The vision is not just building courts, but a whole ecosystem — leagues, academies, and content: Nikhil Sachdev, PadelPark India

PadelPark India, is a platform for the racquet sport of Padel. It operates through five verticals: Sky Padel for court manufacturing, PadelPark for centers, an academy, a retail division, and an events division. Founded in the year 2019 in Mumbai, PadelPark has presently installed over 100 courts in India. The brand says that it holds a major market share of 80% in India. PadelPark also has hosted five seasons of the Indian Paddle Tour.

MediaNews4u.com caught up with Nikhil Sachdev, co-founder & Head of Marketing, Brand Development, and Strategy PadelPark India

Q. What trends are being seen in the growth of Padel in the country in terms of participation and viewership?

Honestly, it’s been exciting to see how fast padel is catching on in India. A couple of years ago, barely anyone knew what padel was, and now we have people from all age groups walking into our courts curious to try it out.

Participation is definitely growing, especially among younger professionals and even teenagers. Viewership is still early stage, but interest is picking up and is on a positive growth trajectory, especially after people play the game and fall in love with it.

Additionally, social media is helping a lot, too, as Padel is super visual, and clips from matches get people talking. Not only the long intense rallies but bloopers too!

Q. There is still a lot of talk about India still being about cricket and other sports being far behind. Perhaps this is because sport is not a priority for schools, colleges and parents. In this situation, what is the potential for padel?

Cricket’s always going to be big in India; no denying that. But what’s shifting now is that people are looking for something new, something more social and easier to pick up. That’s where Padel shines. You don’t need to be an athlete to enjoy it. It’s fast, fun, and addictive.

The potential is massive, especially if we can get schools and colleges to introduce it as a casual sport. Parents love that it’s safe, not too rough on the body, and keeps the kids active. We have already built some courts at schools and the participation numbers are astounding.

Q. We are seeing a trend where CEOs are playing padel, scheduling matches sometimes, maybe preferring it to golf. How is that translating into sponsorship and investment activities?

It’s definitely happening. I’ve had a few intense matches with founders and CEOs myself, it’s becoming the new “golf meeting.” It’s quicker, more engaging, and you can play a solid game in an hour.

From an investment standpoint, this is a huge deal, when decision-makers are personally invested in a sport, they naturally become ambassadors for it.

We’ve had some really interesting conversations come out of casual games. Brands are seeing this too, padel has this premium yet accessible vibe, which makes it perfect for sponsorships and we’ve had the pleasure of working with some exceptional brands for our Indian Padel Tournaments (IPTs).

Q. PadelPark India recently got a funding round led by Parth Jindal. What are the investors’ visions and expectations?

Mr. Jindal has been super supportive and genuinely excited about the sport’s potential in India. The vision is very aligned; we’re not just building courts, we’re building a community and a movement.

The expectation is to scale smartly, have high-quality courts, have great player experiences, and create a solid ecosystem around the sport. Think leagues, academies, content, events, the whole package. We all believe that padel can become one of India’s top lifestyle sports and the intention is to make India a prominent force in the global Padel world.

Q. What is the business model of PadelPark India?

It’s fairly straightforward — we build courts and operate premium padel centres and offer pay-to-play, coaching, memberships, tournaments and events.

Beyond that, we’re also creating revenue streams through partnerships with corporations, hospitality brands, and fitness platforms among others. Over time, we want to go deeper into merchandise, content, and even tech — like player data, and analytics.

Q. Could you shed light on the plans to grow the sport through organising events, launching padel clubs etc?

Absolutely. Events are a big part of our strategy, they get people to try competitive sport and keep them coming back. We’ve already started doing weekend tournaments, corporate leagues, and beginner camps.

Soon, you’ll see us launching official PadelPark Leagues across cities. We’re also building a network of clubs, not just in metros, but eventually in smaller cities too. We want to create a vibrant community where people feel a sense of belonging around the sport.

Q. Could you shed light on the brand partnerships and collaborations being looked at with hotels, resorts, corporate sponsors etc?

Padel pairs beautifully with hospitality. We’ve built Padel courts at some hotels already and are in advanced talks with some premium hotel and resort chains to build padel courts on their properties.

Imagine you’re on a vacation and you have a chance to try out this fun, addictive sport with your friends or kids, it adds to the overall experience. On the corporate side, we’re seeing strong interest from wellness-forward brands that see padel as a new-age sport to associate with.

Q. In terms of airing padel events what interest is being seen from sports broadcasters, OTT platforms?

In India it’s still early days, but we’ve had a few encouraging conversations. Because padel is fast-paced, short-format, and exciting to watch, it actually fits really well with OTT platforms and even short-form content formats.

Think mini-series, highlight reels, or behind-the-scenes stories. Traditional broadcasters are still warming up to it, but I think once the local leagues and rivalries pick up, viewership will follow.

On a global basis viewership is growing extremely rapidly with international and professional leagues being broadcast in sports bars and streaming platforms.

Q. In terms of market potential is the organisation targeting the Metros or is there growth to be seen in tier two and three towns and cities as well?

Right now, metros are definitely the starting point, cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad have the right mix of awareness, disposable income, and openness to exploring new things. But long-term, the real scale is going to stem from tier two and three cities.

These places are craving for better recreational infrastructure, and padel is a perfect fit, low footprint, high engagement. We’ve already received interest from cities like Jaipur, Kochi, Surat, among others, and it’s coming sooner than people expect.

Q. If Padel was to be included in the Melbourne Olympics in 2032 what would that mean for the sport? On the flip side we saw karate quickly being dropped after just one Olympics maybe because the fan following was too niche.

Olympic inclusion would be a game-changer, no doubt. It gives the sport credibility and visibility and inspires a whole new generation to pursue it seriously.

But yes, that also comes with the responsibility to build a strong local infrastructure. What we need to ensure is that padel doesn’t just stay a niche lifestyle sport, we have to build stories around players, create excitement through leagues, and engage fans.

That’s what will give it staying power beyond a single Olympic cycle. There are 30 million Padel players around the world and is definitely not niche as it’s made out to be.