Italy is the European country where the number of tracks is increasing the most. Long confined to Rome, the padel is now spreading throughout the territory, and to see the figures, it would seem that the padelmania is not ready to stop in such a good way.

A considerable increase

We you we were talking about it a few days ago, in Italy on padel enjoyed unprecedented success. Propelled by footballers, who see it as a playful and fun sport, the little yellow ball would generate up to 700 million turnover.

And for good reason, we have been able to observe that the number of plots built on the whole of Italian territory has increased by 53% between 2021 and 2022, thus going from 4669 to 7128. With 2459 new leads, the resources invested by private investors are considerable. More than 90% of facilities with pitches padel are multisport clubs or clubs dedicated exclusively to the discipline (2520 structures in total). The others are hotels – resorts and other campsites (4,2%). And only 1,1% of the land belongs to the municipalities.

PADEL - ITALY - ROME - LAZIO - DECEMBER 2020
Two magnificent tracks of padel in a club in the Roman region

Rome still leading, but...

It is quite logically the Lazio region which currently has the most tracks on its soil. Between 2021 and 2022, the evolution was still upwards (+28%). The capital and the surrounding towns therefore have a total of no less than 1639 plots. Nevertheless, although this increase should not be overlooked, it remains the smallest percentage in the country, just ahead of that of Valle d'Aosta (+13%). This figure is due to the fact that the padel is spreading more and more throughout Italy while it is already very established in the Roman region.

Lombardy is also becoming a major player in the padel on the national territory. Indeed, in 2022, 120 new clubs opened their doors to aficionados, representing a growth of 66% (872). It is followed very closely by Sicily and Piedmont, which respectively total 710 (+45%) and 519 tracks (+60%). Special mention to the regions of Campania, Tuscany and Puglia which have seen spectacular increases in the number of tracks:

  • Tuscany: 419 (+79%)
  • Campania: 392 (+92%)
  • Puglia 388 (+105%)

These figures show that the padel covers the whole country, far from being limited to Rome and its region.

Slowing growth

Despite resounding success, we note that the growth of new clubs in 2022 marked a slight drop of 6% compared to 2021. In the last quarter, “only” 146 new clubs were born, compared to 300 a year earlier: it is 51% less, and even 60% in the center of the country.

Several reasons could explain this slowdown.

On the one hand the slowness of the administrative procedures to obtain building permits. But also the increase in costs concerning the management of the structures. Indeed, for several months now, private infrastructures have been suffering from terrible additional energy costs as well as an increase in the purchase prices of padel.

Finally, another potential explanation is a “post-Covid” effect. It should be remembered that between 2020 and 2021, many football or basketball clubs or sports arenas remained closed due to barrier measures. At that time, the padel had managed to pull out of the game by remaining accessible. Now that the pandemic is behind us, it seems that the craze for this sport has (very) slightly subsided.

More details (in Italian) on the Md websitepadelpaddle boarding

Sebastien Carrasco

Future naturopath and passionate about padel, Seb is the health/food gentleman of Padel Magazine. He juggles between pala, quinoa and essential oils. For almost two years now he has been dealing with the news of the little yellow ball with the same passion.

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