The third quarter of 2023 saw a 50 percent drop from the same quarter last year in the construction of new facilities to play padel
Compared with the data as of the end of December 2022 (data source Padel Observatory “Mr. Padel Paddle”), we had an increase in facilities (sports clubs, padel clubs, accommodations) by 16% from 2,792 to 3,250 (458 more).
For courts, the increase was 20% from 7,128 to 8,520 (delta of 1,392 courts).
The next target of 9,000 pitches is likely to occur in early 2024 for this year’s closing of about 1,700/1,800 pitches made.
Thirty-eight percent of the racquet sport’s courts are Indoor, 3,214 courts spread over 1,132 sports centers equipped with covers.
If we consider only the new 2023 clubs this share rises to 46%.
After a good second quarter (even though it is a favorable seasonal period) there was a sharp decrease in growth in the third quarter, exactly 50% less than in the same period of 2022 as shown in the graph below:
The average number of courts per single facility remains constant at 2.6, if we consider only the new facilities in 2023 the average is 2.7 courts per club still less than the 4 courts per club that is what is considered sustainable by those in the industry.
There are 1,489 municipalities with the presence of at least one facility where padel can be played, representing 19% of all municipalities in Italy.
The regional situation
The absolute regions with the largest number of courts and facilities are always Lazio (1,855 camps and 559 facilities) followed by Lombardy (1,149 ;373) and Sicily (802;309).
Lazio is therefore the region with the highest incidence of fields in Italy (21.8 percent of the courts in our country are concentrated in Lazio, Lombardy 13.5 percent, and Sicily 9.2 percent).
Relative to indoor play, Lombardy is always in the lead with 833 courts (1/4 of all indoor courts in Italy), then Lazio (577) and Piedmont (313).
In these first 9 months, the region that had the most installation of courts and facilities was Lombardy (277 courts and 71 facilities)
Lombardy has had a growth of courts in these 9 months of 32%, good also the development in Campania (30%) and Veneto (29%), Lazio only 13% but the territory (especially the metropolitan city of Rome) has a rather high level of saturation compared to other regions.
Relative to the No. of municipalities where there are clubs where to play the sport we have that Lombardy has 243 municipalities where to play, then there is Piedmont (148) followed by Lazio (119) and Campania 117.
The province/metropolitan city with the highest No. of courts is always Rome with 1,437 (385 clubs), followed by 3 other provinces with at least 100 clubs namely Milan with 439 courts (111 clubs) , Turin with 329 fields (124 clubs) and Naples 292 (133).
The population ratio of courts in Italy
As more courts are installed, the ratio of population numbers per courts goes down.
In the first 9 months, the ratio in Italy went from one courts for every 8,468 inhabitants to 7,084.
In Lazio, the ratio is 3,169 (approaching the Spanish benchmark of around 3,000) , Umbria 3,432 and Abruzzo 4,476.
In Friuli Venezia Giulia , Basilicata and Trentino Alto Adige the ratios are very high above 20,000 inhabitants per pista.
Among the provinces we have Latina with 2,688 inhabitants per field, followed by Syracuse (2,957) and Rome (3,022).
If we consider municipalities with a population above 50,000, Montesilvano is the municipality with the lowest ratio in Italy with 1,322 (although being close to Pescara it serves all the fans in the Abruzzo province).
by Carlo Ferrara
For those who would like to have more in-depth local analysis on the development of padel in Italy* can write to Mr Padel Paddle Observatory at the following email info@mrpadelpaddle.com
*Service fee based on type of request
related posts:
Crescono i club nel 2° trimestre ma appassionati stabili
Padel in Italia, ulteriore crescita nel primo trimestre 2023
Il padel in Italia, come si è sviluppato e i numeri del 2022
Analisi sullo sviluppo del Padel in Italia: Anno 2021
Analisi sullo sviluppo del Padel in Italia: Anno 2020
