About Ben Nichols/The Padel PR

How did you get started in padel, and what’s your story?

I grew up playing first tennis and then squash to a high standard as a junior and in my teens, so the foundations as a racket sport guy were always there. Fast forward to 2022 – and I’d first played padel a few years earlier in Dubai so was aware of it – and I was doing a contract for the LTA, during which time I did my best to encourage the powers that be that I should be managing the PR for the British Padel team during the FIP World Championships (incidentally, back in Dubai). 

I was coming to the last few days of my job at the LTA, with nothing lined up afterwards, no idea where my next pay check was coming from and I said to the LTA: “Send me to Dubai”. They did, I did some work for the GB padel team, and on what’s now become a momentous walk around Dubai Marina, I decided “I have to work in this sport, and the obvious place for me to do so, given my years running media for WADA, in F1, tennis and the Commonwealth Games, was in the storytelling PR side. It’s at that time I took the decision to start the first padel-dedicated Communications and PR Agency worldwide. It was daring, entrepreneurial, risky, and hugely exciting, but deep down this was my calling. 

Here was this sport on the verge of exploding across multiple new territories – what I like to call the New Padel World – and there would be countless businesses and brands that need help with storytelling. I believed I was the perfect person to lead the charge. And so, Padel 22 was born, And three and a half years later, here I am. 

Ben’s Impact on the Padel World

What’s your mission and your values? Which padel organisations are you involved with?

My mission has always been clear and steadfast: to grow “brand padel” across the New Padel World. As I immersed myself in this one sport so early in its journey (early in the new territories, at least), I realised that I would have to build the plane and fly it. There weren’t many padel media channels and organisations, so I’d have to create content myself. There wasn’t a global digital meeting place for the padel business community to connect, so I built Insider 22. There wasn’t a “Ryder Cup of Padel” so I co-created the Anglo American Cup. It was a tall order to do what I was doing, but I felt a calling, and an opportunity – and if life’s not for adventure, then what are we doing here? 

Ultimately, I wanted to help build this sport in the New Padel World (there’s that New Padel World again!) And shape its identity. Why? Well, we all grew up with the traditional sports which have lived long before us (some of these sports have been around 150 plus years) so here’s this once in a lifetime opportunity to shape the identity of a sport in real time … live. 

If that doesn’t get you out of bed in the morning, what will? 

I’ve always been a very driven person, and one of the things I remember intensely well from my career is those late teen and early twenties years when I was putting in the hard yards, volunteering, doing internships and building up my CV as a student to give myself the best chance of the best career when I’d exit University. And this is why I’ve made it my mission to help students and young people who want to get into the padel industry – because they are tomorrow’s generation of professionals who we need to be galvanised by this sport and industry. That’s why I’ve joined the founding team of the Canadian Universities Padel League (CUPL); it’s why I’d like to bring in a University component to the next Anglo American Cup; it’s why Padel 22 sponsored the UK’s top University padel association, Durham University. This is important to me. 

In terms of which organisations I personally work with, well I’ve mentioned I’m a co-founder of the Anglo American Cup, I’m also a co-founder of the world’s leading corporate networking meets padel community, Property+Padel , I’ve created Insider 22, too. And then there’s the main business: Padel 22. Padel 22 works across the U.S., UK, Canada, India and other New Padel World nations with the likes of clubs (we’ve worked with everyone from Taktika to Pure Padel to Rocket and Padium in London, to Padel Haus in New York). We work with conferences (RacquetX and Padel World Summit), the professional side of the sport (Hexagon Cup, Premier Padel), technology (Playtomic) and others. 

Perhaps the biggest single impact we’ve had was delivering the media coverage for the “Ryder Cup of Padel” in London, the Anglo American Cup last year which was the most covered and significant padel tournament ever held in Britain or the U.S. and saw ITV London, LBC, BBC, Talk Sport, Amazon Prime and others cover it and it landed 9.1M impressions. We were pleased with that one, as it was the result of tremendous hard work. 

Connecting With Ben

What’s the best way for people to follow your journey and to engage with you?

The best way to follow my journey is through my LinkedIn here, through Padel 22’s Instagram and Linkedin, as well as my personal Instagram (@thepadelpr), where I share insights and updates about the global padel industry. 

For those looking to engage directly with the padel business community, Insider 22 is the place to do it. It’s becoming “the Profluence of Padel” and it’s where the industry’s leaders congregate, it’s where you can learn from peers who’ve been there and done it, and contribute your part to the sport’s growth. We’ve got club owners and investors to marketers, founders, creatives, and passionate industry enthusiasts all on board. 190 members from 22 different nations since we launched, and it’s growing fast. It’s an incredible space to meet key figures in the industry, and I strongly encourage anyone interested in padel to join and stay updated on the latest developments – we’re really proud of the number of people who have met and gone on to business partnerships and relationships through Insider, and long may that continue.

Padel Journey Reflections

What’s been your favourite part of the journey so far? What’s been the biggest challenge so far?

My favourite part of this journey has been seeing the padel community grow and connect globally – to bring people together, like what we’ve done through Insider, is a source of real pride. There’s a real energy and passion around the sport that’s unlike anything I’ve experienced before, and we should cherish that. It’s also a massive privilege to provide opportunities for students and young people wanting to get into the industry, such as how we partnered with Syracuse University in the States to create the USA Padel Report, or the students we’ve had working with us and wanting to work with us. To any students wanting to get into the industry, I say “I’ve been there, I’ve knocked on so many doors, but hard work does pay off. You have to earn it.”

The biggest challenge has been navigating a rapidly expanding industry (building the plane and flying it) and ensuring that what we’re building (like Padel 22 and Insider 22) create real, direct value within this rapidly growing industry, and an industry that, let’s face it, is still niche and knocking on the door of the mainstream. 

Looking Ahead

What are your priorities for this year, and what are you most excited about?

This year, my priorities are to expand padel’s reach across North America, Asia and Australia, and to continue fostering meaningful connections across the global padel ecosystem. I’m most excited about the opportunities to integrate mainstream non-endemic brands into the sport, because when we see them enter (cue Vitality, Motorola, Publix and others) it’s further proof that this sport is somewhere people want to be. We want to continue to make padel more famous each and every day. That’s my guiding star, if you like. The sport is on an incredible trajectory, and there’s so much more to achieve.