Premier Padel, the new circuit of a growing popular sport

In January 2022, rumours of creating a disruptive padel circuit emerged. Shortly afterwards, it was confirmed that the Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) group was launching Premier Padel to compete with the World Padel Tour (WPT). The new organisation is supported by the International Padel Federation (FIP) and the newly created Professional Padel Association (PPA).

The FIP has made no secret of its desire for Premier Padel to replace the WPT as its preeminent competition and revolutionise the sport. However, there is friction between Premier Padel, which has the approval of the PPA, led by Alejandro Galán, and the WPT, which has two more years of an exclusive contract with the players until 2023 with Setpoint Events, owner of the padel circuit. It is expected that the two competitions will coexist on the calendar, and if tournaments of the two organisations coincide on the calendar, Setpoint Events has the preference.

Before creating the new tour, and perhaps because of it, some of the major WPT players created a syndicate to negotiate the sale of image rights and generate more revenue for them. Alejandro Galán, President of the PPA, said: "It is no exaggeration to say that this new project will be a major transformation for our sport; thanks to QSI, our sport and our players will receive the investment, support, experience and expertise needed to take padel to the global stage where it belongs.”

The FIP and PPA jointly submitted a complaint to the European Commission in February against the WPT, arguing that it has a dominant position by preventing the organisation of other competitions and that it "ties padel players to completely illegal exclusivity contracts".

For the 2022 and 2023 seasons, the FIP has announced that at least 10 new tournaments will be held, including four category 1 tournaments called Majors, with the remainder at other levels. According to the FIP, the majors will have prize money of 525,000 euros to be distributed among the participants, which is a record for a padel tournament.

The first was played in March-April in Doha; the Qatar Major broke records with 123 pairs entered, including players from 19 different countries. The second will be at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France, in July. And a third has been announced for November-December in Monterrey, Mexico.

The idea is to increase to 25 tournaments in 2024 when the professional players end their exclusivity contract with Setpoint Events and can be free to tie up 100% with Premier Padel, QSI and the FIP. This is the intention of the PPA, something they have repeatedly mentioned in recent months.

The growing popularity of padel has attracted significant investment and commercial attention. For instance, the PPA and QSI-backed tour has already several broadcasting rights agreements worldwide with companies such as ESPN, Sky Sports, beIN Sports, SuperSport and Viaplay.

According to the FIP, padel is one of the fastest-growing sports globally, with more than 25 million players, which doubled in the past five years. Moreover, the global governing body adds that participation is equally split between men and women, covering all ages and backgrounds. Furthermore, the sport is taking advantage of its momentum, and the FIP is pushing for its inclusion at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

It is uncertain what will happen with the dispute between Premier Padel and the WPT; nonetheless, Padel’s untapped potential for investors and brands is clear. And who knows, we could be in front of one of the most popular sports in the future.?