Players, officials and spectators celebrate after the Greenweez Paris Premier Padel Major 2022 in this file photo.
Doha: Premier Padel concluded its first official season in Milan with great success, after a record-breaking year that has further elevated the sport of padel to unprecedented levels of global exposure, tournament attendance and professional support in all areas.
Premier Padel, governed by the International Padel Federation (FIP), backed by the Professional Padel Association (PPA), and supported by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), has considerably boosted the sport’s growth and potential. Through the establishment of a global circuit, Premier Padel has partnered with an extensive portfolio of international broadcasters and sponsors, taking the sport to 7 countries and 5 different continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America) during this first year’s 8-event calendar.
Premier Padel’s debut season has seen padel in world-renowned venues such as the iconic Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, Rome’s historical Foro Italico, Madrid’s Wizink Center and the Aconcagua Arena in Mendoza (Argentina). These spectacular venues broke spectator records from the outset, including the all-time record attendance at any padel tournament (55k spectators during the Mendoza Premier Padel P1) and the second all-time record attendance at any single padel match (more than11k fans in Mendoza’s final), concluding its first season with over200k spectators across the 8 events.
Global reach: 180+ territories and 6 continents
The tour has also broken new ground in terms of broadcasting and reach, after signing11 multi-yearbroadcast agreements – including global leading broadcasters such as ESPN, beIN Sports, Canal+ and RTVE. During its first season, Premier Padel has beenbroadcast internationally across more than 180 territories and 6 continents, with a household reach of +150M, delivering a truly world-class product to its now much larger audience.
Furthermore, Premier Padel has ensured padel is made as accessible as possible on the global stage thanks to its live streaming deal withYouTube, culminating in over 22M views – 17M live stream viewers – and a total of 6M hours of padel watched.The brand’s rapid digital growth in other official channels (Instagram, Twitter) has resulted in a followers of over 300k accrued in less than a year.
Since its launch in February 2022, the athlete-first strategy has driven the spirit of Premier Padel’s tour,coordinating with the players through the PPA and taking together all key commercial decisions.
The tour’s first season has also focused on enhancing the standards of all competitions, venue conditions and player facilities & services, including the best medical care, access to world-class sports medical centres, and the presence of top medical professionals in every event.
On the economical side, Premier Padel has elevated the sport’s economics to an unprecedented level, paying players fairly and allowing them to develop a career solely committed to padel. Record prize money has been paid, including €525k for ‘Majors’ (Doha, Rome, Paris and Mexico) and €250k for P1 tournaments.
Premier Padel was unveiled early this year, under a brand that captures the dynamic essence and exciting spirit of padel. To date, more than 50 internationally and domestically recognised brands have supported the tour through sponsorship of the events that have taken place so far.
On the other hand, Premier Padel recognises the importance of padel’s ever-growing audience to positively impact on society, with partnerships such as the one established with the World Health Organization (WHO) Foundation. This initiative is focused on raising awareness of mental health, especially in sports, with the joint mission to support and amplify the importance of mental and physical well-being to communities, with much more to come.
Premier Padel is on track to further expand the calendar in 2023 and ultimately establish a 24+ event schedule from 2024, bringing additional tournaments to padel fans in every corner of the world and more importantly to those as yet unaware of the sport. The complete tour calendar from 2024 should cement Premier Padel’s status as the leading global padel tour on all continents.
The tour is dedicated to establishing a women’s equivalent, and is in ongoing negotiations with the IPPA (International Padel Players Association) to ensure it has the women’s circuit on board, a key component for the inclusive expansion of padel for all, worldwide.
