The New Sport Taking the World by Storm—Padel

Even on a Thursday afternoon, just before lunchtime, Williamsburg courts still echoed with the sound of racquets striking balls. Yet this wasn't tennis, nor America's newest craze, pickleball—it was cage tennis. Williamsburg is home to one of only four professional cage tennis facilities in New York State. Measuring 20 meters long and 10 meters wide, these courts are only one-third the size of standard tennis courts (cage tennis is a doubles sport; for singles matches, the court dimensions change to 6 meters by 20 meters). Tempered glass walls, similar to those in squash courts, are installed along both baselines and the sections of the sidelines closest to the baseline, allowing balls to bounce off them. The entire court is enclosed by a metal net. Players use a flat, short-handled racquet without strings, resembling an enlarged ping pong paddle. The ball is similar to a tennis ball but typically has lower air pressure. The combination of a stringless racquet and low-bounce ball makes it easier for players to control the ball's direction, making it more accessible for beginners.
According to the U.S. Cage Tennis Association, hundreds of professional cage tennis courts operate across nine states, with clubs concentrated in Miami, Austin, Houston, and Southern California. An emerging professional league, the Pro Padel League, is gaining traction in the U.S. It boasts celebrity ownership (Daddy Yankee), media rights deals (CBS), and dedicated venture capital backing (EEP Capital). Stakeholders anticipate replicating padel's success in Latin America and Europe—particularly Spain and Sweden, where it ranks as the second most-played sport nationally. The number of padel courts in the U.S. is projected to double by 2023.
Globally, padel attracts far more participants than pickleball. Currently, two major professional circuits dominate the sport—the World Padel Tour and Premier Padel Tour—which recently signed a memorandum of understanding to merge next year. Keith Stein, co-founder of the Pro Padel League (PPL), quipped: “Pickleball is NASCAR, while padel is Formula 1.”
The PPL kicked off its inaugural season on May 13 in Florida, featuring seven teams. The four-week regular season, with all matches scheduled on weekends, culminates in the finals on June 10-11. Merrill Wealth Management serves as the founding sponsor.
“Legacy is a very important word for us because we truly want to build a legacy and grow this sport in North America. Beyond legacy, we also want to build a business on this foundation,” said Marcos Del Pilar, PPL President and Co-Founder. “We're adopting the franchise model chosen by other major leagues to create a professional cage tennis league.”
Unlike pickleball's minimal court requirements, padel tennis is a fast-paced sport requiring glass walls and metal netting. Supporters argue that padel should monetize better through membership and club court reservations, while its rapid pace makes it more appealing to broadcasters.
Santiago Gomez, CEO and founder of padel club Padel Haus, is a former UBS investment banker who later transitioned into the restaurant business. Several years ago, he visited a padel club in Stockholm and was astonished by the sport's surging demand—all 25 courts were fully booked throughout the week. While Padel Haus hasn't yet reached the Swedish location's peak popularity, its customer base is steadily growing. Gomez reports 7,000 registered players who have tried the sport at least once, with 500 playing regularly and 200 paying monthly membership fees. The average player age ranges from 22 to 45. Beyond providing professional courts, Gomez leverages his expertise to offer delicious food, adding value to the overall experience.
“Because padel is a doubles game played in an enclosed space, it's incredibly social,” Gomez explains. Padel courts are typically surrounded by dining and camping areas, transforming the venue into a multifunctional hub for recreation, sports, and socializing.
Gomez, who grew up playing cage tennis in Mexico, raised $3.3 million to establish his flagship club in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood. He subsequently secured $7.5 million in Series A funding for expansion from EEP Capital and Bolt Ventures. Gomez notes that each court costs around $50,000 to $60,000 to build, making them more affordable than traditional hard courts. A second Brooklyn location will open this summer, and Gomez is scouting sites for a third club on the East or West Coast.
The Williamsburg club is nearly perfect in Gomez's view, being close enough to Manhattan and surrounded by a younger, more international crowd eager to try new experiences. He explains that the first wave of players included Spaniards, Swedes, French, Argentines, and Mexicans, while local American tennis and squash players formed the second wave.
EEP Capital, co-founded by four Swedish entrepreneurs, primarily raises funds from 12 Swedish NHL players, including Nashville's Filip Forsberg, Edmonton's Mattias Ekholm, Calgary's Jacob Markstrom, and recently retired Anders Nilsson. This venture capital firm has written its largest check to date to Gomez. Alan Flatt, President of EEP Capital, stated: Gomez is a visionary who was a year ahead of everyone else in the market. Cage tennis is a new sport largely unknown to Americans, so he created extensive promotional materials to introduce it. He didn't just open a court and wait for customers to come; he worked hard to promote the sport and engage the local community."
EEP Capital also owns L.A. Beat, the first team to purchase a PPL franchise. The team features both male and female athletes and has attracted international professionals. L.A. Beat signed former World Padel Tour No. 1 player Sebastián Nerone. This season, the PPL set a $100,000 salary cap per team, with players earning a minimum of over $1,000 per day.
Next season, the PPL will expand by two teams, with growing interest in franchise ownership. Stein projects the league will have 14 to 18 teams by 2024, while founding teams' valuations have surged over fivefold since the league's inception.
“Getting to this point has been incredibly stressful because we're still in the early stages,” Stein said. Marcos and I would call investors, and they'd ask, ‘What is cage tennis?’ They looked at us like deer caught in headlights,“ Stein said. ”We persisted in our lobbying because we recognized this as a truly unique opportunity. How often do you witness the birth of a new sport and have the chance to build a business model around it?"
However, Gomez believes cage tennis lags significantly in popularity among American youth. Given that many teens view sports as a pathway to college admission or scholarships, cage tennis struggles to gain traction unless recognized by universities. But cage tennis advocates argue it will surpass pickleball, as both net sports saw significant growth during the pandemic.
“Compared to pickleball, cage tennis is more commercialized, though both satisfy people's need for leisure and social interaction,” Flatt said. “If you enjoy playing pickleball but seek more competitiveness, you'll prefer cage tennis.”
Cage tennis was introduced to China as early as 2016. Beijing hosted its first Cage Tennis Open in 2017, followed by the inaugural China Cage Tennis Tour in 2018. As a sport with clear rules, a standardized ranking system, and a well-established commercial framework, cage tennis holds vast untapped market potential in China.