Notes on the business of padel.
Essays on club operations, court economics and the sport's rise — written by Daniel Barnabus Looney.
The Padel Boom Isn't Slowing Down — Here's What the Numbers Say
Thirty million players, courts on five continents, and waiting lists at 7am. A look at why padel's growth curve still hasn't found its ceiling.
The Hidden Cost of an Empty Court
An empty court doesn't show up on any invoice, which is exactly why it's the most expensive thing in your club.
The Anatomy of a Late Cancellation
It arrives at 17:42 for a 19:00 slot. What happens in the next twenty minutes decides whether your club keeps the revenue or eats the loss.
Recurring Slots: The Quiet Engine of Club Economics
The most valuable booking in padel isn't a booking at all — it's the same four players, same court, same hour, every week.
Padel Player Retention: The Numbers Every Club Owner Should Know
Acquiring a padel player is easy right now. Keeping one is where clubs are won and lost — and the warning signs show up weeks before the goodbye.
How to Price Padel Court Time: A Practical Guide
One price for every hour is the most expensive simplification in padel. A practical framework for pricing the peak, the shoulder, and the dead zone.
Peak Hours Are Full. Your Club Still Isn't Profitable. Here's Why.
A padel club can sell out every evening and still lose money. The gap between 'busy' and 'profitable' lives in the other twelve hours of the day.
Building a Padel Community That Fills Courts by Itself
The strongest booking engine in padel is a WhatsApp group you're not in. How clubs turn strangers into groups, and groups into schedules.
From Tennis to Padel: What Traditional Clubs Get Wrong
Two padel courts in the corner of a tennis club should be a licence to print money. Here's why so many of them underperform anyway.
Data-Driven Padel: Six Metrics That Separate Thriving Clubs from Struggling Ones
Revenue tells you what already happened. These six numbers tell you what's about to — and every one of them is hiding in your booking history.