UK participation levels more than doubled in 2025
860,000 Britons played padel at least once last year
It was once seen as a quirky upstart or continental fad. But padel now has nearly a million players across the UK after participation levels more than doubled in 2025.
According to LTA figures seen by the Guardian, 860,000 Britons played padel at least once last year – up from 400,000 in 2024 and 129,000 in 2023 – as the racket sport’s dizzying rise continued.
The LTA, tennis’s national governing body, puts the extraordinary boom down to padel’s accessibility, with beginners able to play in minutes, more courts, and the cool factor from celebrities such as Eva Longoria, Lily James and Cristiano Ronaldo taking up the sport.
