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What Counts as a Padel Player?
Annual participants, monthly players, federation registrations and ranked competitors measure different things. Here’s how to read padel player figures.
A padel player is simply someone who plays padel. In a participation report, however, the term needs a definition: it might mean someone who tried the sport once during the year, someone who plays monthly, a registered member or a competitor with ranking points.
Those categories answer different questions. An annual participation estimate measures the sport’s reach; a frequency measure tells you more about repeat play; a federation register describes the people captured by that organisation’s system. None should be substituted for another without explanation.
One country, three player figures
The Netherlands provides a useful worked example. The KNLTB and EY’s Padel in Cijfers 2025, published in 2026 with a reference date of 31 December 2025, reports three distinct measures. Its market participation estimates draw on NOC*NSF research, while registered players are identified through KNLTB records. Source: KNLTB/EY report.
| Measure | Reported Netherlands figure | What qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| Annual participants | ~876,000 in 2025 | Played padel at least once during the year |
| Average monthly participants | ~424,000 in 2025 | Estimated number playing in an average month, based on NOC*NSF research |
| KNLTB-registered padel players | 343,121 at year-end 2025 | Recorded match or court booking during the year, or held a padel membership that year |
The report’s glossary defines the registered category at individual KNLTB-ID level. Recorded play includes a match or a court booking at a club or through the Meet & Play platform; holding a padel membership also qualifies. Membership alone therefore does not establish that a session was played, and the register is not a census of everyone using commercial courts. Source: report, player section and glossary.
These figures are not three separate populations to add together. Nor does dividing monthly participation by annual participation give a retention rate: an average monthly estimate does not follow a fixed group of people through successive months.
“Played once” is not “plays regularly”
Britain’s headline measure illustrates why the qualifying threshold matters. The LTA reported ~860,000 adults and juniors who played padel at least once in 2025, compared with ~400,000 in 2024. That supports a more-than-doubling of annual participation under the published definition—not a claim that 860,000 people played weekly. Source: LTA’s 2026 participation release.
The Dutch report likewise separates reach from frequency, reporting that 60% of participants played once or occasionally and 40% played regularly. A large annual audience can therefore coexist with a much smaller repeat-playing population. Source: KNLTB/EY report.
For another example of why frequency thresholds matter, see our analysis of SFIA participation versus active-player estimates.
A ranked player is a different measure again
A competitive ranking measures results, not mass participation. For 2026, the International Padel Federation says its men’s and women’s rankings use each player’s 22 best results from Premier Padel and CUPRA FIP Tour tournaments, with points depending on tournament category and round reached. The ranking operates on a rolling 52-week cycle, with specified scheduling exceptions. Source: FIP ranking system.
Appearing in that ranking establishes a competitive record under the ranking rules. It does not, by itself, establish that a player earns a full-time living from padel. A count of ranked competitors cannot stand in for a country’s recreational player population.
How to use a player count
Before comparing two figures, check:
- Eligibility: Does one session qualify, or is a stated frequency required?
- Period and geography: Is it a calendar year, an average month or a year-end register—and which territory does it cover?
- Counting method: Is it a survey estimate, a membership record or a booking-platform count?
- Coverage and duplication: Are participants identified individually across venues, and are all relevant channels included?
Booking records need particular care. The KNLTB notes that the person reserving a court may be the only person recorded, despite bringing three other players, while individuals can also use multiple locations. Booking accounts are therefore not automatically unique participant counts. Source: KNLTB/EY report.
Use annual participants to describe reach, frequency data to examine repeat activity, registrations to describe federation coverage and rankings to describe competition. For the broader market picture, our worldwide participation analysis applies those distinctions to global player estimates.