Insights

“Community is what turns people into committed players.” I can’t remember where I recently read this, but it made me […]

5 reasons why Pickleball won’t take off outside of the US …Can’t think of any. It’s cheap, it’s cheerful, it’s

Padel keeps inching closer to the Olympics… but I have to ask: if the IOC had to choose today, would

Apparently, Padel wants to become a premium lifestyle sport, whilst pickleball is turning into the sport of the people. The

Founders & start-ups: you can stay. Everyone else, feel free to keep scrolling.I get sent a lot of pitch decks.

5 reasons why Padel may not take off in the US. 1. Racket Sport Fatigue:Tennis never went away. Pickleball exploded.

I’m starting to think a major threat to the racket sports boom isn’t competition between tennis, padel and pickleball. It’s

Tennis, you only have yourself to blame. I constantly hear tennis coaches and teaching pros complaining that padel and pickleball

Every time someone suggests building outdoor padel courts in Northern Europe, the same objection from investors and operators appears almost

When does building padel courts not make financial sense — but still make complete strategic sense? I’ve been turning that

This image captures exactly why padel is booming — and also why we should question how durable that boom really

If every tournament in Europe disappeared tomorrow, would padel collapse? A recent comment from Andrew Nicholson to one of my

Europe is no longer in a padel boom. It is in a decision phase.For five years, growth in many areas

“Tennis is antisocial.” I got some heat for that in my last post below. So let me dig my hole

If “community” is the secret weapon of padel and pickleball, what does that make tennis?… anti-social? It’s an uncomfortable question

Lets stop trying to protect tennis, or celebrate padel, or embrace pickleball. The real war globally is indoor vs outdoor.

Every padel facility with 8 or more courts should include at least one singles court. I say this as someone

We talk about three racket sports. The world is clearly playing a lot more than that. This video from my

In 10 years’ time, Tennis will still be king, Pickleball will globalize, Padel will localize. That might sound counter-intuitive in

The ratings conversation in padel (and pickleball) feels like it’s hitting a real inflection point. One thing that’s still under-acknowledged

After singing Tennis’s prestige factor praises in my last post, lets keep the sport humble: I’ve lost count of how

That’s a bold prediction given that Padel is exploding in key European and US markets, whilst Pickleball is a non-entity

Participation isn’t the same as prestige — and tennis still dominates one of them. Padel and pickleball are winning the

“Pickleball is hard to monetize.”I hear this a lot — and almost always from people looking at the wrong revenue

The first time I walked into an empty padel club in Sweden, something felt off. The courts were new. The

By 2030, most “tennis clubs” won’t really exist anymore.They’ll be racket platforms. Here’s what that actually means in practice: •

Everyone says pickleball is “just a US trend.”The numbers tell a different story. • ~24 million players globally (2025)• +500%

Nike just signed the world No.1 pickleball player….that’s the headline.But the signal is far more interesting. Nike doesn’t chase sports.

The Facility Gold Rush: Why Padel & Pickleball Attract Private Capital… And Tennis Doesn’t….(for the moment) If you want to

This image stopped me scrolling. A before/after of Nadal’s tennis swing morphing into a golf swing — and it got

Most people glance at these numbers and see “just another comparison of racket sports.”…..They shouldn’t. To the untrained eye, these

A friend recently asked me about the viability of setting up a pickleball facility in southern Germany — a market

Don’t be fooled — while pickleball, padel and tennis grab the headlines, a bunch of “shadow” racket sports are quietly

I keep seeing more ads like this one in my feed: “Investor round now open. 20–36% ROI. 3–4 year payback.

I’ve spent most of my career inside racket clubs, and one thing has become painfully clear: courts don’t build communities—programs

You can tell almost everything about a rackets facility without ever stepping on court — just read its price list.

One thing I’ve learned working with facilities, investors and start-ups across Europe, the US and the Middle East is this:

Tennis vs Padel vs Pickleball – Coexistence or Cannibalization? Over the past few years, I’ve spent a large part of

The age distribution across Tennis, Padel, and Pickleball isn’t just a demographic snapshot—it’s a strategic map for innovation, investment, and

Why the best tennis academies are now hiring hospitality professionals, not just coaches The luxury resort play-book is infiltrating elite

The future of racket sports will belong to facilities that don’t just offer courts — they offer insight. Not long

Can Pickleball and Padel Join the club? I loved how the USTA loudly proclaimed “THE WORLD’S HEALTHIEST SPORT” on-court during

In the sports industry, we often talk about participation trends, community engagement, and player experience. But one factor that is

Roger Federer’s success story is mind-blowing and extends far beyond the tennis court. While his 20 Grand Slam titles speak

Where will Padel break the bank? Padel, a rapidly growing racket sport, is gaining popularity worldwide, but the cost of