Eric Babolat: "The size of the padel market will surpass that of tennis by 2030!"

I don't know if we're bringing out the Kalashnikovs, but yes, at Babolat we work for the long term. We like to study things and do them well over time. And indeed, when we met, it was a time when padel, which we were already handling in Spain, was starting to emerge in other countries. We were watching to see if it would come and how. And indeed, it has accelerated strongly since then. In padel, whether it's our core business of product development, we realize that we are accompanying the development in countries that are discovering it because we have known padel for over 20 years at Babolat. We know the product, the experience, life in the clubs, the players who are starting, whether men, women, and increasingly younger. Today, padel is an adult sport; there aren't many children yet, but that's coming, and we are working a lot on that, especially with our partner Club Med, which deals with families. We see that padel touches everyone and is much broader than the target we have known for a long time at Babolat, which is tennis. Padel is broader, it touches everyone. Fortunately or unfortunately, Covid accelerated two things: many people realized that sport is good for health, and also that doing sport alone with discipline is not easy. Racket sports, and padel in particular, are about feeling good, conviviality, fun, and a bit addictive. That checks those boxes. Padel fans have known this for a long time, but Covid made many more people aware of it, and the acceleration of the practice of this sport is even greater than before, which is good in a way. What's great is that in the 'piano piano' approach, there was also the idea of wondering if it was just a passing fad. No, it doesn't fall off. I have so many examples of people in many countries who didn't do any sport at all, discovered padel, and now play three times a week and wouldn't stop for anything. That shows how powerful, nice, addictive, and good for the head and body this sport is, I think, for sports lovers.

Yeah.

Yes, it started many years ago with tennis, when the club wanted to reinvest in tennis, which is an important sport. In most clubs, there are tennis courts, both for special teaching and for families who come for a week to have fun. So there were two things: how the practice of sport should be fun and how equipment could help. And indeed, we talked to them early about padel. They are interested because of its family-friendly, accessible, and fun side. So we work more and more with them on that. Without revealing any secrets, the club is investing and will put padel in more and more places because it checks many boxes. I was at Club Med, not at P, but not at Marbella either, at the islands... the name Gregolimano comes to mind, where there is tennis and padel. And it works. I talked a lot with the teams there. Tennis is great, but you need to know how to play. Padel, you play right away. So it interests them, especially for families and children who are not yet fully touched by sport but will be more and more.

Yes. So they saw it, they asked us questions, we exchanged a lot. We shared our experience from mature countries like Spain, and from a country where padel developed incredibly quickly, Italy. In Italy, it went from nothing to huge in three years. How is it in France? It's developing, but not as fast as Italy. Why? How? What about padel for tennis players, for others? So we shared all that experience. We have always believed in padel and we don't see it as a competitor but as another racket sport that does good. That's important. The club asked us a lot about how people get into it, what they like. It's many men but also many women. What is the practice of women? So we shared that experience. It renews the heart of our collaboration, which extends from tennis, which we still do and is very important, to padel, which is probably a very important sport for the future. Without revealing secrets, the club will put padel in most of its spots very quickly. There is Mauritius, Marbella, the Seychelles... I think they will soon reveal how it will become a major sport in their offering. What the club taught us that we didn't realize is that they have a clientele of people who come for a week to play padel. It's not 'I come to the club, go to the beach, and maybe play.' No, they come with their friends, their padel team, and spend the week doing that. A good part of their clientele is addressed to that. So it's important for them.

Today, it's between 15 and 20% of our total business, but it has been growing more than 50% per year for two years. Padel is developing in more and more countries, but not as many as tennis. Tennis is present in 150 countries. Today, padel is in 90 countries. So it's rising. The growth is exponential. I believe the overall size of the padel market will surpass tennis by 2030 without problem. I'm not talking about Babolat, just in general. Padel touches everyone, whereas tennis touches people who know how to play or need to learn. The market size today: padel equipment sales are about 250 million globally, tennis is about 1.5 billion. But in five years, padel will reach 1.5 billion. Tennis took 50 years to get there. People replace their padel racket much more often than tennis rackets. And there are more and more players. And again, padel today is almost not played by children, so it's only adults. When children start, everything is in place. If the infrastructure is there, it works, and we see it more and more.

No, not at Babolat and not in sport. I think it's the first time a sport has had this development, growth, and impact. So we are living a world first with padel. There have been fads like rollerblading, but not as strong, as big, and as anchored. Padel is not a fad. When people play, it's their life, part of their environment. It's not a regional phenomenon, it's global. Global and it has never existed before. It's a first for the history of sport and humanity.