\u201cThey had 50 applications for their last franchise and\u00a0 the starting bid was $20 million,\u201d Nicolson said.<\/p>\n
Padel has grown in recent years, with an estimated 30 million players globally, after originating in Mexico. In Spain, some studies claim it is the second-most popular participation sport. Spain has the most padel courts in the world (more than 17,000), according to the International Padel Federation, followed by Italy and Argentina.<\/p>\n
In the United Kingdom and U.S., it has become the pastime of choice for celebrities and aristocrats. The Prince of Wales, William, and his Princess Catherine have been spotted playing. David Beckham and Eva Longoria are among those who have caught the bug, while three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, who learned the game while training in Spain, has invested in U.K. operator Game4Padel.<\/p>\n
In the U.S., however, it remains a nascent sport, professionally and recreationally. There is no American among the top 200 men\u2019s players, with world No. 211 Vinny Nahuel Di Francesco one of only two in the top 400. Brittany Dubins is the top-ranked American woman, at No. 93, but also one of only two in the top 400. Sixteen of the top 20 women are Spanish, along with three Argentines and a Portuguese player. In the men\u2019s game, there are 13 Spaniards in the top 20, along with six Argentines and a Brazilian.<\/p>\n
The North American PPL is importing talent to draw interest. Agust\u00edn Tapia, the Argentine world No.1\u00a0 men\u2019s player, has represented the Miami team during the past season, and the women\u2019s No. 3 Ariana S\u00e1nchez competed for the New York Atlantics. The PPL has also taken events outside of North America. The 2025 season took place in Miami, San Sebasti\u00e1n (Spain), Guadalajara (Mexico), The Hamptons (New York) and ended in New York City, at the Hammerstein Ballroom.<\/p>\n
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\n The Pro Padel League has attracted some of its top international stars, including Agust\u00edn Tapia and Jairo Bautista. (Arturo Holmes \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
At the New York City event, tickets ranged from $20 to $190 VIP experiences. Adidas sponsored the court. The total prize pool, combining salaries and performance, was $4 million for the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players are really appreciative that they\u2019re not going to walk away with zero,\u201d Michael Dorfman, the chief executive of PPL, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd there\u2019s an incentive in that they\u2019re motivated to get on the court and perform. The New York City event was $250,000 for the total purse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hosting these events does not come cheap. A spokesperson for the league said the PPL would not share ticketing or financial details for this past season. Dorfman concedes that some events are seen as loss leaders, or, as he puts it, investments.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when we go to Mexico or Spain, it\u2019s a very different story,\u201d he said. \u201cUltimately, we want to build this for a U.S. audience. It\u2019s the largest sports market in the world, for every other sport in the world. We know that\u2019s going to take time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about finding the right blend of events and the right markets, where we can be profitable in some areas and recycle those profits into investments in other markets we believe in the long term will be big. Formula 1 has done a great job. Once they got it to stick in Miami, Las Vegas and Austin, it became a very different property.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some are skeptical of padel\u2019s appeal to a television audience in the U.S., viewing it as more of a hobby than a mass-market media rights proposition. Dorfman believes padel is already proving itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not guessing whether the sport is going to be popular or not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen it rise to an insane level of popularity in over 100 countries and it\u2019s going to be no different here. We have several paid media rights deals already. The vast majority of our viewers today are international. In Mexico, we have a deal for TV that is paid. We have a bifurcated approach where we can monetize the international mature audience for padel while investing in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n
PPL is broadcast on YouTube, Tennis Channel and Telemundo, but these are not paid deals. The league is trying to maximize its market by proving the audience first. This is a common approach for emerging leagues.<\/p>\n
Eisen, the owner of the L.A. team, said media is \u201cthe most important and most difficult\u201d revenue lever to pull, while Nicolson of the Miami team said: \u201cU.S. based streaming numbers have gone up dramatically in the last six to 10 months, which is extremely exciting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a dual exercise \u2014 in showcasing the top players in the world but also introducing a sport to the biggest market in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
PPL has held discussions with streaming platforms for docuseries about players and teams, but one challenge for storytellers targeting a U.S. audience is that few of the PPL\u2019s star players are fluent in English. Eisen also wants to involve stars from different sports in his L.A. ownership, as has become a familiar trend in European soccer. Dorfman points out that padel is hugely popular among F1 drivers, soccer stars and a \u201cwhole lot of NHL players,\u201d while Argentina\u2019s Tapia has linked up with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami\u2019s training complex. Plans are afoot for next summer\u2019s World Cup, which will be hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n
One obstacle for padel in the U.S. is a lack of facilities. Padel courts are smaller than tennis courts, but planning permission is not always straightforward, partly because of the noise caused by the ball striking their walls.<\/p>\n
Dorfman said there are only 700 courts across the country. \u201cThe U.K. has more courts than the U.S.,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re nowhere near where we need to be. From a participatory standpoint, this year will end with around 500,000 participants in the U.S. That was under 100,000 last year. The demand to play padel is really high, but the clubs and the courts are just relatively inaccessible because they\u2019re expensive to build.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were folks expecting to open clubs in six to 12 months, but it is actually taking 24 to 36 months. There are many projects in the pipeline in just about every city in the U.S. but it\u2019s going to take us another year and a half for the majority of those to open.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PPL is seeking to raise more money and wants to be \u201ca cash-flowing business sooner than later,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not in this to have a nice lifestyle business. We want to be a major competitive property on the landscape of spectator sports.\u201d<\/p>\n