After exploring the padel boom during the post-Covid period, today we are going to dive into the heart of a new subject: the state of play of the current problem and the risks that there may be on the rise of padel in France, in particular a brake on development by an inability to practice for certain practitioners, due to a saturation of the padel courts.
Demand greater than supply
The race for equipment has had its effect in a few months and has brought to light new issues. Indeed, the growth curve of demand has become significantly higher than that of supply. We now find ourselves in a context of saturation of padel structures preventing some of the practitioners from playing padel and therefore from investing more in this sport.
Padel Magazine is responsible for regularly updating the figures on the evolution of padel. We then note in October 2022 a number of practitioners which amounts to 500. In terms of licenses, we have 113 padel licenses issued in March 000 but this does not include all practitioners with a multi-racket licenseThe number of competitors is also constantly growing, going from around 25 to 000 between September 45 and September 000. This phenomenon is the result of a real popularization of the practice of padel in recent years with a sport that has become fashionable thanks to a technical and physical accessibility that appeals to many.
On the other hand, we also have a developing offer but in a less exponential way. Padel Magazine currently lists 1500 padel courts in France with a target of 2000 courts by 2024, an increase of +195% compared to 2018. We also note a corresponding increase in the number of clubs with more than 500 clubs, 20% of which are clubs only offering padel.
If we compare France's progress at the international level, we observe a delay in the number of runways built. For example, Italy has fewer riders but almost 4 times more trails, which makes you think… Not counting the model of spain where is padel today the second most practiced sport in terms of licenses, with an extremely developed offering. Lately, interest in Padel has spread widely across the European continent as reported Padel MagazineWe particularly notice a strong popularization of padel in Nordic countries like Finland or even Sweden where padel is beginning to be developed considerably.
Uneven distribution of padel development in France
Despite a development that is very present, there are also territories where padel is still little known or is confused with the paddle, another sporting discipline. Indeed, close to the coast it is common for people to think of the nautical discipline when the word "padel" is pronounced and are not even aware that another sport has the same name. I am speaking here from a personal experience where during my university training in Master's in Sports Management in Nantes, I faced this case many times.

We notice that padel is very present and popular in southern regions et major French metropolises (Occitanie, Île-de-France, Bordeaux, Lyon, etc.), but much less in smaller regions, and in coastal and border areas. It is in these specific territories that the room for progress is greatest and that the offer needs to be increased for the long-term development of padelPrivate investors tend to set up around major cities in order to reach as many audiences as possible, but in rural areas, we can assume that investment in padel will be one of the major factors in the development of the offer.

We can clearly see the presence of many clubs on the coast and a rather sparsely populated diagonal from Strasbourg to Bordeaux. However, the percentage of courts and players in the coastal regions (except the south and New Aquitaine) are low because many coastal clubs are tennis clubs that have set up one or two padel courts to satisfy holidaymakers during the summer. This then represents a minority of the offer compared to the large private padel centres with more than ten courts.
What fears and what risks?
The first short-term risk is the loss of practitioners who, due to lack of land and places in the discipline, will get bored and move on to another sport. Clubs try to accommodate as many players as possible, but cannot cope with such waves of crowds. Among the 202 people surveyed in the Orléans metropolitan area, nearly 60 of them would be ready to change their sporting practice if there were not enough places to be able to play padel whenever they wanted. We therefore see an important mission that the FFT and the players it brings together must take on, in increasing the supply and retaining practitioners.

Then, in the medium and long term, we will be able to see a certain loss of momentum in the practice of padel, like other practices in the past such as beach tennis. We will then perhaps talk about a post-Covid fashion effect. If the imbalance between supply and demand is not reduced, it is therefore legitimate to question the viability of padel over time.
Finally, in this specific case, it will then be necessary to find those responsible and the FFT will be at the forefront of criticism. Their system of support for projects created by the clubs may be called into question and we will perhaps wonder if we could have done differently, even if criticism is already present with anti-padel speeches that exist.
Although the project of creating a padel federation is imaginable, it seems that the connection with the FFT is also beneficial. This chapter on the relationship between supply and demand is central to the development of padel in France. Too great a gap between the number of courts and players will not allow the FFT's mission to be viable in the long term, which shows the major role of the latter in supporting projects to increase supply throughout the territory.

In a series of articles, Paul Dornberger shares his research dedicated to the development of padel. This confirmed player in France carried out a study work supported in April 2024 as part of his Master in Sports Management at the UFR STAPS in Nantes.