Padel Is the World's Fastest-Growing Racket Sport, and It Still Runs on Group Chats

Padel's growth over the last few years is the kind of stat that sounds made up until you check the source. Industry estimates compiled in reports like the FIP World Padel Report put the global player base at more than 35 million, up from an estimated 25 to 30 million just a couple of years earlier. Courts have followed a similar curve: reporting suggests upward of 77,000 courts across roughly 150 countries, with well over 14,000 of those built in a single recent year.

The growth isn't evenly spread. Europe still holds the largest share of courts, roughly two-thirds of the global total by most estimates, with Spain as the sport's historical center of gravity. But the fastest relative growth has been elsewhere: the US in particular has been cited as growing from roughly 100,000 players to something closer to 500,000 in about two years, and the UK reported well over 400,000 first-time players in a single recent year.

None of that growth came with a matching investment in the systems around the sport. Court numbers scaled fast because building a padel court is relatively quick and cheap compared to other racket sports facilities. What didn't scale at the same pace: consistent rating systems, reliable ways to find a fourth player, and any shared standard for what a given club's level actually means, which is exactly the gap covered in our piece on padel's level system.

Tournament activity backs this up too, with FIP-organized events reportedly up around 59 percent year over year, a sign the competitive side is scrambling to keep pace with casual demand.

A sport that grows this fast eventually catches up on the organizational side, the same way tennis did decades ago with leagues and a standardized rating system. Padel is partway there with things like open-play formats and club apps, but finding a genuinely fair, reliable game still depends heavily on which club or group chat you happen to be in. Rally is built for exactly that gap: matching padel players by real level regardless of which club they walk into.

For a closer look at one specific market, see our breakdown of US padel growth in numbers. And if you're new to the sport's level system entirely, that's covered in our padel levels guide.