How often do we see a new sport entering India? The answer is, not very often. It’s because any new sport takes quite a while to establish itself and gain traction to finally create headlines.
Similar has been the journey of pickleball in India. For the uninitiated, the sport operates at the intersection of tennis, table tennis, and badminton and is played with a hard plastic wiffle ball on an arena similar to a badminton court (also in dimensions).
While the sport (pickleball) originated in Washington in 1965, it was introduced in India in 2008 by Sunil Valavalkar. The sport even has a governing body in India — The All India Pickleball Association (AIPA).
Meanwhile, many may not know the popularity of pickleball has been pivotal in aiding the growth of its distant cousin, Padel, which is also a racket sport but a hybrid of tennis and squash. Padel has been played in India with the formation of the Indian Padel Federation (IPF) and since the set up of the first padel court in Bengaluru in 2017. The country today has over 100 padel courts.
While it took several years for pickleball to gain prominence in a nation deeply devoted to cricket, padel achieved the same popularity in just a few years. All in all, Hudle, a sportstech platform, has seen a 159% increase in the growth of Pickleball and Padel between 2019 and 2022.
It was precisely the period during which Nikhil Sachdev, Ronak Daftary, and brothers Jigar Doshi and Pratik Doshi pivoted from their original turf and court construction and leasing business to get the most out of the growing popularity of padel, a sport that finds its roots in Mexico.
Incorporated in 2020, Padel Park aims to foster the sports of padel in the country by building a complete ecosystem around it — ranging from constructing courts to teaching the sport and organising championships.
Speaking with Inc42, the cofounders said that the startup, Padel Park, is the by-product of their first interaction with the sport during the pandemic.
The Inception Of Padel Park
When the pandemic hit, Sachdev and the Doshi brothers were running Astro Park, a company specialising in developing turfs for futsal and box cricket. Meanwhile, Daftery was in the same field, operating his own business, TurfPark. Sharing a common line of work, the four founders connected and envisioned collaborating on a project when the right opportunity arose.
The opportunity came when the Astro Park team sought to build a sports booking app to boost their revenues. However, their plans came to a standstill when both turf businesses were forced to shut down during the government-imposed lockdown.
As they looked for ways to stay in the sports business post-pandemic, Sachdev and his team began exploring the global landscape of turf-based sports. At the time, padel tennis was making waves in Europe, attracting a lot of attention from both athletes and celebrities.
Once the founders experienced the game themselves and were captivated by it, their plans for a booking app were set aside. Their new focus became making padel more accessible to Indians.
We were intrigued by the ease of the game even though it was just a combination of tennis, squash and badminton. It just made sense for India, as the very social nature of the game was exactly what we needed after being locked up for almost two years,” Sachdev said.
He added, “It was also an opportunity, as India had only a few padel courts at the time.” Towards the end of 2022, the cofounder squad started working on constructing their first padel court in Mumbai city.
In a matter of weeks, the facility was fully booked, and by 2023, Padel Park’s first turf was sitting on a waiting list of more than three weeks. Inspired by the overwhelming reception, especially from Mumbai’s affluent areas, the founders started laying out plans to establish a comprehensive padel ecosystem in India.
At the time, Sachdev noticed that there wasn’t much competition in the space, and they could get the first-mover advantage with the sport only if they were able to cover all aspects of the padel sport in the country.
Therefore, with a vision to build padel courts, establish an academy for aspiring athletes, and offer self-managed “pay and play” facilities, Padel Park began its journey.
This has helped the startup harvest INR 2.5 Cr in FY24 revenues, and the company is EBITDA positive, the cofounder (Sachdev) said. He added that the startup is witnessing a 20% month-on-month (MoM) rise in revenues.
Padel Park’s Early Hiccup & Opportunities
One of the early hiccoughs in Padel Park’s journey has been concerns related to its cost. For instance, Padel Magazine UK finds that the average cost of playing the sport is about 33% higher than tennis.
“Padel is viewed as a premium sport when compared to other sports. Padel requires special infrastructure, a high-quality turf, and its equipment is also expensive. Hence, there was always a doubt if the game would be a hit in the long term,” Sachdev said.
But, as luck favours the brave, the founders now run a grid of ten padel courts at four locations in Mumbai, namely Bandra, Malabar Hills, Cooperage, and Worli. In the short term, largely by the end of this year, Padel Park has set its eyes on running a cluster of 35 more courts across India.
As of now, about 60% of the startup’s revenue is driven by people booking courts in the city. Sachdev asserts that the 10 courts that are operational in the city see bookings 2-3 weeks in advance. Padel Park’s courts see an average footfall of 5K users per month.
Moving on, the company runs a Padel academy, which is headed by a Spanish player, Victor Perez, who brings in over 15 years of experience. Perez, who has joined Padel Park as a full-time technical director, is also in-charge of training other coaches.
The training sessions are divided into three categories: beginners, pro, and kids. Coaches can be booked on-site. The startup charges between INR 8,000 and INR 9,000 per month from coaches. However, private lessons cost more. As the business is still in its early stages, training currently accounts for about 10% of the startup’s total revenue.
“We are looking to train over 250 players before the end of the year. Also, we are in the process of creating a player pool in India with participation in an international tournament in September,” Sachdev said.
As the startup continues to train more players, the real driver of interest in any sport is spectator attention. According to the founders, for a sport to gain traction, competitive events at the amateur level are crucial to building excitement. With this in mind, the startup has been actively working on creating more IPs for tournaments.
On the back of the sport’s growing popularity, especially after its first tournament last month, the startup is receiving increasing advertising interest from several new-age, premium brands. Consequently, the events business now contributes around 30% of Padel Park’s overall revenue.
“Our last tournament, held on August 24, saw participation from over 88 teams. We’re also attracting more premium brands eager to engage directly with their target audience through these events. For example, luxury vehicle dealership Infinity Cars was our title sponsor for the last tournament. Looking ahead, we’re on track to establish a pan-India league as we continue expanding our court network,” said Sachdev.
The cofounders added that several companies, like Fast & Up Reload, Babolai, Plant Power, Stay Vista, Craycol, S Raheja Realty and OG Samosa, have sponsored its events so far.
What’s The Plan, Padel Park?
Padel Park is also engaged in the construction, leasing, and selling of Padel courts via its subsidiary, Sky Padel India. Earlier last year, it entered into a joint venture with Sky Padel Spain for manufacturing (in India) and selling high-quality Padel courts in India and Asia to hotels, housing societies, sports clubs, and schools, among others.
“We are manufacturing under the guidance of Sky Padel and hope to cater to orders coming in from around Asia soon. For Padel courts, we engage in building the infrastructure via the procurement of raw materials (steel, glass and lightning) locally. The turfs are still imported but we look to indigenise that process soon,” Sachdev said.
Sachdev said that the court segment of the business was what drew JSW Sports’ founder, Parth Jindal, to invest an undisclosed amount in the startup in August.
Beyond court sales, the cofounders’ ambitious plan to expand its court count to 200 in the next 2-3 years heavily involves franchise-operated centres.
On the company’s growth outlook, Sachdev emphasised his interest in exploring non-metro regions of India. He believes that expanding beyond the traditional Tier I cities is more appealing due to lower land costs and a stronger propensity for people in these areas to spend on value-for-money experiences.
The cofounder said that the company sees 30% of its franchise inquiries come from such cities, and cities like Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Surat, and Jaipur are already on their radar.
While the sport has gained some traction in the country, Sachdev remains cautious due to the fast-paced nature of trends, which could change overnight.
For now, as per Sachdev, a major hurdle for padel’s growth in the country is gaining recognition from the government, which he believes will be pivotal for driving the adoption of this sport.
Once padel is recognised as an amateur sport, the startup anticipates schools and other sports facilities upgrading their infrastructure to include padel courts. Though recent trends have provided a tailwind for the startup, it remains uncertain whether padel will evolve beyond a fad and achieve widespread popularity across India.
