THE EVOLUTION OF PADEL

More than 6,000 padel industry professionals attended this year’s Padel World Summit in Barcelona. The record attendance connected manufacturers, investors, clubs, federations and industry leaders-cementing the event as the industry’s No 1 trade event

Taking place in May each year, the Padel World Summit is a unique space, acting as a platform to create strategic alliances and explore new business opportunities. Attracting a wide range of professionals and companies from within the sector, the event also promotes the professionalisation of the sport and its expansion into international markets.

A new location

Held at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via, this year’s edition featured a new location and a sleeker format. For visitors, the new format meant that it was easy to ‘dip in’ to the Innovation Zone, where 20 start-ups had the opportunity to pitch their ideas, or the main forum and hear from 50 plus speakers on key industry topics. There was also a good sprinkle of padel stardust with global padel stars such as Fernando Belasteguin, Manu Martin and Bojana Jovanovic all gracing the Summit.

However, it was the exhibition floor where the event truly thrived, with new products launched, innovations showcased, deals struck, and connections made. The staging saw the main floor encircled by padel courts from eight of the world’s major manufacturers, taking the opportunity to catch the eye.

Those eyes focused on AFP Courts at the midway point of three-day show, as it officially launched the adidas PPL High Competition 2025, which was exclusively designed and manufactured for the Pro Padel League. It was the centrepiece occasion for AFP, with a ribbon cutting ceremony by PPL CEO Mike Dorfman, who was joined by representatives from adidas, GS Sports Management and future host cities in Mexico and Spain.

Mon Garres, marketing director for AFP Courts, said: “This is a milestone for AFP Courts being the official padel court for the PPL. This is a future investment because we want to be there when padel booms across the States.

“It’s already starting to boom in Florida, Texas, as well as California and we went to Racket X this year at the beginning of the year – it is a major new market for us. For us going hand in hand with the Pro Padel League was very important.”

Planning expansion

Jubo Padel, which landed a prime location in the hall, used the Summit as an opportunity to explore potential industry partners. Lee J Witham, of Padel +, Jubo Padel’s distributor in the UK and the North America, explained how Jubo Padel looked to benefit from its presence in Barcelona.

“I’m looking at the industry and seeing what’s out there and if it meets our standards,” Witham said. “I’m not necessarily looking for anything in particular but just looking and assessing. Currently, we’ve new projects starting in the US, while the UK market is still developing for us, however we’ve recently just taken on a lot of new business. It’s important to keep informed.”

Elsewhere, padel court turf specialists Mondo used the show as an opportunity to reinforce its position as the leading court flooring manufacturer, having launched Premier Supercourt X3, which is used by Premier Padel, 12 months ago.

Pilar Moreo, padel product manager for Mondo, said: “For us, it’s important to be at this global padel event. It enables contact with new distributors or new leads for projects across the world. In Barcelona we talked to a lot of customers from the UK, Germany, France, Australia, Spain, Italy and United States.”

Innovations

Trocellen, which specialises in the development of the foam core for padel rackets, was showcasing its bio-based foams, which significantly reduce CO2 emissions. Jose Vicente Fernandez Morales from Trocellen Iberica, said: “From the soft density to a hard density and those in between, we have different products and foams that have different playabilities and different performance in the padel racket for all standards of players.

Away from hardware, Matchi x Matchpoint, creators of a white label booking app, were able to showcase their product having completed a full integration since last year’s show in Malaga.

Mario Aurino, business development manager at TPC-Matchpoint said: “Being at the Summit was an amazing opportunity and congratulations go to Alex Ponseti and his team on a great event.”

The Padel World Summit will return to Fira Barcelona on May 26-28, 2026