Padel Swings for Pickleball Status With Luxury Miami Open
The Miami Padel Open, scheduled to run Feb. 22-27, aims to draw luxury sponsors to the game’s growing following.
Soon, the sport of padel may no longer be living in the shadow of its more popular court cousin, pickleball, or its beloved older sister, tennis. Organizers of the Blockchain.com Miami Padel Open are hoping the racket game will gain shine at the event, which starts the World Padel Tour’s 2022 season. The tournament will begin on Feb. 22.
“Padel is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, particularly in Latin America where we have an increasingly large footprint of customers, partners, and employees,” says Peter Smith, the chief executive officer of Blockchain.com, which is sponsoring the event. Although padel is less known in the U.S., the market is catching up. Five new clubs have sprouted in Miami in as many years, and the game is attracting high-profile players, athletes, and celebrity investors such as soccer star David Beckham and former NBA champion Tony Parker, who founded the agency behind the French Padel Open.