Padel is having a moment. Celebrities are picking up paddles, luxury clubs are opening courts, and new participation data has people asking whether padel is about to pass pickleball.

DUPR President and CEO Tito Machado says not so fast. He took to LinkedIn to break down what the numbers behind pickleball vs padel growth actually mean, and his answer says a lot about how to read sports data in general.

The stat that started it

New SFIA data shows padel growing 14.5% in 2025, compared with 1.3% for pickleball. A recent Hollywood Reporter feature ran with those numbers as evidence that padel is closing the gap fast. 

Machado, who plays padel himself, doesn't dispute the growth rate. He disputes what people are doing with it.

"Padel may be producing one of the fastest growing percentages in sports, but it is growing from a very small base."

Percentage growth and total participation answer two different questions. Padel is winning the first one right now. Pickleball is still winning the second by a wide margin.

Pickleball vs padel growth: what the actual numbers say

Here's the real gap, according to SFIA:

• 24.3 million Americans played pickleball in 2025, up from 4.2 million in 2020
• Padel, tracked nationally by SFIA for the first time in 2025, logged 1.073 million U.S. participants
• That puts pickleball at roughly 23 times padel's participation

The gap widens among committed players. SFIA counted about 7.5 million core pickleball players, meaning people who play at least eight times a year, compared with 238,000 core padel players.

Machado summed up why the percentage alone can mislead:

"If you go from one player to ten, you have grown 900 percent. Incredible percentage. Still ten players."  

Why access still separates the two sports

Part of the gap comes down to where you can actually play. Padel requires a specialized enclosed court with glass walls. As of April 2026, the U.S. had just over 1,000 padel courts spread across 31 states, according to USA Padel. 

Pickleball doesn't have that barrier. It fits into parks, gyms, rec centers, schools, and repurposed tennis courts. Plenty of players picked up a paddle in a driveway before they ever set foot on a dedicated court.

"Pickleball did not become a participation powerhouse because of a press release or a clever percentage," Machado said. "It grew because real people could actually play it."

That accessibility is a big reason pickleball went from 4.2 million U.S. players in 2020 to 24.3 million in 2025, more than fivefold growth in five years. 

Padel still has real momentum

None of this makes Machado anti-padel. He plays the sport and wants to see it grow.

Padel's U.S. governing body reported a 51.5% jump in club membership in 2025, and its sanctioned tournament schedule has expanded quickly. Globally, padel reached an estimated 35 million players by the end of 2025.

"Padel has tremendous potential, especially in major cities and premium club environments," Machado said. "I genuinely want to see it succeed. More racket sports, more facilities, and more people playing are good for the entire industry."

Two things can be true at once

Padel can be growing faster by percentage. Pickleball can still be dramatically bigger by participation. Both are accurate, and neither cancels out the other.

It's also worth noting that pickleball's 1.3% growth this year comes after five straight years as SFIA's fastest-growing sport. A slower growth rate doesn't erase the 24.3 million people already on the pool of players.

Machado's closing point is really about how data gets used, not which sport wins:

"Great marketing can win a headline... Love padel. Believe in its future. Just do not BS the data."

The takeaway

Pickleball vs padel growth is a fun debate, but the numbers are clear for now. Padel is climbing fast off a small base, and pickleball remains the far bigger sport in the US by every participation measure that matters. Curious where you fit into that 24.3 million? Check your DUPR rating and see how your game stacks up.