The Padel Revolution Takes London by Storm: A Court-by-Court Guide to the Capital’s Hottest Sport
London has officially caught padel fever, and the numbers are absolutely staggering! If you’ve been wondering whether this racquet sport from Spain (passing through Mexico and Argentina) has truly landed in the Big Smoke, prepare to be blown away by the sheer scale of courts popping up across our beloved city.
The Numbers Game: 166 Courts and Counting! [Updated Jun 7 2025]
As of writing (June 2025), the 32 boroughs (and the City) of Greater London now boast an impressive 166 padel courts (not including any private courts owned by an individual at their home!) spread across 42 different venues, with a 44%-56% split between indoor and outdoor facilities – 73 indoor or covered courts versus 93 outdoor courts. This balance means Londoners can enjoy their padel fix year-round, whether it’s raining cats and dogs or we’re blessed with one of those rare sunny days! Of course, if I had my druthers, given the unpleasantness of playing on wet and slippery courts, with wet and bounceless walls, I suggest the balance should be more like 75% (indoor) v 25%.
Padel Courts Greater London 166
The Padel Powerhouses: Where Size Really Matters
Two venues are absolutely dominating the court count race, each boasting a magnificent twelve courts. Rocket Padel Ilford (in the IG1 postcode area) leads the charge with all 12 courts under cover (two of which are singles courts), while Rocks Lane Chiswick (on the other side of town in W4) offers a mix of 4 indoor and 8 outdoor courts (one of which is singles). What makes this particularly fascinating is that Ilford sits in Redbridge, a borough with approximately 310,000 residents – that’s just 3.9 courts per 100,000 with this single mega-venue! In the borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, where I live, mixing in the private and public courts, the ratio is a relatively robust 8.1 courts per 100,000. That’s the highest density in London. However, I note that since 12 of the 15 courts in my borough are outdoors, the effective availability is dramatically reduced with inclement weather.
Not far behind, Social Sports Society Brent Cross serves up 10 courts in NW4, while Stratford Padel Club (E15) rounds out the top tier with 9 courts. Interestingly, Stratford sits in an area that’s seen massive regeneration, perfectly complementing the Olympic legacy with this trendy Spanish import. Stratford boasts the reputation for the best padel in the city, where you can’t even play if you’ve not been evaluated by a certified coach for your level.
On the London scene, it’s for sure that Rocket Padel is now the #1 in terms of offering the largest selection of courts (21) and all indoor at that. I had cofounder, Seb Gordon, on my Joy of Padel podcast for a wonderful chat about Rocket’s approach to growing padel. Another player in the market is Game4Padel which operates 5 clubs in Greater London, with a total of 18 courts (5 of which are indoor/covered). [Thanks Matt for the update]
The Reservation Revolution: Apps Galore!
To the extent padel has come of age in the digital era, this has surely helped in rendering padel more accessible. The pay & play format through specific apps enables padel aficionados to book their courts autonomously. Playtomic emerges as the winner here (at least for now), powering reservations for 12 different venues – that’s one-third of all padel locations in London! Despite its being the most popular padel booking app around the world (with 6,000 clubs as clients), it’s worth noting that Playtomic has lost a couple of banner names (including Rocket) in London. as well as the biggest set of clubs in the Paris region, called CasaPadel. Matchi has 8 clubs. Padel Mates, the up and comer, secures the bronze medal with 6 venues in London (7 when the upmarket Padium switches in July), while the premium David Lloyd chain operates 4 locations exclusively through their own app system. After my having attended the Padel World Summit (PWS) 2025 in Barcelona, it is clear that padel is attracting a fair amount of investment and stimulating innovation. There were over 15 initiatives at the PWS that directly involve artificial intelligence. Speaking of AI, you’ll notice that my banner image is crafted thanks to my personalised OpenArt AI. WTS for more innovation coming to your padel world! Moreoever, numerous sessions at the PWS talked about the booming nature of the UK market.
Geographic Gold Rush: From East to West
The court distribution reveals fascinating patterns across London’s diverse landscape. East London is experiencing a genuine padel explosion, with venues like the newly-minted Rocket Padel Beckton (5 courts), the aforementioned upmarket Padium in E14 (8 courts), and the Stratford powerhouse. Meanwhile, West London isn’t being left behind, with clusters around Wandsworth (5.8 courts per 100K pop), Chiswick, Acton, and at the Chelsea Harbour Club (3 indoor courts). Perhaps most telling is the emergence of “pop-up” venues like Padel Affair’s West London location (UB2), or previously at Marble Arch, and one sumptuous floating court on the water at The Hurlingham Club (via Gareth Evans).
A clear sign that demand is outstripping permanent supply. When entrepreneurs are willing to create temporary courts, you know a sport has serious momentum!
Market Maturation and Accessibility Challenges: £20 to £100/hour
And speaking of “gold”, London’s padel court pricing landscape reflects the sport’s rapid commercialisation, with premium experiences coexisting alongside community-focused options. While the £50–£60 per hour average positions padel as a mid-tier recreational activity, price disparities between central and suburban locations highlight ongoing accessibility challenges. At the apex of London’s padel pricing spectrum lies Padium’s centre court, which commands £100 per hour for its gamecam-equipped facility in Canary Wharf. This premium offering is closely followed by The Padel Hub North London in Totteridge, charging £80 per hour during peak times. At the bottom of the scale, London’s most affordable padel experiences cluster in suburban areas (esp in off-peak time slots). Playtime Padel Clubs in Kingston offers the capital’s lowest rate at £20 per hour. The budget venues frequently employ dynamic pricing models, with Stratford Padel Club reducing off-peak rates to £27 per hour for non-members.The proliferation of membership models and off-peak discounts suggests behaviours of a mature market, yet sustained growth is surely in the cards and may require increased public-sector collaboration to ensure broad participation across income demographics. If Britain is to field a competitive team, it will mean getting the sport embedded in youth and community programmes.
The Future Looks Bright (and Covered)
One person asked in a session at the PWS in Barcelona: Is the padel boom in the UK about to bust? To which, the right answer was: Absolutely not! I think even London can do with many more (indoor) courts. At time of writing, 12 boroughs don’t host a single padel court… although that’s going to be changing soon. There are multiple venues coming on tap soon… and more in the works. Rocket Padel Croydon plans to add another 9 courts by late 2025, while several smaller venues have announced that they are getting ready to join the party. With new courts sprouting up faster than London house prices, it seems padel’s popularity shows no signs of slowing. Coming soon to you in Haringey, too.
The Bottom Line
From exclusive private members’ clubs to accessible community venues, from state-of-the-art apps to traditional booking systems, London’s padel scene represents everything we love about this city – diversity, innovation, and an unstoppable appetite for the next big thing. With 166 courts and growing, the only question isn’t whether you should try padel – it’s which of these 42 amazing venues you’ll visit first! As of writing, I also note that, according to the LTA governing body, the UK now boasts 893 courts (a +56% compound annual growth rate since 2021) across 300 venues, with 400,000 Brits having played once in the last 12 months, showing that the UK has one of the world’s fastest growth rates. As part of the new Global Padel Report (pre-released at the PWS), Playtomic reported that the UK is now “the world’s most social padel nation.” Co-founder of Playtomic, Pablo Carro, said that Britain has “the highest ratio of open matches to regular bookings seen anywhere worldwide.” It also has the fifth largest padel market in terms of number of matches played. A back of the envelope number to estimate the booking revenues for the 166 courts, assuming 40% capacity utilisation and an average price/hour of £30 = £10+ million per year. Not too shabby.
¡Vamos, London!
P.S. If you have any corrections or additions to this compilation, I’m all ears. I’ll be updating this post for future openings! Please drop in your news or thoughts into the comments section below.
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Minter Dial
Minter Dial is an international professional speaker, author & consultant on Leadership, Branding and Transformation. After a successful international career at L’Oréal, Minter Dial returned to his entrepreneurial roots and has spent the last twelve years helping senior management teams and Boards to adapt to the new exigencies of the digitally enhanced marketplace. He has worked with world-class organisations to help activate their brand strategies, and figure out how best to integrate new technologies, digital tools, devices and platforms. Above all, Minter works to catalyse a change in mindset and dial up transformation. Minter received his BA in Trilingual Literature from Yale University (1987) and gained his MBA at INSEAD, Fontainebleau (1993). He’s author of four award-winning books, including Heartificial Empathy, Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence (2nd edition) (2023); You Lead, How Being Yourself Makes You A Better Leader (Kogan Page 2021); co-author of Futureproof, How To Get Your Business Ready For The Next Disruption (Pearson 2017); and author of The Last Ring Home (Myndset Press 2016), a book and documentary film, both of which have won awards and critical acclaim.
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