Its fair to say that the UK has a rich racket sports heritage, having literally invented tennis as a sport. Needless to say, a country with more or less ideal conditions to take on padel. And they sure have. According to the LTA, the governing body for padel in the UK, around 90,000 people are playing on an annual basis and approximately 250 courts are available nationwide. Pretty impressive for something that’s considered a “new” sport, and especially within the UK borders.
Our UK journey started a few years back, when the acclaimed Swedish padel chain PDL United opened their first venue in the country. Shortly after, the Sir Andy Murray-backed padel chain, Game4Padel, chose our platform as their racket sports partner. Since then, we’ve welcomed more than 20 racket sports venues across the country and signed UK number one, Tia Norton as our ambassador in order to help us further the growth of the sport. Now, we’ve reached yet another important milestone as we welcome Rocket Padel Bristol, the UK’s largest padel venue, to the MATCHi platform.
With its 14 courts and spectacular amenities, the newly opened Rocket Padel Bristol embodies everything that a padel fanatic is looking for - a true padel Mecca in every sense of the word. Johan Rogebrant, CCO at MATCHi, is thrilled to welcome Rocket Padel Bristol to the MATCHi platform.
“The addition of Rocket Padel Bristol to the MATCHi platform marks an important milestone in our journey to make padel more accessible in the UK. The UK padel market is really starting to take off, and we’re thrilled to play a part in that growth - helping venues and players through user-friendly and racket sports enabling tech. We’re thrilled to have them with us!”
90 000 people are playing padel on an annual basis (LTA)
Since 2018, UK padel player numbers have increased by over 30x (Padelathletes.com)
There are approximately 250 courts currently in use, a number that looks to rise to 400 during the year (LTA)