) with strong revenue potential (€80-€200/hour in major cities)
• High occupancy rates and retention rates exceeding traditional tennis/gym models
• Emerging markets (US, UK, Germany, Asia) represent greenfield opportunities
• Female participation at 40% creates balanced market appeal

For National Federations

• 87 federations now 100+ – clear pathway to FIP affiliation
• Coach licensing programs essential for quality development
• FIP Academy platform launched for referee and coach training
• Junior development (FIP Promises) as key to long-term sustainability

Conclusion

The FIP World Padel Report 2025 documents a sport that has definitively entered its first stage of global maturity. With consolidated markets in Europe, booming development in the Americas, strategic investment in Asia and the Middle East, and surprising emergence in Africa, padel’s trajectory is no longer dependent on initial enthusiasm but on sustainable, data-driven growth.

For stakeholders across the padel ecosystem – from content creators to facility developers to national federations – the opportunity window remains wide open but increasingly competitive. Those who position themselves strategically in 2026 will benefit most from the sport’s continued expansion.

Contact us if you want to build a Padel club and want to avoid most common mistakes. Everything starts with numbers, learn more. You can contact us at [email protected] for more on our advisory services and premium Padel club products like courts, proshop, warm-up area.

PADEL1969 | from Acapulco since 1969.