LONDON, 3 June 2025 – In a significant milestone for the UK padel scene, new data released by Playtomic has branded the United Kingdom as the world’s most social padel nation. As the leading global platform for racket sports, Playtomic’s announcement embodies the evolution of padel in the UK from a niche sport to a globally significant market.
Playtomic’s latest figures show the UK now boasts the highest ratio of ‘Open Matches’ to regular bookings anywhere in the world. Open Matches – games where players can connect and compete with others of a similar level – have proven instrumental in building interconnected padel communities and increasing player engagement.
Pablo Carro, Co-Founder of Playtomic, has described the news as “a collective success story for stakeholders and passionate players.” He believes in further growth in the UK’s padel scene, stating, “With some of the best performance metrics worldwide, all the signs tell us, this is just the start.”
The report also confirms the UK has surged to become the World’s No.5 padel market, ranked by number of games played. This puts Britain in elite company alongside padel powerhouses like Spain and Italy, despite having had minimal infrastructure and visibility in the sport until recently.
Explosive Growth in Participation and Infrastructure
Over the past year, the UK padel market has witnessed extraordinary growth. Six of the top ten revenue-generating padel clubs worldwide are now found in Britain, signalling the sport’s remarkable commercial potential in the country. Monthly active users of Playtomic in the UK have jumped from 35,000 to 156,000 in the last 12 months, reflecting an accelerated pace of adoption.
These numbers reflect that participation is rising sharply in both urban centres and regional areas. As of June 2025, 40,000 new players are stepping onto courts every month in Playtomic-powered UK clubs – up from 25,000 just five months earlier in January.
This increase in demand has been reinforced by a surge in infrastructural production across the country; there are now over 840 courts across 275 clubs in the UK, representing a 300% year-on-year market growth. The depth of Playtomic’s stats is stressed by the fact that they power 8 out of 10 clubs nationwide, offering facilities the tools to manage bookings, events, lessons, and community engagement in one central platform.
Social Format Leading the Way
The UK’s ability to embrace the social side of padel has played a large part in this statistical success, with many clubs offering mix-ins, coaching clinics, social events, and open play sessions. The Open Matches’ ability to lower barriers to entry for new players has garnered a sense of community and created a growing appetite for accessible play formats.
Playtomic attributes the boom not just to increased participation but to a cultural shift in the UK. Padel appeals as a socially engaging and easy-to-learn sport that has matched evolving post-COVID lifestyle habits, and the UK’s already strong foundations in racquet sports leave it well-positioned to maintain the boom in participation.
“Padel is not only the fastest growing sport, but has officially landed as a mainstream sport in Britain,” said Carro. “The enthusiasm from players and club owners alike to build a coordinated padel community is a collective success story.”
Data-Driven Momentum
Behind the scenes, Playtomic’s technology is critical to shaping and supporting this transformation. As the platform of choice for most UK clubs, Playtomic offers real-time data and management tools that allow clubs to scale efficiently. From court bookings to lessons and tournaments, the company provides a digital backbone that simplifies operations while enhancing the player experience.
As the platform of choice for most UK clubs, Playtomic’s technology is critical to shaping and supporting this transformation. The company’s management tools allow clubs to scale efficiently by acting as a digital backbone for organising sporting activity. From court bookings to lessons and tournaments, Playtomic simplifies operations while providing an enhanced athlete experience.
Club revenue takings from court bookings, classes, and tournaments now rank third worldwide, behind only Spain and Italy. This figure further underlines the UK’s position as a serious contender in the global padel ecosystem.
A Global Player Emerges
With over 3 million players and 6,000+ partner clubs across 60 countries, Playtomic is a global communicator of ever-changing padel trends and remains the market leader for statistically backed indicators of padel participation.
As Britain celebrates its new status on the world padel stage, all eyes will be on how the market evolves from here – and whether it can sustain its upward trajectory while continuing to lead in the social formats that have made it a standout success.
