Le Padel is a racquet sport combining tennis, squash and badminton, taking place on a court surrounded by windows and gates. This sport was born in Marbella, Spain and now has more than 3.5 million players. This sport has seduced since its inception, South America, Spain, then Europe.

It has become the national sport in Argentina with more than 4 million players and this country hosts with Spain the World Padel Tour since 2005. During these last 10 years, many European countries like France, Sweden, Belgium, Italy and England have seen a real future business in this sport which is developing month by month.

Thanks to its success, today the Padel is played by more than 10 million players and is becoming the fastest growing sport in the world. To allow its development the Tennis Federation takes under its control the development of Padel at national scale.

Thanks to this strong development in France, the number of clubs Padel has increased and the number of Padel has grown by around 90% since 2009, from 29 courts to Padel in 2009 to 382 courts in April 2017. As well as, the number of Padel going from 15 in 2009 to 172 in 2017. France hopes to achieve an evolution of 500 additional clubs of Padel in France and 1000 courts of Padel in 2 years.

It is important to know that this development does not meet a market demand because when you ask someone the question “Do you know the Padel ? ”, He will usually respond“ Yes, it's like a surfboard isn't it? ”. So, people don't know about this sport, that's why the creation of a club Padel does not respond to a demand, but rather to the creation of a new offer which appeals to many French people every year.

In addition, the emergence and the strong development of this new sport, leads us to reflect on the relations and the different interactions that consumers can have with the producers on this new practice from a sporting and social point of view. Thus, determine the factors and drivers that allow this emergence. This marketing and sociological aspect of this study will accompany the analysis on the role of commercial structures and the different actors that allowed the emergence of this sport.

Thus, in this study it will be important to analyze the different actions of clubs of Padel that emerged in France and the role of the various structures in this market. In addition, we will see if the attractiveness and accessibility of this sport can attract enough investors and partners to support its development.

Thanks to all these study questions, a problem can be identified: understanding the emergence of Padel as a sport and social practice and associated market development?

Tanguy Le Roux

Student in Master 2 entrepreneurship and innovation at IESEG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT in Paris and passionate about sport, I decided to devote my end-of-study thesis to the emergence of padel in France as a sport and social practice and the associated market development. Having lived 22 years in Morocco and for 5 years in France, I am delighted to be able to share my skills.

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