The Anglo American Padel Cup will take place from 10th to 11th October in London, promising to be a one-of-a-kind event in the padel world and the latest iteration of the great sporting rivalry between the USA and the UK. The brainchild of Ben Nichols, Bill Ullman, and Joelle Quinn, each of the Cup’s founders brings a crucial perspective to the competition’s storyline, player experience, and brand alignment. Together, they are building the Cup from the ground up, combining tradition with modern spectacle to provide an event that they hope will become a permanent fixture on the global padel calendar. In a set of exclusive interviews, Ben, Joelle, and Bill outline their ambitions for this inaugural event, the values behind its creation, and more – as Cage 91 discovers…
Rooted in Rivalry: A Shared Vision
The founders of the Anglo American Padel Cup have all emphasized the importance of the historic sporting rivalry that underpins the event. “We love the sporting rivalry between the UK and US,” Nichols conveys, adding that the chance to give the rivalry a new lease of life through padel was a “great opportunity for both countries”. Ullman echoes these sentiments by looking back to the sports he followed growing up, tennis and golf, which were dominated by the UK-US rivalry. “From a competition perspective, there was clearly a gap to fill,” he stresses, with international padel competitions involving US Teams predominantly occurring in Mexico and South American nations. Until the Anglo American Padel Cup, there was no competition where a US Team competed directly against a country on the other side of the Atlantic. The storytelling aspect of the Cup has also been crucial to the shared vision of the tournament’s three founders. “If you tell people a story, they want to invest, they want to be a part of it,” Quinn explains. By laying out their vision for an event that echoes the format and successful formulas of other US versus UK sporting events, the founders of the Cup have set the tone for the tournament’s gravitas and the impact it will potentially have on those playing and those spectating.
“The chance to give the rivalry a new lease of life through padel was a great opportunity for both countries”
Building Something from the Ground Up
Yet, despite the blueprints of successful US-UK competitions that Ben, Joelle, and Bill are drawing on, the Anglo American Padel Cup is very much an event being built from the ground up. “It’s very much about forging relations at this point,” Quinn explains from her marketing perspective, with a principal aim for this first edition being to get prospective sponsors and fans believing in the Cup’s vision. Even Nichols, whose extensive business acumen has been developed through roles at Lotus F1 and WADA, has conveyed the challenges of curating a competition from the ground up. “We’re having to articulate the brand, the story, for the first time – to develop a great storyline that can be built on through padel”. With the padel ecosystems of the UK and US still in development, Nichols, Ullman, and Quinn are focused on creating a successful first event that can grow with the community that supports it. Ullman conveys how acceptance of the Cup by players on both sides of the Atlantic and by the national governing bodies of padel in the US and the UK (the USPA and the LTA) would be significant markers of success.
Experience, Community, and Atmosphere
With the Anglo American Padel Cup set to attract some of the best padel players from the United Kingdom and the United States, its founders are deeply committed to maximising the experience for those competing. “We want this to be the best experience of their padel lives,” Ullman stresses, with players “coming away feeling like the large investment of their time, training, talent, sweat and money was more than worth it” in order to have “the special experience and pride of competing for one’s country and unique opportunity to forge new trans-Atlantic friendships and relationships”. This idea of an unforgettable cross-Atlantic event is mirrored by Nichols and Quinn; Nichols emphasizes the pride that he hopes the athletes will feel having been ‘the first’ to play in the first ever US versus UK padel competition, whilst Quinn comments that the “sense of missed opportunity” from brands who haven’t partnered with the Cup will give the competition’s Cup’s partner brands the sense of a maximised opportunity. In addition to the players’ and brands’ experiences during the Cup, all three founders are keen to play on the event’s sense of spectacle. Nichols notes that elements like Alex Wall’s operatic performance will ‘bring gravitas’ to the competition, elevating it from simply a padel competition. “Balancing tradition and modernity is that perfect symbol of community,” he explains, “where thirty minutes after Alex Wall performs, a DJ will be playing the best of Britpop! Nowhere else would you see this in padel”.
“Nowhere else would you see this in the world of padel”
The Cup’s Legacy and Growth
Even with this inaugural event on the horizon, the Anglo American Padel Cup’s founders have half an eye on how the competition might develop over the coming half-decade and beyond. A key aim for the event, given padel’s status as a developing sport, is for it to reach a position of self-sustainment. It would be “such a big win,” Ullman emphasizes, “if prize money is introduced, then prize pools can be increased, and better players and brands will actively reach out to ensure their involvement,” he explains. This idea of the Cup becoming a household competition within the padel world is shared by Quinn, who envisions that the event has the potential to become “an outstanding event that players put in their calendars.” The Cup’s draw on both a professional and corporate scale looks set to be key in ensuring its sustained success, and Nichols stresses that pride will play a larger role than some might appreciate. “The more years the Cup endures, the more this will mean”.
“A key aim for the event, given padel’s status as a developing sport, is for it to reach a position of self-sustainment”
With the inaugural edition of the Anglo American Padel Cup set to commence in early October, the founders’ vision and planning have set the tone for a sport-defining event that will revive what has proven to be a competitive and vibrant formula. The UK-US rivalry of the Cup provides the backdrop for a padel event that incorporates a long, historic sporting rivalry with a modernistic touch – that same modern spirit has propelled padel onto the global sports scene. The competition’s pioneering founders have built an idea from the ground up, and, regardless of whether the UK or US claims victory, the Anglo American Cup looks set to take the padel world by storm and cement this most famous of historic sporting rivalries.
