» Padel is currently the fastest-growing sport in the world, with over 25 million active players across 110 countries «
from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) revealed that, at the end of 2024, more than 400,000 people in the UK played padel at least once in the preceding 12 months – up from 15,000 in 2019, 89,000 in 2021 and 129,000 at the end of 2023. This growth is supported by expanding infrastructure, with 893 padel courts now available across 300 venues in Britain. As of February 2025, the LTA has invested around £6 million towards the growth of padel across Britain, including £4.5 million towards the development of 80 courts at 42 venues – representing approximately 10% of all padel courts nationwide. In 2023, it was announced that QSI would acquire World Padel Tour to create a single global professional padel tour – called Premier Padel – governed by FIP. From 2025, Premier Padel includes 24 tournaments in 16 countries, as the tour continues to grow the sport in new territories and in every dimension. Hitting the airwaves Globecast is a major provider of media integration and managed services platform for broadcast, media and entertainment, and has been an important part of padel’s media-tech journey. “Padel is very exciting. They have actually opened up a new court just down the road from me and people are going berserk for it,” begins Steve MacMurray, head of digital media development at Globecast. “It’s the world’s fastest-growing sport and is incredibly accessible for everyone. It’s traditionally very popular in hotbeds of Spain and Italy, but it has really taken off in the UK and elsewhere. One of the advantages of the game is that it’s really enjoyable for people to pick up, especially for people like me who aren’t great at serving. Premier Padel also has the appetite to essentially be an Association of Tennis Professionals equivalent. Its aim is to really gain traction as the number-one tool for padel and to develop the stars
ON THE WORLD STAGE The Premier Padel tour features 24 tournaments spanning 16 countries
playing. It has had a huge amount of backing from the tennis world, as well as other high-profile sports figures.” The sport is broadcast worldwide on Red Bull TV and YouTube, as well as other platforms. Red Bull TV will cover every stop of the Premier Padel tour throughout the 2025 season, with quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals livestreamed for both the men’s and women’s competitions. “There’s a good relationship between the people who want to consume that content and the sport’s growth as it becomes established as a televised sport,” adds MacMurray. “What makes it well suited to that growth is the fact that you can get three padel courts in the space of an outdoor tennis court. So, it’s a great way of converting a potentially underutilised resource at a sports centre or local facility and get people out there and active. Once you’ve played the game, you get a taste for it and it’s really good for that to translate into you wanting to watch it and follow the action.” The sport is also starting to gain massive traction in the US. “Pickleball is very popular there at the moment, but without sounding cliché, this is a whole different ball game,” says MacMurray. “It’s really starting to
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