Nicolas Fauré: “Padel in France has the strongest growth after Italy”

As part of the thirteenth stage of the Cupra Padel Tour à Avignon , we had the pleasure of speaking with Nicolas Faure CEO HEAD France & Spain , which looks back on a year 2024 marked by a exponential growth du paddle . Between the development of new technologies, such as the One Ultralight racket , and the challenges of post-Covid overproduction, HEAD continues to innovate and support both professional players and beginners. Nicolas also reveals the prospects for the years to come, with a particular focus on countries that are still emerging in the world of padel.

2024 results, already very positive

The balance sheet is extremely positive in many aspects. As a leading brand in racquet sports, HEAD places great emphasis on the paddle for its development and growth. We are following the planned trajectory, particularly in countries with strong growth or latent development. In France in particular, I think it is one of the markets with the strongest growth, just behind Italy, which is starting to slow down a little.

The latest innovation: the One Ultralight

This racket reflects all the know-how of HEAD in terms of innovation . We are constantly looking to innovate, not just for players like Arturo Coello , who is very satisfied with our rackets, but also for amateurs and beginners. One of our niches is to develop innovative products for new players. We are in a club here in Padel Provence , where we see a lot of beginners. It is therefore essential to offer technologies adapted to their needs, such as technology One , which had huge success with the Extreme One last year.

With the One Ultralight , we have designed the lightest racket ever seen in padel, at just 300 grams , excluding junior models. It is a perfect racket for those who are new to the sport, or who come from tennis and are looking for lighter rackets.

Nicolas Fauré: "Padel in France has the strongest growth after Italy"

A divided market

Unfortunately, I have no bad news: everything worked well. The market is divided between experienced players, for whom our know-how is recognized, and newcomers to the sport. We have seen a strong development of so-called rackets entry level , because there are many beginners in padel.

We are fortunate to be in a growing sport, with new players arriving every month. We have to respond to them. They can't all start with the racquet of Arturo Coello à 350 grams , hence the need to think about these profiles.

In two years, the crisis will be forgotten

Before Covid , padel was already experiencing global growth. Then the pandemic interrupted this dynamic, leading to a overproduction worldwide. This situation has created a growth crisis for padel.

Fortunately, we have our own factories, which allows us to control production and innovation. For us, this period is almost behind us.

In all honesty, in two years, this crisis will be forgotten. Today, the padel market is 30-40% higher to what it was before Covid, and we still have a lot of room for improvement. For example, there is 2600 padel courts in France salary. 32 tennis .

No: the market is not stabilized, it is growing

No, the market is in progression The overproduction crisis is being resolved, but padel consumption remains exponential . Many countries, such as the German-speaking countries, have not yet fully developed padel, but this will come in the ten years to come up.

Padel exceeds le pickleball , squash , badminton

Today, padel represents the second largest share after tennis , surpassing other sports such as pickleball , squash , Or badminton Tennis is a mature sport, but we are confident that in some countries padel could surpass tennis in the coming years, as has happened in Spain.

Cupra Padel Point : what we are looking for

This is exactly what we are looking for. By partnering with the Cupra Padel Tour , we are getting closer to consumers. During matches, players can test our products and discover our innovations. This is also what we are doing this week at FIP Gold Lyon , a new professional tournament.

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.