CEO of Babolat: ”Padel market twice as big as tennis”

Interest in padel has exploded in recent years. In an interview with Spanish Marca, the CEO of Babolat, Eric Babolat, reveals his views on the future market, the brand's history in the sport, and the newly opened Babolat Padel Studio. 
— In the future, we will probably sell more padel rackets than tennis rackets, he says.

Padel has exploded in recent years, and there is no indication that interest will cool down globally. The latest report by Deloitte and Playtomic expects the number of courts worldwide to double by 2026.

Babolat's CEO, Eric Babolat, tells Spanish Marca about his thoughts on the future of the sport and the history of the world brand in it.

— We started knowing about padel in Mexico in 1970, where we were already playing tennis. We heard that this sport was about to be born. We looked into it, but we didn't think it would become what it is now. So we started in 2001 with the first padel racket designed by our padel team in Barcelona.

”It's just the beginning”

Since 2021, one of racket sport's biggest brands has been moving fast. In 2015, Babolat opened its new padel headquarters at the La Maso facility in Madrid. 

— Today, we still sell more tennis rackets than padel rackets, but this is because we sell tennis products in 150 countries and padel in 90 countries. The padel market is mainly developed in Spain, Italy, and Sweden and a little in Argentina. It is just the beginning in the rest of the countries, so the volume is still small.

He continues:

— In Spain, yes, of course, the padel market is twice as big as the tennis market in general, and for Babolat, it is similar. In the future, we will probably sell more padel rackets than tennis rackets," says Eric Babolat.

Opening Babolat Padel Studio

Babolat sponsors Rafael Nadal in tennis and has been part of his journey, and now they are making a similar journey with Carlos Alcaraz. In padel, they have invested a lot in Juan Lebron. They have made another investment in padel by opening The Babolat Padel Studio in Barcelona.

The center will serve as a studio where the brand's rackets will be designed, tested, and designed with new manufacturing methods.

"The Babolat Studio is a true place of innovation, with several important objectives: to test innovative ideas for padel players, focusing on the practice of the game and the needs of the players; to serve as a model for more responsible racket manufacturing and the invention of new manufacturing methods, and finally to produce high-end, high-performance rackets in limited quantities," said Eric Babolat in a press release.