Padel, tennis or pickleball: which sport do you organise and why?

Padel, tennis and pickleball — three racket sports on the same club. Which one fits which audience, which one needs which investment, and can you run all three side by side? Below is an honest comparison for clubs weighing what to offer.

Padel: the explosive grower

Padel is growing faster than any other racket sport in Europe — from a few thousand players in 2015 to more than 200,000 in the Netherlands alone in 2025. The format mostly attracts 30-50-year-olds who find tennis too demanding or too solo. The social doubles format, short learning curve, and use of the walls make it accessible to most people within 1-2 hours of play.

Investment: high. A padel court costs roughly €30,000-50,000 to build (depending on whether it is covered and surface type). Footprint: 10 x 20 metres per court — considerably larger than a pickleball court, smaller than tennis. Maintenance is moderate.

Format-wise: the Americano is what made padel big — social mixing, rotating partners, individual scoring. Add Mexicano, Mix-Americano, and Solo Ladder. Padel clubs usually run 2-4 organised nights per week plus open court rental.

Tennis: the established backbone

Tennis is the oldest, broadest, and most deeply rooted of the three. Federation leagues, formal tournaments, club tradition. Players of all ages, but on average slightly older than padel (45-65). The competitive arm is strong; the social arm often shrank — many clubs abandoned ladders and social nights in favour of competition-only programming.

Investment: medium (about €20,000-40,000 per court to build, depending on type). A tennis court is 11 x 24 metres including run-off — larger than padel or pickleball. Clay-court maintenance is more demanding than artificial turf.

Format opportunities for tennis clubs that want to be more social again: social tennis nights and ladders — low-barrier, non-competitive, member-binding. Many tennis clubs underestimate how much value this adds alongside the formal league.

Pickleball: the newcomer with momentum

Pickleball has been a meaningful presence in Europe since 2020. Globally it is the fastest-growing racket sport, and that wave is now hitting other markets too. The sport mostly attracts 50+ players (lower physical demand than tennis) but is also growing among younger players.

Investment: low. A pickleball court is 6 x 13 metres — 4 courts fit on a single tennis court. Lines can be applied locally (from €100 per set), nets are portable, posts can be permanent or mobile. For existing tennis clubs it is a logical expansion without a major capital outlay.

Format: drop-in nights, round robins and King of the Court sessions are typical. Pickleball clubs are usually small (50-150 members) and social-first. DUPR rating is used internationally for competitive play.

Which sport should your club add

For a tennis club that wants to refresh its membership and bring back social activity: pickleball is the obvious first step. Low investment, high enthusiasm potential, 4 courts on 1 tennis court — even without touching the tennis side at all.

For a tennis club that wants to compete with padel venues in the region: build your own padel courts or partner with a padel location. The investment is hefty, but the player overlap with tennis is high and growth is structural.

For a brand-new club: focus on 1 sport at a time. Padel or pickleball, not both at once — the organising becomes too complex. Tennis is saturated, padel is growing hard, pickleball is a bet on the future.

Multi-sport clubs: the organisational story

Many clubs already run 2-3 sports side by side. The biggest challenge is not the courts or the memberships but the event organising: who sits on the three sport committees, who runs the nights, how do you track rating across 3 different systems, how do you make sure members know where to go?

With Rallyo you run all three sports in one app: the same sign-up flow for padel, tennis and pickleball, separate ratings per sport per member, a shared member list. No more three different systems. Free for the whole club. Start for free.

Summary

Padel: explosive growth, medium-high investment, social doubles format, 30-50 year olds. Tennis: established, medium-high investment, broad age range, strong competition. Pickleball: fast growth, low investment, broad age band especially 50+, social-first. Combinations of two or three are perfectly workable as long as you have good tools to run the organising. Start with what fits your existing club culture and expand where demand pulls you.