Padel underlines rising world stature with Red Bull tie-up
The rising worldwide stature of padel, the racquet sport, can be underlined on Friday when its main skilled tour unveils an enormous industrial tie-up with Red Bull.
Sky News has learnt that Premier Padel, which is owned by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) and the Austrian-founded vitality drinks producer, will announce a four-year partnership spanning broadcast, manufacturing and sponsorship.
Under the deal, which insiders mentioned was price tens of hundreds of thousands of kilos, Premier Padel matches from the latter phases of every match can be streamed on Red Bull’s media platform, Red Bull TV, in additional than 130 international locations.
Red Bull will even create content material for the game’s followers all through the period of the partnership, which is able to run till the top of the 2027 season.
One supply described the deal as “transformational” for padel.
It is claimed to have been pushed by Nasser Al-Khelaifi, QSI’s chairman, who can be president of Paris Saint-Germain, the Ligue 1 soccer membership majority-owned by the Qatari group.
Sportsman enjoying padel sport. Pic: iStock
The settlement will give Premier Padel entry to the inventive and media experience of an organization which has turn out to be a powerhouse in world sport by means of its success in Formula One motor racing.
Red Bull additionally has a serious presence in biking, different motorsport and mountain biking, amongst different sports activities.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in motion throughout final season’s F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Pic: AP
Although nonetheless considerably smaller than tennis in participation and industrial phrases, padel’s development has been eye-catching lately.
Its recognition has been buoyed by the next it has attracted from celebrities and athletes from different sports activities, together with footballer Lionel Messi and Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool supervisor.
Premier Padel was based by QSI alongside the International Padel Federation and the Professional Padel Association, with occasions to be held at venues corresponding to Roland Garros, dwelling of the French Open tennis championships.
This 12 months’s tour kicks off in Saudi Arabia subsequent week, with 25 tournaments scheduled in 18 international locations.
Last 12 months, QSI introduced a deal to amass the World Padel Tour, enabling it to unify the game’s world calendar in an try and make it extra engaging to sponsors and broadcasters.
People near the game drew a distinction between Premier Padel and new entities in different sports activities, corresponding to LIV Golf, the place billions of {dollars} of Saudi funding have torn a schism by means of the skilled sport.
Premier Padel was created along with the game’s federation and its gamers, moderately than being established as a breakaway, as LIV Golf was.
QSI and Premier Padel declined to touch upon Friday, whereas Red Bull couldn’t be reached for remark.