Pakistan Embraces Pro Padel with First Professional Padel League

Pakistan is the latest country leading the charge in growing the professional side of padel. The sport has been growing quickly nationally over the past few years with over 130 courts across three major cities and more than 3,000 active players.

To capitalize on the sport’s sudden rise, the Premier Padel League (PPL) launched this year as Pakistan's first professionally managed, multi-city league. Its goals are to elevate the sport nationally, create competitive opportunities for players, and engage fans with a franchise-style format similar to other major leagues.

“Premier Padel League was created to build a complete ecosystem around padel in Pakistan not just tournaments, but structure, pathways, and sustainability,” said Basim Ahmed Abdullah, CEO of the PPL. “We saw rapid interest in the sport, but without a league system, players and clubs had nowhere to grow long term. PPL is about giving padel a professional backbone.”

The league will host tournaments across Islamabad & Rawalpindi, Karachi, and Lahore throughout the year with a unique league format. There will be three competitive categories - Alpha (elite), Bravo (competitive), Charlie (developing) - featuring six clubs each. At the end of each season, teams coming in 5th or 6th place in each category will be relegated and new teams will take their place. Over 300 players have registered to compete for the grand prize of Rs 30 million (≈USD $106,000).

“Our growth plan is structured and phased,” said Abdullah. “In the first year, we are operating across three major cities. In the second year, we expand to six cities nationwide, and by the third year, we move toward a regional league model. The goal is consistent competition, national reach, and a clear progression for players and clubs.”

The PPL has also created an app that will be a hub for everything happening in Pakistan's national padel scene. Fans can stay updated and explore all league action to ensure they are keeping up on Pakistan’s pro padel scene.

While cricket is by far the nation’s biggest sport, racket sports like badminton, squash, and tennis have been popular options within the country. Now with padel growing globally, Pakistan has the potential to be one of the next hot spots for padel with current projections estimating more than 400-600 clubs will be open by 2030.

But the real goal for the PPL is to grow the sport for everyone, not just the pros. By creating a national padel ecosystem, the organization sees an opportunity to create regional padel excitement and inspire the next generation of padel players.