Padel World Summit will boost padel as a major business opportunity.

Padel has ceased to be just a trendy sport and has become an ambitious economic driver. With 30 million amateur players worldwide and a constantly growing market, the industry surrounding this discipline is seeking to consolidate its position. In this context, Barcelona, ​​one of the world's great sporting capitals, becomes the global epicenter with the second edition of the Padel World Summit (PWS), which arrives at the Gran Via venue from May 27 to 29.

The Gran Vía venue of Fira de Barcelona will host the largest international padel trade fair. More than 120 national and international exhibitors and around one hundred top-level experts will meet at the Padel World Summit—organized by Fira de Barcelona and the International Padel Cluster—to analyze the Olympic future of this sport and take advantage of its enormous business potential. The event will include a congress and an investor forum. There will also be eight playing courts, where product demonstrations will be held, as well as several exhibition matches and clinics led by the world's best academies.

The president of the International Padel Cluster and the event's advisory committee, Mireia Álvarez, assures that "padel is not only a successful sport but also an economic sector with enormous growth potential; in this sense, this event organized with Fira de Barcelona can be a great catalyst."

Padel World Summit, more than a commercial showcase

The exhibition area will bring together more than 120 leading brands in the sector, such as Adidas, Babolat, GreenSet, Head, Joma, MillorSet, Mondo, Munich, Pórtico, Padel Galis, and Playtomic, and will offer a wide range of solutions related to sports equipment, court installation, technological services, and software for clubs.

But the fair goes beyond the commercial showcase. The Padel Global Conference, under the motto Building a global phenomenon from the ground up, will bring together more than 50 experts who will discuss the major challenges of the future: the professionalization of clubs, the sustainability of facilities, improved coach training, and, especially, the inclusion of padel as an Olympic sport at the 2032 Games.

Speakers include Eric Babolat, CEO of the historic French manufacturer; Sebastian Gordon, founder of Rocket Padel in the United Kingdom; Gabriel Pérez Krieb, head of the Taktika Equity investment fund (the largest in the padel sector in the US); and Ana Gómez, marketing director of AFP Group, Adidas' licensee for padel. The sporting section will be presented by Serbian player Bojana Jovanovic and, above all, Fernando Belasteguín (Bela), considered the best player in history, with more titles than anyone else on the World Padel Tour.

The Padel World Summit also supports entrepreneurship and innovation with the Innovation Arena, where start-ups such as Weebora, Courtbrain, and SportAI will present disruptive solutions such as travel planning and court booking apps, AI-powered training systems, and automated ball machines. Up to 45 speakers will participate in this space to share trends and knowledge. Furthermore, the Investor & Business Forum is presented as a space for networking Exclusive event to connect business projects with investors and venture capital funds seeking new opportunities within the padel world.

The trade fair experience will be rounded out with eight playing courts installed in Hall 6, where product demonstrations, clinics, and exhibition matches will be held by some of the best academies in the world.

Padel, a booming sector

According to data from the International Padel Federation (FIP), padel is currently practiced in 130 countries, with 87 affiliated national federations and more than 600,000 registered players. Spain leads the global ranking with more than 16,000 installed courts, followed by Italy (8,340), Argentina (7,000), and Sweden (4,200).

This expansion is also reflected in the economy: the Global Padel Report 2024, prepared by Playtomic and PwC, forecasts that the value of the global padel club market will reach €6 billion by 2026. With this horizon in mind, the PWS 2025 aims to consolidate its growth. Around 6,000 visitors are expected, including club members, professionals, distributors, investors, federations, official bodies, and tour operators.