Padel news: UK padel participation more than doubled in 2025 as sport breaks into the mainstream
New UK data from Playtomic, the world’s largest racket-sports booking and community platform, reveals that participation in the sport more than doubled in 2025, underlining padel’s emergence as one of the UK’s fastest-scaling sports.
According to Playtomic’s UK platform data, the number of players booking courts rose from 76,695 in January 2025 to 172,564 by December, representing growth of approximately 125% across the calendar year.
Rising demand for padel
New player acquisition also accelerated sharply during the year – the number of first-time players booking through the platform rose from 17,196 in January to 37,411 in December, an increase of approximately 117%.
This sustained influx of first-time players indicates widening awareness of the sport beyond its early adopters.
The rise in participation was mirrored by rapid expansion in infrastructure.
The number of active padel clubs on the Playtomic platform increased from 129 to 288 during the same period, while the total number of courts more than doubled from 529 to 1,130 as operators responded to sustained demand.
Monthly bookings also surged.
Court bookings increased from around 140,000 per month at the start of the year to more than 360,000 by December, growth of more than 2.5 times across the year.
Crucially, average player frequency remained broadly stable at around four sessions per month throughout the year.
Even as tens of thousands of new players entered the sport, engagement levels held steady, suggesting the sport has moved beyond novelty and into regular sporting habits.
Most social padel nation
The data further highlights padel’s growing social dimension.
Open Matches, a Playtomic feature that allows players to join organised games across clubs and connect with people they had not previously met, doubled to around 90,000 per month by the end of 2025.
Based on the proportion of Open Matches relative to total bookings, the UK now ranks as the most social padel nation worldwide on the Playtomic platform.
Regionally, London remains the UK’s largest padel market by bookings and players, followed by Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, and Derby, demonstrating strong growth across multiple urban centres.
Playtomic currently supports an estimated 80% of UK padel clubs through its booking and community platform, providing one of the most comprehensive views of participation trends in the country.
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Becoming a mainstream sport
Alan Douglas, UK spokesperson for Playtomic, said: “The pace of growth in the UK over the past 12 months has been exceptional.
“What stands out is not just the rise in player numbers, but the consistency of engagement.
“Players are not simply trying padel once, they are building it into their weekly routines – that consistency is a strong signal that the sport is firmly entering the mainstream.”
Pablo Carro, co-founder and CCO of Playtomic, added: “The UK is now one of the most dynamic padel markets globally.
“When participation, infrastructure, and player behaviour all accelerate together, it points to a market with real scale and long-term potential.
“The UK’s trajectory over the past year places it amongst the most exciting padel ecosystems worldwide.”
Playtomic is the world’s largest padel booking app, supporting clubs with booking, payments, competition management, and community-building tools across multiple international markets.
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