The Rise of Padel
The Joy of Padel Podcast, hosted by passionate player Minter Dial, recently featured Pablo Carro, co-founder of Playtomic, the world’s leading racket sports booking app. In this fascinating episode, Pablo shares insights about his journey from tennis player to padel enthusiast and entrepreneur, while discussing the explosive growth of padel worldwide and the challenges facing traditional tennis.
Pablo’s story begins with a surprising confession: his tennis-obsessed father initially disapproved of his switch to padel in the late 1990s. “My dad would be very sad about that because he was a tennis lover, the kind of guy who would wake up at 3 AM to watch Rafa Nadal at the Australian Open,” Pablo recalls. Yet he believes his father would now be proud of how Padel has transformed racket sports and made them more accessible to new generations.
The conversation takes an interesting turn when Pablo describes himself as a player. Despite being tall and quick, he admits to being “constantly criticized” for his playing style. As a left-handed player forced to play on the right side by an Argentinian coach, he evolved from an aggressive style to a more defensive one. Minter humorously describes him as “a giraffe that needs to be more like a lion.”
The genesis of Playtomic in 2017 wasn’t about a revolutionary idea, but rather about solving a simple problem: while people could book hotels, movies, and taxis from their phones, they couldn’t book a padel court. Today, the app facilitates 200,000 “open matches” per month – where four strangers meet up to play – showcasing the sport’s unique social aspect.
One of the most intriguing revelations comes from Playtomic’s recent global padel report, created with PwC. The United Kingdom has emerged as a surprise powerhouse in the padel world, with unprecedented growth in commercial clubs. Pablo emphasizes the significance of this development: “If an initiative on sport is successful in the UK, you have the doors open everywhere.” This success is particularly important as it influences Padel’s potential growth in both the United States and Asia.
Speaking of the United States, the podcast reveals some remarkable statistics: 45% of all padel-related Google searches come from America, despite the country having only 454 courts in 2023. Even more exciting, Pablo discloses that 600 new courts are planned for construction in the next 12-18 months. He predicts that states like Texas and California could each have over a thousand clubs within three to five years.
The conversation takes an unexpected turn when discussing the report’s notable omission of Argentina, historically one of padel’s powerhouse nations. Pablo acknowledges this gap, explaining the difficulties in obtaining reliable data from the country. This revelation hints at the complex challenges in tracking the sport’s true global scale.
A particularly relevant discussion emerges when Pablo responds to recent comments by tennis legend Novak Djokovic about tennis being “under threat.” Pablo explains how traditional tennis faces challenges in adapting to modern entertainment demands, where people want to master activities quickly and consume experiences rapidly. This highlights Padel’s advantage as a more accessible and immediately enjoyable sport.
The episode concludes with a fascinating exploration of Padel’s culture and its potential for international growth. However, to find out Pablo’s thoughts on whether there’s a universal “culture of padel,” you’ll need to tune in to the full episode.
Through this conversation, one thing becomes clear: padel isn’t just growing as a sport – it’s revolutionizing how people think about racket sports and social entertainment. With Playtomic’s data showing 1.2 million active users per month across 5,500 clubs in over 50 countries, (at the time of the recorded episode) the platform is both driving and documenting this remarkable transformation in global sports culture.
Try out PADEL1969‘s Padel rackets and see what difference it makes to play with a premium racket.
Need advice about managing a club or installing a Padel court? Click Here to learn more.
Book a call with us if you want to build a Padel court and don’t know where to start or contact us at [email protected] for more on our advisory services.
PADEL1969 | from Acapulco since 1969.
