New Delhi [India], April 21: The two fastest growing sports revolutionizing the future of exercise have been a talking point in most upscale parties and gatherings. However, if we look at just over a year ago, hardly anyone knew about them. In this article, we have a candid discussion with Anant Jangwal, founder and CEO of Play Padel, which is one of the pioneers in both Pickleball and Padel in India. We discuss the key reasons for the sports’ rapid success, whether these are temporary fads or more permanent habits, and what some realistic expectations are for entrepreneurs who want to join the bandwagon.
Firstly, what is the origin of Pickleball and Padel, and where else are they popular?
Pickleball is a mix of Tennis, Table Tennis and Badminton, and was invented in the year 1965 by Congressman Joel Pritchard, Barney McCallum, and Bill Bell in Washington State, USA. The sport is massively popular in US, where it is the fastest growing sport. Other countries include Canada, Australia, UK, Malaysia and India.
Padel is a mix of Tennis and Squash, and was invented in the year 1969 by Enrique Corcuera in Acapulco (Mexico). It is the fastest growing sport in the world with Europe as its main market. It is also very popular in Mexico, UAE and Indonesia. In USA and India, Pickleball is the fastest growing sport and Padel is the second fastest growing sport.
What had led to the success and rapid adoption of these sports in India metro cities?
These two sports become rapidly popular during Covid in the West as people found more time to explore outdoor activities, and as Padel and Pickleball emerged as the most enjoyable activities that were permitted. We are now seeing this trend seep into India cities (starting with Mumbai and Ahmedabad), as is the case with many new habits or trends that emerge in the US/Europe and later find their way into the Indian sub-continent.
How many courts are we expected to see in the coming few years in India?
We estimate that there are about 65-75 commercial Padel courts in Mumbai, and 25-30 Padel courts in Delhi NCR. So the market is very nascent at this stage. By the year 2028, there could be as many as 1,000 Padel courts in India. For Pickleball, we estimate a total of 150 commercial Pickelball courts in Mumbai, and about the same in Delhi NCR. By the year 2028, there could be as many as 2,500 Pickleball courts in India
Are these sports a fad, which will soon plateau and decline as people move on to something else?
Not at all. These two lifestyle-driven sports are here to stay, and grow. However, there is a word of caution that I would like to offer. In India, the number of players will increase, but we are seeing, particularly in select areas, that the number of courts (supply) is increasing faster than the number of players (demand). Also as players get more court options to choose from, they will skew towards premium facilities, thereby adding financial pressure to locations which were initially popular due to less supply. In Sweden by the end of the Covid period there was an excess of courts, and as a result a majority of them had to shut down eventually after suffering losses.
What are the key challenges for someone wanting to enter the business of Pickleball and Padel?
One needs to understand that this business is like most other businesses, i.e. with a low chance of success and normal profits. Hence, it becomes important to set one’s expectations right. 90% of the facilities/clubs will actually fail. In order to succeed, one needs a lot of factors going your way. There are people who may get mislead by looking at the published growth numbers etc. and eventually end up losing their hard earned money. There is also misinformation about how cheap it is to set up courts and how rewarding the revenue is. The fact is that in order to make a premium Pickleball court from scratch it can cost anywhere between INR 7-10 lakhs, and a premium Padel court costs around INR 25 lakhs.
If you go for low quality, then people will not come to play, and if you want to improve the quality then you will need to spend way more than you would otherwise have. It may be more lucrative with lower investment cost to create an equipment brand, or get into the services industry of organizing tournaments etc. If you do however own prime real estate and want to open a facility, then you can look at partnering with an experienced player like Play Padel which will conduct the required due diligence, make a luxury facility, and create an active community of engaged players.
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