2025 was a breakout year for padel and the year ahead looks set to be even bigger

Read the thoughts of our CEO, Michael Gradon, on the successes of 2025 and what's set to be another exciting year ahead -

If 2024 was the year padel arrived on the scene for many people, then 2025 is the year it truly announced itself.

Across the UK, and beyond, people are picking up rackets and discovering the truly addictive nature of the sport. Participation levels are surging, new venues popping up all over and the culture of padel has shifted from niche curiosity to mainstream demand at an extraordinary pace.

And I’m proud to say that at Game4Padel, we’ve had the privileged position of not just observing this boom but shaping it. We believe that back in 2019-2022 when padel was still unknown we played a pivotal role in promoting awareness of the sport with coverage across BBC/ITV/CNN/SKY TV, and national/regional media plus the UK's biggest ever padel exhibition in the heart of Europe's largest shopping mall Westfield, Shepherds Bush.

This year, we’ve opened a record number of new venues. From Dundee to Brighton, we’ve now got 26 venues across the UK, four overseas and a bulging pipeline for 2026.

Every court we open welcomes new players, from beginners with no sporting background to those looking for that competitive edge to take their game to the next level. And that’s the beauty of padel. It’s open to everyone, no matter your age or sporting prowess, it’s incredibly easy to play but impossible to master!

And our data backs up this story, with around 110,000 members of the Game4Padel UK community now and over 600,000 players on our courts this year. These aren’t just metrics. They tell the story of a sport and a brand embedding themselves into daily lives and social routines.

But scale and strengthening our position as the largest and fastest growing padel club operator in the UK isn’t the story. It’s about what this scale enables us to do.

Our pay to play model ensures costs are kept as reasonable as possible at a time when courts are pricing many out of the sport and places a huge focus on building communities at our clubs, where all are welcome and can enjoy the wonderful social benefits of padel.

And behind this approach is a team built to scale. In 2025, we’ve welcomed a wave of new colleagues, bringing in industry experts in finance, franchising, marketing and digital, as well as a host of venue coordinators whose energy, creativity and enthusiasm has helped propel us forward at a crucial stage of our journey.

I’m also incredibly proud of the efforts of the team to lead the way when it comes to coaching. Just last month, we passed the significant milestone of over 250 coaches trained and certified through our pioneering coaching programme-more than any other organisation. We have then hand-picked coaches to build thriving communities at our clubs, helping to nurture the sport from the grassroots up.

I’m also a big believer that if you’re not growing you’re moving backwards, which is why innovation and creativity have played such a central role in our successful 2025. There’s probably no greater showcase of this than the THG SMASH court we built in Manchester. In conjunction with the leading creative studio, home of Gary Neville's Overlap podcast, and backed by Google and YouTube, we’ve created a pioneering space with world-class content at its heart. The digitally immersive space is ideal for brands looking to leverage the many benefits of padel and I think it’ll play a huge role in widening the appeal of the sport throughout 2026. The court  is also the first outside the Premier League to use this cutting-edge Google edge tech to analyse player’s games.

Beyond these shores, we’ve strengthened our international footprint with market-leading clubs in Australia, including a flagship venue at one of the most prestigious shopping centres in Melbourne which further underlines the global appetite for padel and Game4Padel’s role in serving this and the unique opportunity to shape this burgeoning market.

As if there wasn’t enough to shout about, we also recently welcomed Brit Award-winning artist Aitch as an investor. His love of the sport and passion for our brand signals padel’s crossover into youth culture, attracting new audiences and underlining its appeal well beyond traditional sporting circles. This investment was alongside our latest funding round, which has generated a further c£2m to supercharge our growth and investment, with a plan already well-advanced  for  much more funding early in 2026.

All of this underscores why Game4Padel stands apart in the world of UK padel. We’re proud to be the leading padel club operator in the UK and determined to use our expertise and insights to not only grow padel but shape its exciting future.

2026 promises to be even more remarkable as we explore opportunities with universities, an expanded coaching pathway, investment in our team, tech and tools and of course, more venues and G4P communities across the country.

Our vision is clear – padel needs to be accessible and inclusive for all, ensuring that everyone can join the exciting padel journey and experience the fun for themselves.

If 2025 was the year padel announced itself, then 2026 is going to be the year it truly becomes unstoppable. The sport is on a trajectory few sports ever experience and with the largest network, strongest foundations and a global mindset, Game4Padel is ready to lead this exciting next era of padel.

Michael Gradon is CEO at Game4Padel.