Saudi Arabia’s Padel Revolution: 1,097 Courts, 400,000 Players, and Counting

No racket sport in history has grown as fast in a single country as padel has grown in Saudi Arabia. In a span of approximately five years — from the establishment of the Saudi Padel Committee in August 2021 to early 2026 — the Kingdom has built 1,097 courts across 431 facilities, attracted 400,000 amateur players, produced 27 men and 8 women in the FIP (International Padel Federation) world rankings, and positioned itself as the leading padel country in all of Asia. The Saudi Padel Committee’s stated goal is breathtaking in its ambition: make padel one of the top five most popular sports in Saudi Arabia and reach 500,000 practitioners by 2030.

This is not an incremental expansion. It is a revolution — one that mirrors the explosive growth of padel globally but amplified by Saudi Arabia’s unique combination of sovereign wealth, strategic planning, and a young, sports-hungry population. When the Premier Padel circuit — the sport’s premier professional tour — opened its 2025 season in Riyadh, it was both a recognition of what Saudi Arabia had already built and a signal of what is still to come.

The Numbers Behind the Boom

The raw statistics of Saudi padel’s growth are remarkable by any standard:

Facilities and Courts: Saudi Arabia has 431 padel facilities housing 1,097 courts, along with 320 padel clubs. These figures make Saudi Arabia the dominant padel market in Asia, accounting for approximately 30 percent of all padel facilities on the continent. The Middle East as a whole represents 85 percent of Asian padel courts, and Saudi Arabia is the undisputed leader within that region.

Participation: An estimated 400,000 amateur players participate in padel in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Padel Committee has licensed 1,000 professional players and aims to grow the number of local competition participants to 5,000. The target of 500,000 total practitioners by 2030 represents a 25 percent increase from current levels — ambitious but achievable given the growth trajectory.

Coaching and Officiating: The padel ecosystem is supported by 39 certified coaches and 95 referees. These numbers reflect the sport’s relative youth in Saudi Arabia — the coaching infrastructure is still being built, and certification programs are expanding to meet growing demand.

Competitive Activity: Saudi Arabia hosted over 100 local padel tournaments in 2024. The Saudi Padel League launched in 2024 as a national professional league. Saudi Games qualifiers attracted 182 men’s teams and 29 women’s teams, with 10 finalists per gender advancing to the main competition.

International Rankings: Saudi Arabia has 27 men and 8 women in the FIP world rankings. The men’s representation doubled from 12 in the prior year, indicating accelerating international competitiveness. The highest-ranked Saudi woman, Sara Mohammed Salhab, sits at number 249 in the world — a position that represents both significant achievement and substantial room for growth.

The Saudi Padel Committee

The Saudi Padel Committee was established in August 2021 and launched its activities by the end of that year. The committee affiliated with the International Padel Federation (FIP) in 2022, formalizing Saudi Arabia’s connection to the global governing body and ensuring that Saudi players, coaches, and officials operate within the international framework.

The committee’s strategic plan is comprehensive and explicitly connected to Vision 2030. Its stated objectives include installing 1,000 additional courts across 13 regions and 26 cities and governorates between 2025 and 2030, positioning padel among the top five most popular sports in Saudi Arabia, developing three athletes ranked in the world top 100, reaching 500,000 total practitioners by 2030, and establishing Saudi Arabia as the undisputed leader of Asian padel.

These objectives reflect a sophisticated understanding of what is required to build a sport from the ground up. Court construction addresses the infrastructure gap. Participation targets drive the grassroots base. Player development goals create aspirational targets for elite athletes. And the regional expansion plan ensures that padel is not concentrated in Riyadh but distributed across the Kingdom.

Geographic Distribution

Padel facilities in Saudi Arabia are concentrated in three primary regions: Riyadh (highest concentration), the Eastern Province, and Mecca Province. This distribution reflects population centers and the availability of suitable real estate, but the Saudi Padel Committee’s expansion plan targets all 13 regions of the Kingdom.

Riyadh’s dominance in the padel landscape mirrors its role as the center of Saudi Arabia’s sports transformation more broadly. The capital’s large expatriate community — which has historically driven demand for racket sports — provided an initial market for padel facilities, and local entrepreneurs and investors responded with rapid court construction. The Eastern Province, home to the oil industry workforce, and Mecca Province, which includes the commercial hub of Jeddah, follow similar patterns.

The expansion to 26 cities and governorates represents a deliberate effort to decentralize padel beyond the major metropolitan areas. Smaller cities and towns across Saudi Arabia represent untapped markets, and the relatively modest cost of constructing padel courts (compared to, say, football stadiums or golf courses) makes geographic expansion feasible even in areas with limited sports infrastructure.

Why Padel? The Perfect Sport for Saudi Arabia

Padel’s explosive growth in Saudi Arabia is not accidental. Several characteristics of the sport align perfectly with Saudi Arabia’s demographics, climate, and social dynamics:

Social Sport: Padel is played in doubles, making it inherently social. In a culture that values communal activity and social gathering, padel courts have become meeting places — spaces where friends, colleagues, and families come together for recreation. The Saudi Padel Committee describes padel as “more than just a sport — it is a social and community-driven activity,” a characterization that resonates with Saudi social norms.

Accessibility: Padel is easier to learn than tennis. The smaller court, enclosed walls (which keep the ball in play), and simpler technique requirements mean that beginners can enjoy meaningful rallies within their first session. This low barrier to entry has been crucial in attracting the 400,000 amateur players who currently participate — many of whom would not have been drawn to the more technically demanding game of tennis.

Climate Compatibility: Padel courts can be enclosed, covered, or cooled, making them playable in Riyadh’s extreme summer heat. Many Saudi padel facilities feature climate-controlled environments, artificial lighting for evening play, and covered structures that protect players from the sun. The sport’s adaptability to Saudi Arabia’s climate has been a significant factor in its rapid adoption.

Gender Inclusivity: Padel has emerged as a vehicle for increasing women’s participation in sport in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Padel Committee’s programs include women’s competitions, and facilities like Padel Rush actively encourage female participation. A university partnership agreement with the Saudi Federation for University Sports, signed in September 2024, specifically aims to broaden the female participant base. The 29 women’s teams in the Saudi Games qualifiers represent a substantial level of engagement that would have been unimaginable a decade ago.

Facility Economics: Padel courts are significantly cheaper to build than tennis courts, football pitches, or other major sports facilities. A single padel court requires approximately 200 square meters — less than a quarter of a standard tennis court — and can be operational within weeks. This favorable economics has enabled rapid private-sector investment in padel facilities, with entrepreneurs and investors building courts in response to demonstrated demand.

The Premier Padel Circuit in Riyadh

The Riyadh Season P1 event on the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour — the sport’s premier professional circuit — opened the 2025 season in Riyadh, starting February 10, 2025. The event was played on the Premier Supercourt X3 synthetic turf surface, a state-of-the-art playing surface that represents the cutting edge of padel court technology.

The significance of hosting the season-opening event cannot be overstated. The Premier Padel circuit comprises 24 tournaments across 16 countries, and Riyadh’s position as the opening event establishes Saudi Arabia as the tour’s anchor market — the place where the professional season begins. This mirrors the Six Kings Slam’s strategy in tennis: use hosting position and financial commitment to establish Saudi Arabia as an essential stop on the global circuit.

The Premier Padel circuit’s 2025 season represents the latest phase of padel’s professionalization. With 24 events across four continents, the tour provides the competitive infrastructure that the sport needs to develop from a recreational activity into a globally recognized professional sport. Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the opening event positions the Kingdom at the forefront of this professionalization.

The Global Context

Saudi Arabia’s padel explosion occurs within a broader global context. Padel is played in 150 countries worldwide, with 77,300 courts globally as of 2025 (up by 14,355 new courts in a single year). The FIP organized 182 tournaments in 2024 and planned 290 for 2025, with 11,000 players participating in FIP events globally.

Within this global landscape, Saudi Arabia’s 1,097 courts represent a significant national total — particularly given that the country had virtually no padel infrastructure before 2021. Spain remains the global leader with approximately 30,000 courts, and several Latin American countries (Argentina, Mexico, Brazil) have deeply established padel cultures. But among nations that have adopted padel recently, Saudi Arabia’s growth rate is unmatched.

The Middle East as a whole has emerged as a padel growth hotspot, with 85 percent of Asian padel courts located in the region. The UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain all have growing padel communities, but Saudi Arabia’s scale — in terms of both courts and participation — dwarfs its Gulf neighbors. The Saudi Padel Committee’s aggressive expansion plan suggests that this gap will widen further in the coming years.

Women’s Padel in Saudi Arabia

Women’s padel participation in Saudi Arabia represents one of the most significant stories in the Kingdom’s sports development. In alignment with Vision 2030’s evolving gender inclusivity policies, the Saudi Padel Committee has actively encouraged women’s participation, and the results have been meaningful.

Eight Saudi women are ranked in the FIP world rankings, with Sara Mohammed Salhab as the highest-ranked at number 249. The Saudi Games qualifiers included 29 women’s teams, indicating a competitive women’s scene that extends well beyond a handful of elite players. Facilities like Padel Rush specifically promote women’s participation, and the university partnership agreement signed in September 2024 targets female students as a primary audience.

The growth of women’s padel in Saudi Arabia is significant for reasons beyond sport. It represents a normalization of women’s physical activity and competitive sport in a society that, until recently, placed significant restrictions on both. Each women’s padel tournament, each facility that welcomes female players, each Saudi woman who picks up a padel racket contributes to a broader social transformation that Vision 2030 has catalyzed.

The Saudi Padel League

The launch of the Saudi Padel League in 2024 marked a milestone in the sport’s professionalization within the Kingdom. The national league provides a structured competitive framework for the country’s best players, creating a competitive pathway that connects grassroots participation with elite performance.

National leagues are critical infrastructure in any sport’s development. They provide regular competitive opportunities for domestic players, create media content that builds fan engagement, generate sponsorship and commercial revenue, and establish the institutional structures (scheduling, officiating, governance) that underpin professional sport. The Saudi Padel League’s launch represents the Saudi Padel Committee’s recognition that court construction and participation numbers, while necessary, are not sufficient — a competitive infrastructure must exist to translate grassroots enthusiasm into sustained sporting culture.

Infrastructure and Investment

The investment required to build 1,097 courts across 431 facilities in five years is substantial, though the per-court cost of padel construction is relatively modest compared to other sports. Private-sector investment has driven much of this growth, with entrepreneurs and investment groups responding to demonstrated demand by building padel facilities in commercial districts, residential developments, and standalone complexes.

The Saudi Padel Committee’s target of 1,000 additional courts between 2025 and 2030 implies a continuation of the current construction pace — approximately 200 new courts per year. This target is achievable given the existing momentum and the favorable economics of padel court construction, but it will require sustained investment, available real estate, and continued growth in participation to justify the capital expenditure.

The quality of facilities has also evolved. Early padel courts in Saudi Arabia were often basic structures with limited amenities. Newer facilities feature climate control, premium surfaces, professional lighting, spectator seating, pro shops, and integrated hospitality (restaurants, lounges, and social spaces). The evolution from basic courts to premium facilities reflects the maturation of the Saudi padel market and the increasing expectations of participants.

Vision 2030 Alignment

Padel’s alignment with Vision 2030 objectives is comprehensive. The sport encourages a healthy lifestyle (a key Vision 2030 goal), promotes athletic development, fosters social inclusion (including gender inclusivity), creates private-sector economic activity (facility construction, coaching, equipment sales), and positions Saudi Arabia as a leader in an emerging global sport.

The Saudi Padel Committee’s strategic plan explicitly references Vision 2030, positioning padel as a tool for achieving the Kingdom’s broader social and economic objectives. The sport’s accessibility, social nature, and adaptability to the Saudi climate make it a particularly effective vehicle for the “mass participation” goal that underpins Vision 2030’s health and wellness agenda.

The goal of positioning padel among Saudi Arabia’s top five most popular sports by 2030 is ambitious but plausible. Football dominates Saudi sports culture, and cricket, basketball, and motorsport all have significant followings. But padel’s growth trajectory — from zero to 400,000 participants in five years — suggests that the sport has the momentum to compete with established disciplines. If the Saudi Padel Committee’s expansion plan delivers as projected, padel could surpass several traditional sports in participation numbers by the end of the decade.

Challenges and Opportunities

Despite its remarkable growth, Saudi padel faces several challenges. The coaching infrastructure (39 certified coaches for 400,000 players) is significantly underdeveloped relative to participation levels. Player development pathways for elite competition remain nascent. And the gap between Saudi Arabia’s domestic competitive level and the world’s top-ranked nations (Spain, Argentina, Italy) is substantial.

Opportunities, however, outweigh challenges. The young Saudi population (approximately 70 percent under age 35) provides a large potential market for padel participation. Government support through the Saudi Padel Committee ensures institutional backing and strategic direction. The Premier Padel circuit’s presence in Riyadh creates visibility and aspirational targets. And the global growth of padel — from 150 countries to potentially many more — creates an expanding international framework within which Saudi players can develop.

The next five years will determine whether Saudi Arabia’s padel revolution matures into a sustainable sporting culture or peaks as a trend. The infrastructure, investment, and institutional commitment suggest sustainability. But translating 400,000 amateur participants into international competitive success — the ultimate measure of a nation’s sporting development — will require patience, expertise, and continued investment over a timeline measured in decades.

Key Facts at a Glance