France soon to be overtaken by Germany?

France is a driving force in European padel with its well-established infrastructure and growing popularity. However, Germany, with its meteoric growth, threatens to catch up with it or even surpass it. The 2024 report from PwC for Playtomic shows that this could happen in the fairly near future.

France stands out as the third European padel country, with well-developed infrastructure and plenty of quality land. Efforts to promote the sport, through major events and national tournaments, have paid off, attracting a diverse and passionate player base.

For its part, Germany is also experiencing rapid expansion of its market. Outside of the European Top 3, only Belgium has built more courts in 2023, and it is a country that has already passed the stage of interest, being in full boom.

Different stages of growth

What suggests that France is being overtaken by Germany is based on two facts. To begin with, France discovered padel before its neighbour. It is therefore at a more advanced stage of growth, hence the fact that it already has more courts. Once both nations experience the same enthusiasm, the number of German courts should increase accordingly.

Then, if the demographics of the two countries are similar, Germany has a much higher number of inhabitants. Thus, once padel has reached maturity in both countries, there will mechanically be a stronger demand across the Rhine.

German standards, a brake on development

What is holding back the development of German padel – for the moment – is mainly due to the regulation. Indeed, German sport operates on a different model from France and The taxes to build a padel court are very high.

Most sports facilities in Germany are classified as non-profit organizations. These “non-profit” clubs are not taxed and are subsidized by the government. Therefore, they are not allowed to generate profits and can only charge small amounts for their services.

If commercial organizations come to Germany, they will have to charge much higher prices compared to non-profit clubs in order to recoup their investment.

An overrun before 2030?

According to Playtomic's report, Germany could well overtake France before 2030 if both countries maintain their current dynamism. This competition between the two nations could, moreover, benefit the development of padel at the European level by creating two new behemoths.

Matthias Héjja-Brichard

Padel fan, I offer you my expertise and my passion. See you soon on the slopes!