Interview with Eric Largeron: aid, new date for the GPM, no-ad, coaching, revised P500 prize money?

In this in-depth interview, Eric Largeron, the elected official in charge of padel within the French Tennis Federation, looks back on the challenges and opportunities that padel faces in France. He sheds light on various subjects such as the evolution of padel, the growing number of licensees, the challenges surrounding the development of structures and future projects in terms of tournaments and infrastructure.

110 to 000 members play padel in France

It was the first year of implementing the €20 padel license and we ended up with 38 licensees, knowing that there are a lot of multi-racket licensees who practice padel, which is ultimately between 000 and 110 licensees. We obtained this figure by cross-referencing the ranking, the licenses and the number of times the person put padel as a priority on their Ten'up account.

The positive point is the boom in practice, the explosion in the number of new structures. So maybe other countries are doing better and faster, but I believe I know that some nations are struggling because of too rapid development. The FFT has opted for a controlled increase. There is both the opening of new private structures, mainly padel, but also construction of tracks in tennis clubs.

The development of padel is exponential. This is the word I use very often with the increase in the number of tournaments, the craze around this sport with the appearance of international TV broadcasters like Canal+, Bein Sport… The positive points are therefore very positive.

Construction price inflation is scandalous

The price inflation linked to the construction of padel courts is scandalous. I say it: this hyperinflation does not always seem to me to be connected to reality. But today, we know, the demand is very high and inevitably if the promoters and clubs accept, it is the law of supply and demand.

Today, we are on padel courts that are much more expensive than a tennis court, so it is not satisfactory. The price being a brake, it indirectly limits the development of padel. That is to say that a private person is not necessarily going to invest in any way. And tennis clubs do not necessarily have the opportunity to invest either (town halls are doing it less and less), even if they are much more supported. And it is true that the National Sports Agency has greatly facilitated the acquisition of certain courts in certain places, but they are not the only ones.

The insufficient number of young people

One of the negative points is the insufficient number of young people that we supervise in this sport. There are many reasons. I completely understand that a padel school on Saturday mornings for three-hour slots means losing more lucrative rentals. Sponsorship has its limits and an owner of private structures must find the right balance. Because private individuals also have to make a living from it. So it's complicated. On Wednesdays after 12 p.m., it's still a bit okay because the hours are quieter. However, we don't necessarily have padel leaders or managers who go to the exit of schools with a flyer saying: "come and have your child play", as we do for example for tennis, football or rugby, but I'm sure that with time it will come.

The second negative point is the ladies. The ladies/gentlemen ratio is 15% – 85%. We therefore understand that there is a lot of work to be done at this level to try to achieve balance. However, I think that the figures are a little distorted to the extent that I am certain that the ladies go less towards competition, so the licensing is random.

Are private structures helped?

Private structures that choose to have an association are not helped with creation. However, when they add two or four avenues to increase their activity, we are there. On the other hand, I tell the clubs in Occitanie which are strictly private not to do anything: the association must be distinct because it will manage the federal part of the structure..

The Federation is therefore present to help private individuals, but we must try to correct some abuses. On the other hand, yes it is true that a tennis club that wants to make two padel courts is helped from the start, but the private sector, on the other hand, builds, makes its business plan and if it sets up an association, it can be helped later in the development of its activity.

The GPM is for the moment a loss-making competition, but not for long…

When Gilles Moretton chose to launch the G3PM at the time, it was because he understood, like all of us, that padel was a sport of the future. It wasn't just a fad. It was also important to have an impact on the very complex global chessboard of this sport. It was necessary to make a big event.

And so the big event is to hit hard from the start with padel at Roland-Garros. So here is the first edition in 2022. We knew that it would be a loss (around two million euros). The second will probably be slightly loss-making again. But from the third edition and therefore next year, the balance is expected to then do like Roland-Garros tennis: profits that will feed French padel.

So, despite the fact that there are additional costs that we fully assume such as the appearance of the girls, it was necessary. Despite these additional costs, we were able to organize this event much earlier, much further in advance, with much more anticipation. And so the anticipation made it possible to have a larger number of partners because we are still among the tennis partners, both for the Roland-Garros tournament and for the entire federation.

So then, we have to include padel partners. Now, some of our partners have nothing to do with padel, but others do. We had to work on all that, and I take my hat off to Arnaud Di Pasquale, for whom this was one of the main missions. So we have considerably expanded our partner network. And even if at the beginning of the week, it was not too visible, the filling of the stands, therefore the ticketing, also responded very favorably to our expectations.

public place lacoste Premier Padel 2023 — Premier Padel 2023 at Roland Garros

GPM dates will be changed

The dates of the 2024 GPM will not be the same for a very simple reason: the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the Olympic Organizing Committee will manage the Roland-Garros stadium site until mid-September. For the moment, we are in full reflection, but the last week of September seems to be the preferred track to host this great tournament again.

“We cannot afford to have just one indoor track at the next GPM”

At the end of September, the risk of rain is obviously to be taken into account. We are lucky to have superb infrastructure that could accommodate several indoor padel courts.

The idea is to know how things could happen. You talked about putting two padel courts on the Philippe-Chatrier which is covered, and making the Court Suzanne-Lenglen (also covered), the central court with its almost 10 seats. It's clearly a good idea and I understand what you're saying, but there will also be obstacles.

For example, the central court at Roland-Garros is symbolically the Philippe-Chatrier. Would we be ready to put two padel courts on this historic court and therefore one court on the Suzanne-Lenglen? And we have to think about the village, the Place des Mousquetaires transformed into a guinguette and the spirit that we want to breathe into this event. Is putting the central court on the Suzanne-Lenglen compatible with the spirit of the tournament? For the moment, everything is under consideration and nothing has yet been decided on the form that the next GPM will take. But one thing is certain, we will need several indoor padel courts. We cannot afford to play on one or two indoor courts in 2024.

“A French event during the GPM, to forget? »

First, know that I had proposed for the 2022 edition, a particular tournament during the GPM which was only for men. I had imagined a super feminine P3000. But it couldn't happen and I now understand why.

The spectators come for an international tournament that is perhaps the biggest tournament in the world. Putting a French tournament at the same time, on a side court, is not necessarily great. There could even be confusion among the spectators who are not always up to date with the latest padel news. So in my opinion, even if I hear some players hoping for a French event during the GPM, I don't think it should be done.

On the other hand, the French Championships at Roland-Garros, either before or after the GPM, why not. This could be food for thought. There is a timing problem and therefore that means that we do not necessarily have a lot of choice, which complicates things. I also really respect these French Championships. I think I showed it this weekend.

The idea of taking advantage of the installation of the GPM to put the French Championship in the wake or before, is to be studied. I'm not sure 2024 is the best possible year to do this. But again, this is eventually studied. On the other hand, what I can tell you is that the next Championships will not take place in Toulouse, because several other large structures have emerged, which gives a lot of possibilities.

Prize money removed in the P500?

For the moment, we are staying on the P25, P100 and P250 for the “leisure” and “beginner” events. We will not add a new category with the P50. If tomorrow we continue to have more and more players, more beginners, perhaps this track will be reactivated.

But the idea is not to create a category every year either. On the other hand, today we saw far too many P250s, and especially not enough P500s. This is why the prize money may be removed or revised for the P500 to allow clubs to do more. In any case the National Council of Padel works there. And there may be changes at this level in the next competition guide.

In spirit, the idea is to avoid having players who only travel for the prize money for example. The P500 must therefore be more accessible. But if we see that there are no more P1000 because we make a P500 which still brings 500 points, I think we will have to correct the situation. The problem with padel is that we think, we make a decision and this decision is almost obsolete by the time we apply it because if initially it is to correct, sometimes it can create a new problem. We had removed the prize money in P250 to encourage especially this type of event for the women. Even if I understand it, for the men, it was less necessary and we saw a transfer of P100 tournaments to P250.

But at the FFT, there is really this ambition to do things in a balanced way between the players. The idea of the P500 is also to prevent a club from saying, “ah damn, the club a few minutes from my house is doing a P250 so I can't do a P250. This one could therefore make a P500 more easily.” On the other hand, I remind you that for a P500, there is a cut so not everyone will be able to participate. Finally, to make a P500, you have to be a non-player JAP2 and not a JAP 1, even if I am perfectly aware of the workaround, namely that we are going to use straw JAP 2s for a P500. But the cut in the P500 is important and will allow this event to be maintained as a first real category which is aimed at more regular, more trained players.

“The FFT could evolve towards No-Ad if…”

For the moment, the advantage AND the decisive point exist in France. And it is often the organizers who choose the format according to the category and the need. However, things can change.

The Word Padel Tour and FIP use the deciding point, unlike Majors and national competitions. However the golden point has gained ground, and if tomorrow Premier Padel changed for this system, then the FFT could align.

Coaching for all categories, possible?

For the moment no, for many reasons. And the main reason is that I fear it's a bad idea. If tomorrow the friend can come and coach any pair, this could generate not only a certain disorganization in the tournament, but perhaps even a form of inequality between the pairs who come with a coach and others who do not.

Finally, for the smallest categories, the idea is to keep this freshness. Finally, padel is also a sport where you can chat with your partner during side changes, without absolutely having a coach with you. I'm not necessarily saying I'm against it, but it's not a priority for now.

Finally, to finish, I would like to congratulate the padel team within the FFT who are doing a great job. And today, undeniably, the work is paying off with events that are going very well.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.