The State of Padelin New Zealand 2026
The world's fastest-growing sport just landed in Aotearoa. Backed by Black Caps legends. Growing faster than anyone expected. This is where it stands.
Ground Floor of the Next Padel Market
Three years ago, you could count the number of padel courts in New Zealand on one hand. A single indoor court in Browns Bay. A tennis club in Remuera that added a court and hoped for the best. That was it.
Today, there are dedicated padel clubs in Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, Papamoa, Christchurch, and Nelson. Pacific Padel has Kane Williamson and Stephen Fleming as backers. The Padel Club in Papamoa went from 500 app signups at launch to 2,400 in nine months. RNZ and the NZ Herald have run features all year.
New Zealand has roughly 5 courts per million people. For context, Spain has over 600. Sweden has 400. Even Australia, which started its padel journey around the same time, sits at a similar level. The opportunity here is not about catching up. It is about building something from scratch while the rest of the world has already proven the model works.
Padel Courts Per Million People: A Global View
New Zealand sits at the very start of its padel journey. The chart below shows where NZ stands against countries that are further down the road. Every country at the top of this list started exactly where New Zealand is now.
When Spain had 5 courts per million people, it was the mid-1990s. Within 15 years, padel overtook tennis as the country's second most popular sport. Sweden went from near zero to 400 courts per million in under a decade. Cyprus did it in four years.
New Zealand's sporting culture, with its strong club traditions and social sport infrastructure, is built for padel. The question is not whether padel will grow here. It is how fast.
Every Padel Club in New Zealand: A Region-by-Region Guide
Auckland
~14 COURTS · 8 CLUBSThe epicentre. More than half of NZ's padel courts are within 30 minutes of the CBD.
Auckland is where New Zealand padel started and where most of the action still is. Pacific Padel Albany is the flagship, backed by Black Caps captain Kane Williamson and coach Stephen Fleming. Four courts in a purpose-built facility surrounded by greenery that set the template for what a New Zealand padel club looks like. Pacific Padel has since expanded to Takapuna and Merton Road, with plans for 10 to 15 clubs and 100 courts nationally.
Indoor Padel NZ in Browns Bay was one of Auckland's earliest courts, running 24/7 and introducing the sport to the North Shore before most people had heard of it. Glendowie Padel operates two outdoor courts and has added an indoor option. Remuera Rackets Club added a padel court to its existing tennis and squash facilities, a pattern that tennis clubs across the country are watching closely.
Central Padel NZ gives the central city a dedicated option. New Albany Links rounds out a region where the sport has gone from curiosity to genuine demand in under two years. Adam McDonald, Pacific Padel Albany's club and community manager, told RNZ in October 2025 that courts are consistently booked and the community keeps growing.
Wellington
4 COURTS · 1 CLUBOne club, four courts, and a community that filled them from day one.
Padel House NZ opened in Kilbirnie in February 2025 with three doubles courts and one singles court, all indoors. Founder Luke Neira brought the concept from overseas and bet on Wellington's appetite for a new social sport. He was right. Within weeks of opening, Neira was on RNZ Nights explaining the sport to a national audience. The club runs regular social sessions, coaching, and league play. Wellington is a one-club city for now, but the demand suggests that will not last.
Bay of Plenty
4 COURTS · 1 CLUBFrom 500 signups to 2,400 in nine months. Papamoa proved padel works outside Auckland.
The Padel Club NZ in Papamoa is owned by Tony and Rachel Sweetman, who fell in love with padel overseas and brought it home to the Bay of Plenty. They opened in March 2025 with four courts. By December, their app had gone from 500 signups to 2,400. The NZ Herald ran a feature on the club's growth, calling it one of the fastest-growing sports communities in the region. The Sweetmans proved something important: padel is not just an Auckland story.
Waikato
3 COURTS · 1 CLUBHamilton joined the map with three courts and a growing player base.
Padel Park Hamilton brought the sport to the Waikato with three courts. Hamilton's strong sporting culture and university population make it a natural fit. The club has built a regular community of players and is establishing padel as a viable alternative to the region's traditional racquet sports.
Canterbury
2+ COURTS · 2 CLUBSThe South Island's padel beachhead. Christchurch is just getting started.
Bishopdale Tennis Club added padel courts to its existing facilities, becoming one of the first traditional tennis clubs in the South Island to make the move. Pacific Padel Wilding Park extends the Pacific Padel network south into Canterbury. Christchurch is the South Island's largest city and its padel scene is in the earliest stages. If Auckland and Wellington are any indication, it will not stay quiet for long.
Tasman
3 COURTS · 1 CLUBThree indoor courts filling a gap the region has needed for years.
Padel Centre Tasman in Richmond operates three indoor courts and serves the Nelson-Tasman region. It is the most geographically remote padel club in New Zealand, and the fact that it exists at all says something about how far the sport has spread in a short time. Nelson-Tasman has long lacked indoor sport and entertainment options for adults, and Padel Centre fills that void, offering a year-round facility regardless of the region's unpredictable weather.
Other
1+ COURTRiverside Sports Club has added padel to its offering, extending the sport's reach further into regional New Zealand. As more traditional sports clubs see the demand, expect this list to grow quickly.
$40–65/hr NZD
Typical court booking rates across NZ clubs. Split four ways, that is $10–16 per person per hour.
Padel in New Zealand: What the Media Is Saying
In 2024, almost nobody in New Zealand media was writing about padel. By late 2025, it was a regular feature across the country's biggest outlets. That shift tells its own story.
The piece that put NZ padel on the national radar. Kane Williamson and Stephen Fleming's involvement with Pacific Padel gave the sport instant credibility. The article outlined plans for 10 to 15 clubs and 100 courts across New Zealand.
Luke Neira, founder of Padel House NZ in Wellington, explained the sport to a prime-time national radio audience just as his club opened its doors. The interview introduced padel to listeners who had never heard of it.
A broader look at the racquet sports boom in NZ, with padel featured alongside pickleball's growth. The segment highlighted how new sports are finding traction with Kiwi players looking for something different.
A feature on padel as a social connector in NZ. From friendships to romances, the article explored how the padel community is creating something that goes beyond sport. Coach Jorge Goikoetxea gave a hands-on lesson for the piece.
Adam McDonald from Pacific Padel Albany joined RNZ Afternoons to talk about the sport's growth. By this point, Pacific Padel's courts were consistently booked and the community was self-sustaining.
The Padel Club NZ's growth story. Tony and Rachel Sweetman's club went from 500 to 2,400 app signups in nine months. The article captured what happens when padel lands in a community that is ready for it.
Padel reached the current affairs panel format, a sign that the sport had moved from niche interest to mainstream conversation topic in New Zealand.
What Makes NZ Padel Different
Padel in New Zealand has a character that is distinct from older markets. In Spain or Sweden, padel is an established part of the sporting landscape. In NZ, it is still new enough that every player remembers their first game. There is an energy that comes with that. People do not just book a court. They recruit friends, start WhatsApp groups, turn colleagues into regular partners.
The social element is not a side effect. It is the main draw. The NZ Herald called padel "a social phenomenon" in October 2025, and the clubs back it up. The Padel Club in Papamoa built its entire growth on community. Pacific Padel runs social mixers alongside competitive play. Padel House in Wellington fills courts with people who came for a hit and stayed for the people.
The Black Caps connection matters. Kane Williamson and Stephen Fleming backing Pacific Padel gave the sport a credibility shortcut that most new sports in NZ never get. When one of the country's most respected athletes puts his name behind something, people pay attention. It moved padel from "what is that?" to "I should try that" almost overnight.
New Zealand's padel clubs are mostly indoor. That is partly practical, given the weather, and partly strategic. Indoor clubs operate year-round, offer a controlled environment for beginners, and create the kind of enclosed social atmosphere where communities form naturally. It also means NZ padel infrastructure is purpose-built, not retrofitted. The clubs going up now are designed for padel from the ground up.
The People Building NZ Padel
The Black Caps captain and legendary coach put their names and money behind Pacific Padel, giving the sport instant national credibility. Their vision: 10-15 clubs and 100 courts across NZ.
Brought padel to Wellington with a four-court indoor club in Kilbirnie. Went on national radio to introduce the sport to New Zealand. Built a community from scratch in a city that had never seen a padel court.
Fell in love with padel overseas, brought it to Papamoa. Grew from 500 to 2,400 app signups in nine months. Proved that padel works outside the big cities.
The face of Pacific Padel's flagship club. Featured on RNZ explaining the sport's growth. Runs a club where courts are consistently booked and the community self-organises.
The Future of Padel in New Zealand: 5 Trends to Watch
- 1Pacific Padel's National RolloutPlans for 10-15 clubs and 100 courts across NZ. With Williamson and Fleming's backing and a proven model in Albany, expansion into new cities feels inevitable. This one brand could double the national court count.
- 2South Island GrowthChristchurch and Nelson have clubs. Queenstown, Dunedin, and Tauranga do not. Yet. The South Island has the outdoor culture and the disposable income. Someone will build it and they will come.
- 3Tennis Clubs ConvertRemuera Rackets and Bishopdale Tennis already added padel. Hundreds of tennis clubs across NZ have underused courts, existing memberships, and the infrastructure to add padel at relatively low cost. This is the fastest path to scale.
- 4A National Federation Takes ShapeNew Zealand is a FIP member but there is no visible standalone federation running tournaments, rankings, or development programmes. As the club count grows, the demand for organised competition and a national structure will force this into existence.
- 5The Olympics QuestionThe IOC decides the Brisbane 2032 programme at a 2026 session. Padel has 87 national federations and strong gender balance. If it gets in, New Zealand's proximity to Brisbane and its existing sports infrastructure could make it a training and qualification hub for the Oceania region.
The Australia Comparison
Australia has roughly 100 courts for 26 million people. New Zealand has 28+ for 5.2 million. Per capita, the two countries are nearly identical at 4-5 courts per million. The trans-Tasman rivalry extends to padel: both countries are at the same starting line, and both are growing fast. Whoever builds faster will set the standard for Oceania.
New Zealand is next.
Methodology & Sources
Club and court counts are based on a club-by-club audit using Playtomic listings, club websites, social media, Google Maps, and published media reports. Global data draws on FIP and Playtomic/Strategy& industry reports. Per-capita calculations use Stats NZ and UN population estimates. Where data is estimated, this is noted. Last reviewed: March 2026.
NZ Herald — "Padel gains traction in NZ with backing from cricket stars Williamson, Fleming" (Jan 2025). "Looking for a date or mate? The sport that's become a social phenomenon" (Oct 2025). "How a Papamoa couple helped put padel on Bay map" (Dec 2025).
RNZ — "What is Padel? The world's fastest growing sport" (Nights, Feb 2025). "Racquet sports taking off around the country" (Morning Report, Apr 2025). "Padel: What is it and why is everyone raving about it?" (Afternoons, Oct 2025). The Panel Plus (Aug 2025).
FIP World Padel Report 2025 — International Padel Federation. Global player population, court counts by country, NZ federation membership. Published October 2025.
Playtomic x Strategy& Global Padel Report 2025 — Playtomic and PwC Strategy&. 92% first-time player retention rate, 50,436 courts worldwide (2024), court pricing data.
Independent Club Audit, March 2026 — Club-by-club count using Playtomic, Google Maps, club websites, and local reporting. 28+ courts identified across 15 clubs in 6 regions.