Padel boasts 38 million players as Olympic ambitions grow

Premier Padel and the International Padel Federation marked Olympic Day with a global snapshot built to show padel as much more than a fast-growing racket sport: 38 million players, 178 countries and territories, 85,000 courts, 27,000 clubs and 100 affiliated national federations. The message was clear. Padel is trying to present itself as a sport with the reach, structure and institutional backing that can survive scrutiny inside the Olympic system.

That pitch rests on more than participation numbers. The sport is now embedded in a string of multi-sport events, including the South American Games in 2022, the European Games in 2023, the Mediterranean Games, the African Games and the FISU University Championships. In November 2025, the Olympic Council of Asia recognized padel for inclusion in the Asian Games program, and in March 2026 the FIP said padel was confirmed as a medal sport at Aichi-Nagoya 2026. Those steps matter because Olympic credibility is built as much in continental and university events as in professional arenas.

The sport is also leaning hard on its international footprint. FISU officially recognized padel in 2025, and the first FISU World University Championship Padel will take place in Malaga, Spain, from July 7 to July 11, 2026, with student-athletes from more than 20 countries. FISU also says padel is one of Spain’s fastest-growing sports, with six million Spaniards playing it. That gives padel a strong home base in one of Europe’s most influential sporting markets while it pushes for broader acceptance elsewhere.

Gender balance is another part of the argument. Nearly half of padel players worldwide are women, and FIP and Premier Padel have tied that figure to combined tournaments, equal prize money at major events and more balanced media exposure. Earlier announcements included equal prize money for men and women in the Inter-Continental Cup, with a record €700,000 purse, and a later increase of €10,000 per tournament for women’s P2 events. Premier Padel said in June 2026 that its tour had passed one billion social media views this year and reached 4 million followers across social platforms, while its 2026 calendar spans 26 tournaments in 18 countries.

Padel’s backstory still sits at the center of the campaign. The FIP says Enrique Corcuera invented the sport in 1969 in Acapulco, Mexico, and the game has since built a case around speed of growth, low-cost infrastructure and global reach. Its next hurdle is not visibility. It is whether that visibility can translate into the kind of Olympic admission that still depends on far more than momentum.