The WiZink Center, renamed  Movistar Arena , vibrated in 2024 with a record attendance for padel. On the Saturday of the semi-finals,  14 028 spectators  attended the duels, a figure that illustrates the meteoric rise of this sport in Spain. But can this historic mark be beaten in 2025, when padel is moving into a new dimension?

A historic Saturday: 14 spectators for the padel

Saturday marked a turning point for world padel. With  14 028 spectators  gathered to watch the semi-finals, the Madrid tournament established a  record attendance  which will remain in the memories. This peak of interest is explained by the prestige of the  proposed posters, but also by the general dynamics of padel in Spain , which has become a real popular phenomenon.

Traditionally, the semi-finals attract a larger crowd than the final, because  they offer two very high-level matches per table in a single day . Exceeding the figures recorded at other international events, such as the P1 in Mendoza, Argentina (13 spectators) or even approaching the  15 spectators at the Master Finals of World Padel Tour 2023 , which remains to this day the absolute record in terms of attendance for a padel event.

The Movistar Arena, a temple of affluence

The padel feat is part of a long tradition of sold-out events at the WiZink Center.  This versatile enclosure, now known as the  Movistar Arena , has hosted record attendances over the years in a wide variety of disciplines and registers.
On the concert side,  Maluma attracted 17 spectators  in 2022 with a 360-degree scene, a  record beaten in 2024 by Carin León who gathered 17 people .

On the sporting level, the  Supercopa Endesa of 2019 brought together 12 basketball fans  for a Real Madrid – FC Barcelona final, while more recently, in March 2025, a match of the  Movistar Estudiantes women attracted 13 spectators,  setting a national record for women's basketball.

2025, the year of all records?

The near future  could reserve new heights.  With its name change and repositioning in  Movistar Arena , the Madrid hall aims to  strengthen its attractiveness .

Its modular capacity, which can reach  17 400 spectators , and a rich calendar of more than 200 events announced for the year, place it in a position of global reference.
Concerts by stars like Dani Martín and Joaquín Sabina, scheduled for several dates, could attract exceptional cumulative attendances. But the question remains:  Can padel reach a new milestone and surpass its own record?  For this sport on the rise, reaching or exceeding the symbolic bar of  15 spectators would be an additional milestone  in its development.

Teo Vieau

He discovered padel in 2016 in Nantes and quickly became attached to the game, even climbing to 474th place in France. Commentator on Padel Mag TV, he covers the various tournaments on the French circuit as well as international tournaments organized in France!

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