Padel Tennis China

  The Sports Department carries out the 2024 Panzhihua College Padel Tennis Experience Training Activity.   In order to fully implement the spirit of the school's third party congress and strive to build a pattern of "university in the park", the Sports Department carried out a Padel Sports experience training activity for all teachers and students at the Panzhihua Paddle Tennis Center on March 23. The event attracted more than 50 teachers and students to participate enthusiastically.   The teachers and students who participated in the padel tennis activities said that this activity experienced the novel sports projects carefully prepared by the Sports Department in the natural, harmonious and beautiful environment of Panzhihua Park. Not only did it purify the mind, but also it exposed them to new ways of exercise, got exercise, and provided more project choices for lifelong physical exercise in the future.   Carrying out school sports activities in the park is not only an in-depth practice of implementing the pattern of "university like park" and "university in the park", but also enriched the content and form of school sports, and further broadened the horizons and experience of teachers and students.   In the future, the Sports Department will continue to deepen cooperation with the Park Management Committee and relevant departments, promote more forms of integration activities, and comprehensively build a big sports and big health pattern, so that everyone can work healthily and physically. Let padel enter more university campuses in China.                  

      After Frisbee, another interesting, novel and social treasure sport has emerged, which is padel. Currently, paddle tennis is extremely popular in the European and North American markets. According to data released by the International Padel Federation (FIP), starting in 2021, Europe will add nearly 100 new  Padel Courts  every week on average. Now it has entered the China market, and many young people in Shanghai, Chengdu, Changsha and other places have also started playing this sport.   Become the next trendsetter in outdoor sports   "Novice-friendly" outdoor sports with a low threshold. Padel tennis is also a "beginner-friendly" outdoor sport. Although it has the word "tennis" in the suffix, it is much less difficult to get started than tennis. Compared with tennis, the rules of paddle tennis require less strength and running, and focus more on agility. For people with a basic knowledge of tennis, badminton, table tennis and other sports, similar swing movements also make padel tennis a novice-friendly sport. In other words, paddle tennis is suitable for people of all ages, and children, young and middle-aged people, and the elderly can participate. Some paddle tennis enthusiasts say: "Its learning cost will be lower, and it can reach the level of playing rounds faster. In addition, it has one more opportunity to catch the ball than tennis. After the ball hits the ground and bounces on the glass, it is still If you can hit back, it's not so easy to 'dead ball'."   Paddle tennis has the characteristics of weak confrontation and strong social interaction. These features become necessary conditions for it to attract beginners. Like Frisbee and flag football, paddle tennis does not require physical confrontation or conflict. In addition, because it is a doubles project and is carried out in a relatively closed space, this project shortens people's social distance in terms of space. Some netizens said: "The difficulty and amount of exercise of padel tennis can be said to be 'all human beings friendly'. It would not be too fun to invite a few friends to play 'padel sports' together on holidays and weekends." Some netizens said: "The gameplay of padel tennis is similar to For squash, you can hit it directly, or you can wait for it to pop out of the glass wall before hitting it again, thus stimulating a variety of changing modes, which is endless fun. You will fall in love with it once you hit it. It is perfect for dating 4 —Six people went to play together.”   Playing padel tennis and having a meal became a new way of life. When people make an appointment for a round of golf, it is often not just a round of golf, but also other entertainment activities such as drinking and poker. Some venue operators will also configure catering and camping areas around the venue, making it a complex integrating leisure, entertainment, sports and social interaction.   As a trendy sport, paddle tennis has a high production rate. The easy production adds a filter of internet celebrity sports to the project, further increasing its appeal. Many users have shared their interesting experiences about it, and many businesses, clubs and brands have organized and shared related activities. As a trendy sport, paddle tennis venues exist in the form of pop-ups. These pop-up stores are usually located on city terraces or adjacent to popular business districts. Coupled with floor-to-ceiling glass walls, outstanding dopamine colors and clear urban skies, they can undoubtedly become an eye-catching check-in item among the friends of urban athletes.   Internet celebrities and hardcore   How to seize opportunities in outdoor sports   Padel tennis promotes new development of urban leisure sports industry. While the country is developing rapidly, the competition system is also being constructed and improved. According to media reports, the 2023 China Padel Tour CPT-300 (Chengdu Station) event will be held in Wenjiang District, Chengdu City on October 14th and 15th. This is the first national padel tennis event held in Chengdu, and it is also the first appearance of the 300 level in the Chinese Tennis Association CPT series. The relevant person in charge of the Wenjiang District Culture and Tourism Bureau said that the local area has been committed to promoting the development of new consumption scenarios in the urban sports industry. In addition to hosting national-level events, it will also work with first-tier European tennis brands to build an immersive paddle tennis equipment experience store. In the future, we will drive the industry with scenes, drive the economy with events, and continue to promote the high-quality development of the sports and leisure consumption industry with Wenjiang characteristics.   Paddle tennis may lead to a resurgence of retro old-money style. Sportswear and sports equipment have always been one of the hot topics discussed on social platforms. Since it was born out of tennis, a large number of tennis equipment and sports fashion clothing can be seamlessly migrated to this project, which not only allows users to post a "padel Tennis Retro Old Money" in their Moments after playing a game, the trend is back The good-looking photos of "outfit" give the movement itself a unique advantage in communication. In the future, on major social media and e-commerce platforms, you may see clothing topics and brands such as "Padelstyle Outfit Guide", "Padelstyle Sports Style Irresistible" and "Retro Outfits for Padel Style" Square action.   To leverage the swing business, you need to do a good job in venue, training and competition work. Some people believe that as a niche sport, it is still in the stage of attracting attention in the Chinese market. The public’s understanding of the project is only “small tennis”, and it still needs a long start-up period to expand domestically. For operators, in order to leverage the swing business, they need to do a good job in venue, training and competition work.   However, the walls of padel court are usually made of glass. Transparent glass walls make it easier to collaborate with many sports brands and even fashion brands, and even provide creative space for street art such as graffiti and wall paintings. The Padel venue is also removable, and some operators use pop-up stores to promote Padel. In terms of training, some operators combine paddle tennis and children's tennis training. This method may be the conversion method that some operators prefer. However, some operators reserve the venue more for community activities such as paddle tennis.   According to some observations, "60% of the turnover of the traditional swing business comes from training, and the remaining part is composed of court rental, competition and activity booking." Some operators said that they want more people to experience this sport, and doing well in events is still the key to promoting this sport. Although social media is a traffic-draining tool for niche sports, the “gold content” of events is higher.   Although paddle tennis still needs to be improved in terms of venues, training and events, many operators are confident in the market. "They have broad prospects and are worth investing in."        

      In August 2023, the International Olympic Committee announced the candidate list of nine new events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. When the domestic sports community regretted that Ultimate Frisbee was not included in the selection, the most regrettable thing in the entire Spanish-speaking and Latin-speaking regions should be the Tennis (Padel) is absent.   Padel tennis has been one of the most talked-about new sports in the world over the past few months. In addition to being included in the official competition events of the 2023 European Games, the world's top paddle tennis event has also received investment from Middle Eastern capital. The sub-station event is about to land in Africa. The International Padel Tennis Federation (FIP) is also actively promoting the project to enter the Asian Games. and the Commonwealth Games.   2022 is the year of the rise of niche sports in China. While Frisbee and Lu Chong have become the social currencies of young people in first-tier cities, padel tennis, which is popular overseas, is actually quietly growing in China. However, compared to the rapid popularity of other sports in various places, paddle tennis seems to be only popular in Shanghai. In addition, it can only be seen in a few cities such as Changsha and Chengdu. However, in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, this movement is hard to find.   Today, when all popular elements are spreading rapidly, it is difficult to imagine that an imported sport would become such a "local characteristic" in China. Two "Shanghai Styles" Padel tennis was born out of tennis. On the intercontinental cruise ships in the early last century, aristocrats liked to play tennis on the ship, but were afraid of the ball falling into the sea, so they thought of building glass walls to surround the court, and paddle tennis took shape.   By 1969, the first Padel Court appeared in Acapulco, Mexico. The sport subsequently spread to Spain and quickly spread in Spanish-speaking and Latin-speaking countries around the world. FIP officials stated that there are currently more than 25 million padel fans around the world, and the number of participants in this sport has doubled in the past five years.   In terms of rules, Padel is similar to a hybrid of tennis and squash - players can either follow the tennis rules and hit the ball before it hits the ground twice, or they can wait for the ball to bounce off the tempered glass on the sidelines and continue hitting. In addition, the paddle tennis court is 20 meters long and 10 meters wide, which is less than one-third of the area of a standard tennis court, and they are all used for doubles; the racket also adds foam cotton on the basis of carbon fiber, and its elasticity is relatively weakened.   Due to these rule settings, paddle tennis requires less strength and running than tennis, and focuses more on agility. And for people with a basic knowledge of tennis, badminton, and table tennis, similar swing movements also make paddle tennis a novice-friendly sport. Of course, in order to become popular in the current communication environment dominated by social media, new sports also need social functions, trendy attributes and "filmmaking" effects. Paddle tennis obviously doesn't lack these items.   In 2016, padel tennis was officially introduced into the country. Two years later, the Chinese paddle tennis tour sponsored by the Chinese Tennis Association was born. However, it was not until this year that the project accelerated its development in the country. The person in charge of marketing of the Shanghai Padel Tennis Club told reporters that the club was established in 2018, but before this year, the players of this sport were mainly foreigners living in Shanghai, accounting for 70%; and since the end of the epidemic in Shanghai in June this year , the proportion of domestic players has increased rapidly, and now accounts for nearly 60% of foreign users.   Now, a search for “padel tennis” on Meituan-Dianping shows that there are nearly 15 Padel Courts in Shanghai, belonging to about 8 different operators. But at the same time, a search for Padel Court in Beijing on the same platform showed zero. On Xiaohongshu, notes on paddle tennis are almost exclusively limited to Shanghai. Padel tennis, which originated at sea, seemed to be trapped in Shanghai after arriving in China.   Who dares to invest in building and Install a Padel Court ?   Of course, there are also a few practitioners who have brought paddle tennis to other cities, such as Changsha and Chengdu. The 2010 Padel Club is located in Changsha. Its venue was established in 2018. It was initially mainly used for public welfare promotion of the project with the support of the local Sports Bureau. It also hosted the 2018 China Padel Tennis Tour Finals. At the beginning of this year, the venue began commercial operations.   Compared with other emerging sports, the venue is the key factor affecting the promotion of padel tennis. Unlike Frisbee, which can use a football field, and land rush, which can directly use flat ground, paddle tennis must be played on a standard field of a specific size and equipped with tempered glass. This also requires the construction of a field from the beginning for the promotion of this sport. This is obviously An asset-heavy operating method.   The population characteristics and business environment in different places are the main considerations in choosing cities for promotion. In Shanghai, padel tennis itself has a certain amount of foreign user base, while other cities often need to start from scratch and promote it step by step. Changsha and Chengdu are both cities with young and inclusive consumer groups, and land prices are relatively low. Coupled with the support of local governments, the experiment of padel can be continued.   Of course, in addition to venues and clubs specializing in padel, there are also a large number of sports communities that regard paddle tennis as a new "content", and they also play a role in spreading the project. But for these communities, the core asset is people, which can carry social and trendy sports.   Abroad, this is already a sport with clear competitive rules, promotion channels, and event business systems, and is attracting an influx of more and more capital. Once Padel Sports enters the Asian Games or Olympic Games, it goes without saying that the resources of the sports management department will be tilted, and the relevant business system can also immediately include the Chinese market.   being targeted There is no doubt that paddle tennis has huge potential in the global market. Nadal and Beckham frequently posted photos of themselves playing Padel tennis. Liverpool Football Club has incorporated paddle tennis into its team training program. Murray invested US$1.7 million in Game4Padel. Zlatan Ibrahimovic even built his own paddle tennis facility in Sweden. site. The celebrity effect spreads the influence of the project quickly. The International Padel Federation (FIP) stated that in countries such as Spain, paddle tennis has become the second most popular sport after football. However, the excitement of paddle tennis today is not only about the sport itself, but also about the undercurrent of power struggles.   In the past, the World Padel Tour (WPT) has always been the most influential padel tennis event in the world. Chinese athlete Zhang Bohou, who switched from tennis to sports, also competed in the WPT and was known as the "No. 1 padel player in China. " However, the landscape of this emerging project is also undergoing drastic changes.   In fact, although the WPT has long had the best athletes, this event is actually operated by the Spanish beer brand Estrella Damm and is not directly supervised by the FIP. As padel tennis becomes more popular around the world, Middle Eastern capital has decided to grab the cake.   In February this year, FIP received investment from Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) and announced the establishment of a new Premier Padel event directly supervised by FIP. Starting from this year, this new event will have 10 padel tournaments every year, with a prize pool of 525,000 euros per stop, and the total annual prize money is about 80% higher than the WPT.   Such a move is obviously robbing people. Sports Pro Media reported that most top players have contracts with the WPT until 2023 and are therefore temporarily unable to participate in the Premier Padel. However, the FIP and the Padel Tennis Professionals Association have filed a lawsuit against the WPT to the European Commission, accusing the other party of signing "illegal exclusives" with players. "The FIP has made no secret that they want the Premier Padel to replace the WPT as the sport's number one event." In May, the WPT also sued the other party for "attempting to exclude it from the market and deviating from its role as a fair player." The role of nonprofit regulators.”   To put it simply, the international governing body of paddle tennis, after seeing the huge commercial value of this sport, decided to kick away the "tradition" of the past and completely stand on its own. The press release announcing the establishment of the event on the FIP official website even used the ironic title: A BRIGHT & BRILLIANT NEW DAWN FOR PADEL, "A bright and brilliant new dawn for padel tennis has come."   However, the battle is not over yet. Within a few months, Premier Padel signed copyright agreements with media platforms such as ESPN, Sky, BeIN Sports, Canal+, RTVE, etc., and WPT also reached cooperation with BT Sport and Mediapro. There is no result yet on which side will win, but what is certain is that the participation of many media giants will bring unimaginable commercial value to paddle tennis.   It is not difficult to see that the direct cause of this conflict is the entry of Qatar Sports Investment Authority, which is also the current owner of Paris Saint-Germain Football Club. It is nothing new for Middle East sovereign funds to invest in sports. The conflict caused by the Qataris this time is exactly the same as the previous investment by the Saudis in golf. (Extended reading: Saudi funds have invested billions of dollars, and the golf version of the "European Super League" is about to come true.) What is a little surprising is that Middle Eastern capital has already set its sights on the emerging sport of padel tennis.