Agassi Sports Entertainment launches global padel and pickleball platform

Agassi Sports Entertainment unveiled its “Let’s Play” global pickleball and padel platform on Aug. 4, bundling two fast-growing racket sports into one expansion push and naming Germany and Australia as its first international targets. The move is as much a business model as a sports bet: the company is looking at acquisitions, strategic partnerships and franchising, which points to a network of venues rather than a one-off buildout.

The strategic question for padel is whether the sport is being lifted as a distinct global product or folded into a broader leisure platform designed to sell courts, hospitality and recurring traffic. Agassi Sports Entertainment says its mission is to “elevate racket sports worldwide through products, platforms, experiences and partnerships,” and its investor-relations materials identify Andre Agassi as co-founder, major shareholder and advisor. Company materials also list Stefanie Graf as an advisor and global brand partner, while a filing-news summary said Graf and Darren Cahill are advising on regional expansion.

Germany and Australia make sense as early markets for that approach. A March 6 Padelnomics overview said Germany had 598 tracked padel venues across 445 cities, while also noting the real total is likely higher because independent clubs without public pricing are not always captured. That is the kind of fragmented market a franchising or acquisition strategy can try to knit together, especially if the aim is to layer padel into multi-use facilities and branded clubs.

Australia is a different but equally useful test case. Tennis Australia described 2025 as a “defining chapter” and a “breakout year” for padel, language that suggests the sport is moving from curiosity to scale in a market already comfortable with racquet sports and outdoor recreation. For a company built around celebrity visibility and consumer sports branding, that combination offers a ready-made audience and a platform for venue growth.

The launch also builds on Agassi Sports Entertainment’s earlier pickleball push. On Feb. 17, the company announced plans to launch the World Series of Pickleball, a sign that the new platform extends an existing racket-sports strategy rather than starting from scratch. Playtomic’s 2026 Global Padel Report index has been framing the market around club-level value creation, additional revenue streams and padel as a real-estate activation tool, which is exactly the lane this new venture appears to be targeting.