How do professional circuits Padel Do they work?

Between its recent structuring and the legacy of a long-fragmented system, professional padel today rests on a more legible organization, even if the general public still has to find its way among all these competitions…

Padel is experiencing massive growth today with approximately  25 million practitioners  in the world, even if the International Federation of Padel ad until  35 million  of players according to the  World Padel Report 2025 .

This figure needs to be qualified, of course, since this report was commissioned by the  International Federation of Padel  herself. Yet, contrary to what one might think, professional padel now functions in a relatively similar way to other sports like tennis, with a  main structured circuit  around the international federation. This organization is, however  recent . There is still  three to four years Several major circuits coexisted and competed directly with each other, notably the  World Padel Tour ,  A1 Padel  and the  Premier Padel Today, the landscape has become much clearer with the  domination of Premier Padel , recognized by the  International Federation of Padel , which centralizes the  world ranking Despite this recent structuring, the overall functioning remains difficult for the  uninitiated .

Current professional circuits

In the world of professional padel, the dominant circuit, currently almost without competition, is  Premier Padel . Founded in  2021  by the group  Qatar Sports Investments he became the  world reference circuit  after the absorption of its former direct competitor, the  World Padel Tour , long the number one circuit, during the previous decade. It is officially recognized by the  FIP allowing its players to be included in the  world ranking The players are  contractually bound  au Premier PadelThis allows them to reduce competition with other circuits by having a  exclusive content on their stars .

Le Premier Padel rests on this  FIP World Ranking  for player participation in its tournaments, only the  best world pairs  participate directly in tournaments. Thus, lower-ranked pairs of players must go through a  qualification phase (which are sometimes called “Previas”).

The tournaments are organized into three levels:  P2, P1 and   majors , to which is added a  Final Masters  at the end of the season. Prize money generally varies from  €250,000 to over €550,000 , while the points awarded range from  500 to 2000 points  for the winner, depending on the importance of the tournament. This hierarchical system allows for structuring the season and clearly differentiating the levels of competition. At the end of the season the  16 best male and female players  of the race ranking, that is to say over a rolling year, compete to win  1500 points  and share an allocation of  600 000€ .

To a lesser extent, the  FIP Tour  is a complementary and essential circuit to professional padel. It can be compared to  Challenger circuit  in tennis, which works in addition to the circuit  ATP It acts as a  gateway to the upper level In practical terms, players participate to earn points that would allow them to access tournaments on the circuit.  Premier Padel .

The tournament structure is different, and the FIP Tour consists of  four categories of tournaments  from  FIP Bronze to FIP Platinum The allocations vary from approximately  €4 to €000 , for point gains between  40 and 300 points  for the winners. This circuit allows for gradual progression towards the highest level.

Thus, these tournaments primarily offer more opportunities to lower-ranked players, since the draws include up to  48 pairs  as in the circuit Premier Padelbut offers  much broader qualifications Some tournaments can have up to more than  100 pairs entered Overall, this circuit provides playing time for players and allows young talents to emerge and reach the elite of world padel. Without this circuit, it is virtually impossible to break into the professional circuit.  Premier Padel .

Following on from the FIP TOUR, the  International Federation of Padel  has also set up a circuit dedicated to young players: the  FIP Promises It represents the first step towards the top level and is aimed at  world's best talents  in training. Unlike professional circuits, it does not offer  no remuneration The primary objective being the  development of young players  at the International scale.

The FIP Promises is organized around  four age categories: U12, U14, U16, U18 Thus, players generally progress through different categories over the years, while retaining 10% of their points earned in their previous age category. But they may be required to participate in tournaments of a  superior category twice during the season according to the regulations, in order to accelerate their progress.

From  2026 the circuit is structured on a scale  Continental  with  4 areas  :  Africa, Asia, America and Europe each with its own  own ranking  and its competitions. At the end of the season, the 8 best pairs from each continent qualify for  Continental finals bringing together the world's elite in each category.

The ranking system is based on a logic similar to the professional circuit, taking into account the  best results over a rolling period Points are awarded based on tournament performance, ranging from  200 to 600 points  prizes to be won by the winners depending on the type of tournament.

Thus, the FIP Promises constitutes a true  springboard to the top level allowing young players to accumulate international experience before joining the  FIP Tour , and eventually the  Premier Padel .

The missing circuits

Before the arrival of modern circuits, the first truly structured circuit was the  Padel Per tour , launched in  2005  and primarily located in  Spain It was based on several categories of tournaments, with a hierarchy that was still limited but already structured, and points awarded according to the importance of the competitions, generally between  a few hundred and a little over 1000 points  for the most prestigious. The financial endowments remained modest, generally ranging from  €20 to €000  depending on the tournaments. This circuit laid the foundations of modern professional padel before disappearing in  2013 , in particular by structuring a calendar and a ranking, before the arrival of a more developed organization on an international scale.

When we think of the old circuits, it is impossible to ignore the  World Padel Tour , as it was the world reference for a long time before merging with the circuit  Premier Padel . Founded in  2013 It was the most important circuit in the world until its demise in  2023 . The World Padel Tour has thus taken over from  Padel Per tour  en  2013 by further professionalizing the circuit and developing its media coverage. For several years, it established itself as the  world number one circuit , before finding itself in direct competition with the  Premier Padel  et  A1 Padel  with some local  2021 This competition has weakened its position, particularly with the gradual departure of  best players  toward Premier Padelattracted by  larger endowments  and institutional support via the  International Federation of Padel Faced with this loss of attractiveness and difficult-to-sustain economic competition, the World Padel Tour was finally  bought by Premier Padel This operation made it possible to  reunite the world elite  under a single circuit, putting an end to the  fragmentation of professional padel  and reinforcing the  dominant position of Premier Padel .

The circuit offered several types of tournaments, including the  Open and Masters , and a  Final Masters  at the end of the season. The prize money generally ranged from  €100 to €000 , for point gains between  500 and 1700 points  to the winner, according to the categories. As on Premier Padel Currently, the season ends in finals called  Masters Finals taking place between the  16 best players .

More recently deceased, the A1 Padel , formerly called  APT Padel Tour  before  2023 , was a rival circuit to the WPT. It was created in  2020  by  Fabrice Pastor  which had decided to internationalize padel with tournaments mostly outside of Spain and was more open to players. Its ranking system was unique, like the  World Padel Tour they operated outside the rankings  FIP  as the Premier Padel at present. Today, suspended from  2025 , after a return announced to  2026 No communication has been made on the official accounts of the circuit for a long time, and the tournaments are at a standstill.

The circuit was structured around tournaments.  Open, Master and Grand Master The allocations ranged from approximately  €50 to €000 , with point gains ranging from  1000 to 2000 points  for the most important tournaments. As in other circuits, one could find a tournament  Masters Finals  at the end of the season composed of  16 players  with up to  €100,000 prize money  for players with  650 points  a key for the winner.

Exhibition circuits

Outside of the main circuits and the ranking system  FIP There are also much smaller tournaments, often held outside the regular season, allowing players to play matches.  unofficial . These exhibition tournaments are often organized by  sponsors ,  trademarks  or in  private organizers  and are composed solely of  Star players invited  by the organizer. This then makes it possible to attract the public despite a  sporting stakes virtually non-existent These tournaments often have different rules than those found on the professional circuit throughout the season.  shorter sets ,  super tie-breaks and all this with the aim of making the matches more spectacular.

Despite the lack of sporting stakes, the financial stakes are significant for the players because the  Cash prizes can reach over €100,000 per player And all this with a  less physical exertion  because, very often, remuneration is independent of the result. The purpose of these exhibition tournaments is quite different: to provide a  international visibility  and total  commercial attractiveness  for padel, by bringing in particular stars from the world of sport, outside the world of padel, to be present at the tournaments to attend and provide outside perspectives.

Among the best known, the  Reserve Cup  is organised by the Reserve group in collaboration with private stakeholders in sports and entertainment, and chaired by the American basketball player,  Jimmy Butler It takes place mainly in  USA  and offers a format  by teams  with short and dynamic matches. Several players from  world top  regularly participate, attracted by  important stamps  and media exposure in the North American market.

La  Hexagon Cup , organized in  Madrid , is based on a format of  Franchises  owned by prominent figures in sports and business. Among those involved are, notably  Rafael Nadal ,  Pierre Gasly ,  Robert Lewandowski  or,  Andy Murray who own teams. The competition mixes  professional players ,  young talents  and sometimes guest profiles, with a short format and a  total endowment exceeding one million euros The goal is to create a hybrid product combining sport and entertainment.

La  World Padel League  is organized by private promoters and has recently developed in  India , with an edition based in  Mumbai,  It adopts a format  by teams  with fast-paced, scripted matches, aiming to develop padel in the Indian market. Several players from  world top  participate in it, in a context where the  spectacle dimension  premium on the sporting stakes.

Le  SA Invitational  is a one-off event organized in  South Africa aiming to promote padel on the African continent. It brings together  Invited professional players with adapted match formats and  attractive stamps , within a framework of local sports development.

Finally, the  Pro Padel League based primarily in  USA , operates on a model of  league  with teams representing different cities. Organized over several stages with a  overall ranking It draws direct inspiration from American sports leagues. It attracts  renowned professional players , while seeking to sustainably structure padel in the United States.

Thus, professional padel consists of a system  very structured  and which evolves over time, but which can still be  very difficult to read  without understanding its internal mechanisms. So padel may still seem very complex to the general public, but it is surely heading in the right direction towards the  prosperity  of his sport at the professional level.

Hugo Duchaussoit

A lover of sports and great stories, I discovered padel on television during the Paris Major. I bring a fresh and curious perspective to the sport. Padel MagazineI rely on my storytelling skills to tell the story of padel in a different way, getting as close as possible to the emotions and stories that make this sport so vibrant.

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