Oxygen Consulting deep dives into padel with forthcoming report | Sports Management

Oxygen Consulting is about to launch its first UK Padel Report, which investigates this fast-growing sport.

Brought to the UK around 2012, padel has really taken off in the past couple of years, with David Lloyd Leisure and GLL being among the first operators to invest. Offering a sociable experience and being easier to play than tennis makes padel popular among players, while the small footprint needed for courts make it more feasible for leisure operators to add it to their facilities.

Written for an investor, real estate, entrepreneur, and leisure sector audience, The UK Padel Report uncovers the drivers behind the interest in padel, examines emerging business models and assesses motivations among players and non-players.

Strategies for integrating padel into private and public sector leisure offerings are examined, focusing on direct investment and partnerships to promote physical activity and support improvement in public health.

Research into non-players, their awareness of padel and their future intentions to participate will help inform the supply-side expansion of padel courts to short and medium-term demand.

“Oxygen Consulting has dedicated 19 years to exploring the nexus of fitness, business strategy, technology, and societal shifts, but never before have I had the opportunity to study the emergence and adoption by a country of an entirely new sport,” says Ray Algar, report author and founder of Oxygen Consulting.

“Padel has an intriguing recipe that reaches across all generations from Alpha to Baby Boomers, potentially making exercise more sociable for more people. Our report aims to decode this sport and explore where it might fit into the long-term UK racquet sports landscape and its capacity to improve well-being and public health. Additionally, it investigates varying levels of player adoption and therefore the amount of investment and infrastructure required to support the sport across the UK.”

This consumer research is supported by input from UK and European academic collaborators and a national polling organisation. Oxygen Consulting wants to make the report open-access, so is seeking sponsorship of the research ahead of the launch. Contact Ray Algar for further details on how to get involved.