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Paris supports Premier Padel attendance growth—but not a tour-wide growth rate
Paris’s 81,000 attendance record supports growth, but conflicting baselines and a new festival complicate comparisons. Here’s what the figures prove.
Yes—Paris provides credible evidence of attendance growth. But the published records do not establish a consistent, tour-wide growth rate. Its 2026 total is supported by official reporting, while the year-on-year percentage needs a closer look at the baseline and what was included.
As of 3 October 2026, the defensible conclusion is that Paris recorded more attendances and several other flagship events attracted substantial crowds—not that every Premier Padel stop is growing, or that the tour has gained an equivalent number of new individual fans.
Paris’s 81,000 record is supported; its comparison is less tidy
Premier Padel’s own final report says the 2026 Alpine Paris Major attracted 81,000 spectators throughout the week, a tournament record. Separately, Le Figaro reports the same total and sold-out Saturday and Sunday crowds of roughly 15,000 per day. These sources report attendance totals without providing an audit or detailed counting methodology. (Premier Padel, Le Figaro)
The International Padel Federation, FIP, compares that total with 64,000 in 2025, describing an increase of 17,000, or 26.5%. However, the FFT’s published event statistics give 62,128 spectators for 2025. News Tank’s contemporary report also records 62,128, attributing it to the FFT’s announcement of 19 September 2025. (FIP’s 2026 comparison, FFT statistics, News Tank)
Using that documented 2025 baseline, the increase to 81,000 is 18,872 attendances, or 30.4%. This is our calculation—not the percentage published by FIP.
There is also a scope change. Padel Magazine’s French-language report says the 81,000 includes the new Padel Festival on 6 September. Le Figaro, citing an FFT communiqué, reports 11,217 spectators for that first festival. (Padel Magazine, Le Figaro)
That produces three different readings of the same headline:
| Comparison | Result | What it tells us |
|---|---|---|
| FIP’s published comparison: 81,000 versus 64,000 | Reported +26.5% | The federation’s headline, but with a conflicting 2025 baseline |
| 81,000 versus the FFT’s 62,128 | Calculated +30.4% | Growth in the reported overall total, before adjusting scope |
| If the festival is included: 81,000 − 11,217 = 69,783, versus 62,128 | Calculated +12.3% | A sensitivity test excluding the new festival day |
The final row is not an official tournament-only figure. It is arithmetic using the published totals, dependent on the reported inclusion of the festival and comparable counting elsewhere. It shows how the new attraction could explain a substantial part of the increase without explaining all of it.
Event length can reverse the apparent trend
Paris already demonstrated this problem in 2025. News Tank reports 64,151 cumulative spectators over nine days in 2024, compared with 62,128 over seven days in 2025. Total attendance fell, but average daily attendance rose 24.5%, to 8,875. The finals weekend attracted 27,000, up 17.4%. (News Tank’s FFT-attributed figures)
Neither description is inherently wrong. “Fewer attendances across the event” and “more spectators per day” answer different questions. A useful comparison needs the total, the number of public days or sessions, and any change in venue capacity or programming.
Weekly totals also should not be presented as unique fans. Unless an organiser specifies deduplication, the published figure does not establish how many different people attended: someone returning on several days may contribute several attendances.
Other packed arenas support demand—not a global growth rate
FIP’s September 2026 roundup reports more than 14,000 spectators in one day at Madrid, more than 10,000 in one day at Málaga, and 9,000 at Rome’s finals. These support the narrower claim that professional padel can attract substantial live crowds in several markets. They are not interchangeable with Paris’s week-long total. (FIP)
The same FIP report says more than 600,000 spectators attended Premier Padel’s 23 tournaments in 2025. That establishes reported scale, not growth by itself: a growth rate requires a comparable earlier season, consistent definitions and adjustments for the calendar.
To establish broader commercial demand, the useful next measures are same-event attendance per session, occupancy against sellable capacity, paid versus complimentary admissions, and ticket revenue. Records alone cannot show whether larger crowds came from stronger purchasing demand, more available seats or additional event days.
Court construction and participation totals cannot fill those gaps either. As our analysis of Britain’s padel growth and spectator demand explains, more opportunities to play are not a direct measure of willingness to watch.
Paris provides a credible growth signal. The precise size of that growth—and how widely it extends across Premier Padel—remains less settled than the record headline suggests.