UK Padel’s Next Opportunity: Turning Demand into Regular Participation

The 2026 UK Padel Report is published today, 24 June 2026, by Oxygen Consulting.

This second edition builds on the first UK Padel Report, which was described by The Padel Paper as “the first comprehensive report into the development of padel in the UK”. Last year’s edition examined the development of a fast-emerging sport and highlighted concerns about its geographic accessibility among its findings. The 2026 report advances the analysis. It examines a more demanding question: whether UK padel can convert growing interest into regular, affordable and sustainable participation.

The recent story of UK padel has been shaped by rapid court growth, rising awareness and strong investor interest. But the next phase is not simply about building more courts. It is about whether padel can become a repeatable sporting habit for a wider group of people.

Researched and written by Ray Algar, Managing Director of Oxygen Consulting, the 2026 UK Padel Report examines growth, pricing, participation, access, venue formats and emerging operating models. It has been produced for operators, landlords, investors, developers, councils, leisure operators, suppliers and policy stakeholders seeking a more evidence-led understanding of where the sport goes next.

From court growth to regular participation

Padel’s development in the UK has often been discussed through the lens of infrastructure: the number of courts and venues being built, the operators entering the sector and the locations where provision is expanding. Infrastructure remains important. Courts create visibility, capacity and commercial momentum, but court growth alone does not guarantee long-term participation.

The report argues that padel’s future success will depend less on awareness and one-off trial alone, and more on whether operators, landlords, clubs, councils and investors can create venue models that support long-term repeat play. In practical terms, the sport now faces a participation challenge as much as a property or infrastructure challenge. The issue is whether padel venues can support viable business operating models while providing players with the price, access, and proposition needed to make padel a regular habit.

Ray Algar, author of the report and Managing Director of Oxygen Consulting, comments:

“The most exciting opportunity for UK padel is to find the point where commercial sustainability and social value reinforce each other. By social value, I mean the benefits beyond financial returns: helping more people to be active, feel connected, improve wellbeing and access sport more easily. Venues need to support significant infrastructure investment, appropriate staffing and a high-quality player experience, but players also need the price and access to make padel a repeatable habit. Get that balance right, and padel becomes much more than a fast-growing leisure product.”

Pricing, value and the peak-time challenge

One of the report’s central findings is a potential peak-time value-perception gap in UK padel.

The UK’s nine largest chargeable padel operators, measured by number of courts, have a median peak-time court price of £42 per court hour.

By comparison, Oxygen Consulting’s player price-sensitivity research, based on a weekday evening booking between 6 pm and 9 pm, found acceptable price ranges of approximately:

• £13–£21 for outdoor uncovered courts
• £15–£25 for outdoor covered courts
• £18–£28 for indoor courts

These are not recommended prices. They are indicative player-value benchmarks derived from Oxygen Consulting’s Van Westendorp price-sensitivity analysis, which explored the price ranges that players perceived as acceptable for different court formats. The implication is not that all padel is too expensive. Operators can charge more, but the premium has to be earned by the proposition, especially as players gain more choice.

Players do not value all courts equally. The report finds that price tolerance rises as the playing proposition strengthens. Players are not simply paying for court access. They are also paying for weather protection, comfort, facilities, reliability, location, programming and the overall experience.

In a more competitive market, pricing power — the ability to charge and sustain a premium — will increasingly depend on proposition power: the strength of the overall venue experience, not simply the availability of a court.

Access is beginning to broaden, but remains uneven

The report finds early evidence that access to padel is broadening, although provision remains uneven. In England’s most deprived neighbourhoods, padel venue provision increased from six venues in December 2024 to 33 venues in December 2025, rising from 3% to 8% of English venues. However, access remains weighted towards less deprived communities overall. Using the 2025 Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), where decile 1 represents the most deprived neighbourhoods and decile 10 the least deprived, 60% of venues are located in less-deprived neighbourhoods, compared with 40% in more-deprived neighbourhoods.

The updated IMD 2025 baseline means this should be treated as directional rather than a strict like-for-like comparison. Even so, the direction of travel suggests padel may be starting to move beyond its early affluent base. This matters because the sport’s wider value will depend not only on how many courts are built, but on who can access them, how often they play and whether the experience is affordable enough to become part of people’s active lives.

Delivery models will shape social value

The report also highlights the importance of delivery models. Rugby clubs, golf clubs, leisure centres, councils and other community-rooted organisations are increasingly involved in padel. In many cases, however, these organisations are involved as landlords or site hosts rather than direct operators. That distinction matters. Community land can help expand provision, but land alone may not automatically influence who plays, how often they play or how the sport is priced. The next phase may therefore require partnership models in which public, community and not-for-profit asset owners help shape access, pricing and programming, rather than simply hosting commercial provision. This is where commercial sustainability and social value may begin to reinforce each other. By social value, the report means benefits beyond financial returns: helping more people to be active, feel connected, improve wellbeing and access sport more easily.

Becoming the player’s home venue

For operators, the challenge is different but connected. As more venues open, padel operators will need to move beyond simply providing courts. They will need to create a clearer reason to be chosen. The goal is to become the player’s home venue: the place people return to because the format, price, location, programming and social atmosphere make it feel worth belonging to, not just worth booking. This matters for operators, landlords and investors. A venue that creates repeat participation is more likely to build stronger utilisation, better customer loyalty, more resilient income and deeper community relevance.

Padel and the leisure property opportunity

The 2026 UK Padel Report was launched at a Savills-hosted event in London attended by more than 100 senior figures from across the UK padel, sport, leisure and property sectors. The event reflected the sport’s growing relevance to landlords, mixed-use locations and the wider leisure property market. Jess Hill, Associate Director, UK Restaurants & Leisure at Savills, commented:

“Padel has moved beyond being a short-term activation tool and is now a commercially credible part of landlord strategy. What we are seeing is a more data-led, selective and sophisticated market, where operators are better defined and landlords are increasingly viewing padel as a means to drive sustained footfall, strengthen tenant mix and enhance the overall performance of mixed-use schemes.”

Key findings from the 2026 UK Padel Report

The report identifies five key findings.

1. Sustainable participation is the next opportunity: Padel’s long-term value depends on converting occasional demand into regular play. Awareness, interest and one-off trial are useful signs of market reach, but sustainable venues and wider health impact depend on people returning often enough for padel to become part of their active lives.

2. Peak-time pricing may be testing perceived value: The UK’s nine largest padel operators, measured by number of courts, have a median peak-time court price of £42 per court hour. Oxygen Consulting’s player research found lower acceptable price ranges across outdoor uncovered, outdoor covered and indoor court formats. These are not recommended prices, but national player value benchmarks.

3. Venue proposition will determine pricing power: Players do not value all courts equally. Price tolerance rises when the playing proposition strengthens, with players paying not simply for court access but for weather protection, comfort, facilities, reliability and overall experience.

4. Access is beginning to broaden, but remains uneven: Padel provision in England’s most deprived neighbourhoods increased from six venues at December 2024 to 33 venues at December 2025. However, the provision remains weighted towards less-deprived communities overall.

5. Delivery models will shape social value: Community-rooted organisations are increasingly involved in padel, but broader social value may require partnership models that influence pricing, programming and access, not just land use.

Who the report is for

The 2026 UK Padel Report has been produced for organisations seeking a deeper understanding of UK padel’s commercial, property and participation dynamics, including:

• padel operators
• landlords and property owners
• investors and developers
• councils and leisure trusts
• sports clubs and community asset owners
• suppliers and sector partners
• policymakers and public health stakeholders

The report is an independent Oxygen Consulting publication. It contains no advertising and has not been produced with commercial sponsorship.

Read the opening pages of the 2026 UK Padel Report

The 2026 UK Padel Report is now available for immediate download. You can visit the report page to download the opening eight pages, review what the report covers and find out more about immediate access.

The full report is 69 pages and is available for £250 plus VAT.

View the 2026 UK Padel Report