The professional circuit of padel, World Padel Tour, goes through a year complicated financial. Fewer tournaments, less audience, will the company get away with it?

World Padel Tour, since 2013, part of the group Estrella Damm. Constantly evolving years to arrive in 2020 with the hope of making a profit.

Bad luck, the Covid-19 appears, and only 11 of the 24 planned stages will be able to take place. In view of the health crisis, the organization could have canceled the season altogether, but with the will, as well as the support of the sponsors and the players, the WPT did everything to allow us to enjoy this spectacle a little.

Numbers:

The Palco 23 site shares with us his recovered numbers from the WPT season. Let's start with the audience. In 2020, only 2 tournaments saw ticketing revenue; Marbella before confinement, and Barcelona with only 9% of the total capacity planned, or around 1000 people in the stands. There is therefore an 80% drop in seat sales, and there is even talk of a 98% drop in sales of VIP seats.

Not having been able to complete all the tests (only 11 of the 24 planned), the rights suffered a loss of 75%, a huge figure for the company.

Fortunately, this year 2020 will have seen an increase in TV rights with the addition of Gol (Spain), Sky (Italy) and NENT (Nordic countries). These rights have brought 38% more than the previous season, a breath of fresh air which encourages us to start again this end of the year.

A Master who will stay in Spain

The Master was supposed to take place in Madrid, but for the sake of conscience and protection of the players in the face of the pandemic, the organization decided to change location, choosing Menorca. Even Sweden had offered to host the Master, but too many “risks” for the players who live, for the most part, in Spain.

And 2021?

25 tests could take place in 2021, but they are not yet formalized because everything will depend on the evolution of the health situation. But we know that the WPT partners will remain present and continue to support the best padel in the world.

More countries, more events, more public and above all more visibility. If everything becomes “normal” again, the 2021 season has a very good chance of being exceptional both for the show, for the new countries involved, and for the finances of the World Padel Tour.

Julien Bondia

Julien Bondia is a teacher of padel in Tenerife (Spain). Columnist and advisor, he helps you play better through his tutorials and tactical/technical articles padel.

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