We Are Padel, one of the largest private padel centers in Europe, risks closing half of its clubs in Sweden… 

Could Sweden be the mirror of the future of padel France? The question is worth asking, as we learn that the Swedish franchise We Are Padel (WAP) could close about half of its roughly 80 complexes. In question, insufficient profitability and losses of 1,4 million euros per month across the country, or nearly 17 million per year.

This information comes from the Swedish site Padelfever, and taken over by PadelHigh in English. WAP employs around 300 people in Sweden, some of whom could lose their jobs. The cause of the financial losses? A supply of courts that exploded in 2021, with in particular “public” clubs with lower prices and which are not subject to the same profitability imperatives as the private sector. Today, there are around 3500 padel courts in Sweden, or one court for every 3000 inhabitants! In France, it is more like one court for every 50 inhabitants…

Energy too expensive, rents too high

Another blow is linked to the war in Ukraine and the explosion of energy costs, most often essential to heat padel halls, in this country where it is very cold. WAP is also trying to renegotiate downward the rental prices of its padel halls.

Some of the cities where WAP operates in Sweden

We Are Padel belongs to the LeDap group (or Padel in slang). As we indicated in this article, this group operated more than 90 centers and 600 padel courts at the end of 2021, under the We Are brands Padel (Sweden), Just Padel (Norway), Padel Finland Club, Padel Tampere, ProPadel (Finland), Padel Zone (Austria), etc. LeDap even planned to double its activity in 2022, with more than 200 sites and 1700 padel courts.

In one Facebook post, our colleague Romain Taupin evokes “an earthquake in the world of padel”, believing that “competition from public tennis clubs in Sweden has created too much supply in relation to demand”. He sees both “Bad news and good news”, likely to convince “Private entrepreneurs need an intelligent and grouped development of padel, which follows a strict economic logic, far from the fantasies of becoming a millionaire”.

Romain Taupin, Padelonomics

In France, watch out for breakage

The financial setback affecting We Are Padel in Sweden clearly shows that as strong as the global growth of padel is, its development cannot avoid thinking about the number of courts, the locations where they are set up and the preferred economic model.

With some 1400 pitches today, France is behind Sweden. But given the historical coexistence between private operators and associative clubs – where public money partly finances the infrastructure – it is essential that the FFT and the Ministry of Sports supervise and regulate the future constructions and development of this sport. Otherwise, in France too, there will be damage!

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme fell into the padel pot in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves with a pala in hand! A journalist in Alsace, his only ambition is to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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