Instagram interview with Vincent Laureyssens, President of World Padel Tour Belgium, which reviews the impact of the coronavirus on the organization of the event.

  • Concerning the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the Belgian tournament

The crisis has changed sporting events quite a bit. And all the international tournaments of padel scheduled for 2020 are canceled. And the resumption of the WPT being behind closed doors, it is in any case impossible for us without ticketing, since the budget of an Open tournament is 450 €, it cannot be profitable without “ticketing”.

In Belgium, it is impossible to go in camera, and it is to give an image to the padel that we do not want to give. I understand in Spain that we do it to allow the public to follow matches in streaming, but here it is not possible.

I think we will have to start from scratch in 2021, with an exhibition, bring the public back, almost free of charge, VIPs, sponsors… Redo what we did on the Place de la Monnaie in 2019. Here we are back back, the crisis halted the development of padel. It is out of the question to do an Open which would make us lose 200 €.

  • Regarding what was originally planned

We are lucky in Brussels to have the Tour & Taxis area, a magnificent space, which had just been renovated, it is the old ferry terminal, 22m high, it looks like new air, 6m² on the ground . We were the first to launch an international event for the renovation of this building. It was all there. We followed the investment of Philippe Werts, which was initiated in 000. We took that up, we had the sponsors, we had everything. The coronavirus crisis has swept everything away, today people have less income, companies are weakened and their budgetary priority does not go to sponsorship. There we start from zero in a way.

My dream would have been to postpone the event but I don't see how I can go to companies that have suffered from the crisis to ask them to sponsor an event of padel, which is a developing sport.

  • How does a “small country” like Belgium manage to organize such competitions? 

Philippe Werts was helped by his sister who was in a ministerial cabinet for everything related to IT. I had a bank that could sponsor us. All the success of 2019 meant that the ministers were ready to subsidize us. The sum of what we were promised was reasonable, by selling 5000 tickets at 15-20 € to be balanced in our budget.

The possibility of an Open allows you to reach in addition to Belgium, the North of France, Luxembourg, the east of Germany, the Netherlands. Over the past 2 years, we have developed a fairly aggressive marketing-communication strategy in clubs. We had planned buses from the clubs. We have an organizing committee of around XNUMX very active and passionate people.

To succeed in such an event, you must federate the clubs, you must have the federation and the clubs with either. We do this passionately, with passionate people. To succeed in a WPT event, you must have the full support of the federation, and have at least 80% of the clubs with you.

  • Regarding the communication strategy

When we thought about 2019 and 2020, we thought that the best way to find the clubs and the players of padel, it was to find people who energize the padel, organizers, club bosses. We had to motivate them to join our team of ambassadors by offering them textiles, free tickets, communication, VIP seats etc. We told ourselves that if he was motivated to come and see the World Padel Tour, we had succeeded in our mission because he was going to motivate the people around him.

In 2019, we had 130 ambassadors on 200 clubs in Belgium, i.e. more than 10 tickets reserved through ambassadors. Which is huge since the year before we only had 000 tickets.
This year, we had further strengthened the ambassador strategy, to have 250 or 300 between Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands. Since ambassadors have the best ticket prices, they motivate people to come, to create groups, to charter buses, etc.

We had a target of between 20 and 000 people for the Open (over 25 days).

In terms of broadcasting the event, I had a verbal agreement with Sporza, the Flemish television channel, as well as with the FTD, the first television channel, which would have, without a coronavirus crisis, broadcast the final live. It would have been a world first. We offered the right of retransmission to the two largest channels in the country.

  • What events World Padel Tour in Belgium for the next few years?

Today we are building over three years, for 2021, 2022, and 2023. We will reflect calmly with our partners, our ambassadors, our committee, to see what we will do. For the moment, we have a blocked date: from October 9 to 19, 2021 in the former Gare & Taxis ferry terminal, but for the moment it's a big upheaval so we will try to see what we have left as subsidies, like sponsors, and what can be done.

The fixed cost for the organization with the WPT, as well as the cost of streaming are very important. All this makes it a very large budget, plus the bleachers etc.

  • What is the difference between the cost of an exhibition and an Open? World Padel Tour ?

The exhibition has a more reasonable cost: 8 male and female players for around 40 €, to which must be added the players' tickets, their accommodation, catering, as well as the costs of promotion, security etc ... In 000, the budget for the exhibition was around 2019 €, knowing that no tickets were charged to really promote the padel.

The Open is different: we are around 150 € or 000 €, compulsory streaming costs 200 €. You have to pay for the players' food, their transport, the grounds, the bleachers, security again, so basically we are around 000 € budget. So not to lose money you have to find € 35 between grants, sponsors and ticketing.

  • Why not organize a challenger?

For me, strategically, organizing a challenger at the start is a mistake. We can't bring in stars, TVs, make people dream, if we don't have the 15 best players in the world. When I talk to journalists, ministers, bank bosses, they don't care if there aren't the top 10. A challenger is a very risky bet, the padel is too young to be successful without the very best players. For me, you have to start with 2 or 3 exhibitions, because you can have 8 of the 10 best players in the world. The press will be happy, we can invite stars who will play with the champions, this allows the machine to be started. The costs being lower, we can afford to offer tickets, to have a large attendance, and there the press moves.

Unfortunately, in my opinion the challenger, which is very expensive, should only be carried out in countries where the padel is already developed, not in countries where it is still developing like Belgium.

  • The importance of federations

We cannot succeed in such events without the help of the federations. In Belgium we have 2: AFP, Association Francophone de Padel, integrated into the Francophone Tennis Association, and Padel Vlaanderen, which depends on Tennis Vlaanderen. Recently, they have been working together. I work with both of them, I am in frequent telephone contact with the two presidents of these federations.

We have an excellent relationship with the two presidents, who help us in their own way with their network, by giving advice, promotion, or through grants.

  • How to convince partners to get involved in this adventure of padel ?

Basically I am a marketer, I have managed marketing agencies. For me the only way to make the padel, it's to make it glamorous, for that you have to bring in stars, who bring the media. For example, I did an event with hockey champions and champions of padel. If we want to talk about padel, the press needs to be interested. And the press will take an interest in it if a lot of people play or talk about it, and if we have figures to measure development.

  • The collaboration between the padel and tennis

Le padel must be seen as the little brother of tennis. These are two complementary practices. The padel does not harm tennis. It's a different sport that allows everyone to play and have fun, without stopping tennis. The padel is booming, and it comes to save tennis clubs in difficulty, because it revitalizes the frequentation of bars, restaurants and tennis clubs. The fact of playing at 4 brings more frequentation in the club houses. The revolution is on.

 

Find the + / Policy questions / Internet users' questions / INSIDE in the podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJAwob4FYtA

Xan is a fan of padel. But also rugby! And his posts are just as punchy. Physical trainer of several padel, he unearths atypical posts or deals with topical subjects. It also gives you some tips to develop your physique for the padel. Clearly, he imposes his offensive style as on the field of padel !

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