Dubai week, and the business arrived first

The lead

A new investor enters the glass box

The last P1 of the season runs November 8 to 15 at Hamdan Sports Complex in Dubai, and the business news landed before the first ball. On November 9, NXTPLAY, the sports investment platform co-founded by Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Gonzalo Vila, announced its first padel investment: a stake in Gallop Global, the Dubai-born promoter of the Emaar Dubai Premier Padel P1 itself. No deal size was disclosed. Courtois said he has followed the circuit for years and called padel a space where NXTPLAY has "a lot to contribute".

The venue is its own statement. Court manufacturer Greenset built six courts inside the Hamdan Sports Complex, four of them directly over an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a conversion that meant draining more than 6,250 cubic meters of water and laying out roughly 49,000 square meters of temporary infrastructure, according to El Remate.

On court, the number-two pair is missing. Ale Galán's hand injury keeps him and Fede Chingotto out of Dubai, their second straight Premier Padel absence after Kuwait. That leaves Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia, already year-end No. 1 for a fourth straight season, chasing a third consecutive Dubai title. Coello arrives having sealed the decisive point for Spain in Saturday's World Cup final against Tapia's Argentina.

The sport's center of gravity this week is one building in Dubai, and investors, not just players, are moving toward it.

Sources: NXTPLAY / Gallop Global announcement (company press release) · PadelHoy on the withdrawal and race · El Remate No. 55 on the venue build

The number: 153

US padel clubs, mapped

153 verified listings across 37 metro areas. A directory floor, not a census.

Valor Padel's October 2026 directory counts 153 padel clubs in 37 US metro areas: 119 operating and 34 announced but not yet open. Four states hold 52% of them: Florida (25), Texas (21), California (21) and New York (12). New York City (21 clubs) and Miami (20) lead every other metro by about two to one. The typical club has 4 courts, a non-member pays a median of $25 per player per hour at peak times, and the median entry-level membership is $119.50 a month. Valor counts only clubs it could verify from their own published information, so read 153 as a floor, not a census.

The US map is still small enough to read in one sitting. That is the opportunity.

Sources: Valor Padel, State of US Padel 2026

Money

Porsche bets on the club, not the crowd

Porsche Design Concours is taking the luxury car club concept onto the padel court, with two members-only US destinations featuring padel and targeting 2028 openings, per El Remate. It is the clearest sign yet that luxury brands see padel clubs as membership real estate, not just sponsorship inventory.

Watch who builds for members rather than for crowds. That is where the margin story in US padel will be written.

Sources: El Remate No. 55

The tour

The drama moved down the draw

Gemma Triay became the most decorated female player in pro padel history with her 59th career title at the Kuwait Major. Coello and Tapia secured the year-end No. 1 for the fourth straight season. Spain then won both World Cup titles in Doha, the men without the injured Galán. The season's remaining checkpoints: Dubai P1 (Nov 8 to 15), the Mexico Major in Acapulco (Nov 23 to 29), and the Premier Padel Finals in Barcelona (Dec 10 to 13). Dubai offers 1,000 ranking points and, for pairs on the bubble like Javi Leal and Fran Guerrero, could decide who reaches Barcelona.

The No. 1 races are settled or nearly settled, but the last Finals spots are not. The drama moved down the draw.

Sources: El Remate No. 55 · PadelHoy on the Finals race · Vida Del Padel on the World Cup double

Gear

From courtside to carbon fibre

Kuikma, Decathlon's padel brand, is partnering with materials company Fairmat to launch what El Remate describes as the world's first padel racket built with recycled aerospace carbon fiber.

Equipment is the next brand battleground, and sustainability just became a product feature, not a footnote.

Sources: El Remate No. 55

People

A farewell, a handover

Thirty-two national teams played the FIP World Cup in Doha, and Spain left with both titles. The men's final against Argentina came down to Coello, who sealed the decisive point, and the week doubled as a farewell stage: Padel Magazine's report on the new world champions notes Juan Lebrón's emotional outburst and Paquito Navarro's farewell. Spain did it all without Ale Galán, out with a hand injury.

National-team padel is becoming the sport's emotional core, and the veterans are handing over the stage in real time.

Sources: Padel Magazine on the world champions · Vida Del Padel on Coello's decisive point · El Remate No. 55 on the 32-team picture

Watch this week

Dubai P1, through November 15

Coello and Tapia go for a Dubai hat-trick without their usual final opponents in the draw. Bea González goes for a third straight Dubai women's title, seeded second with Paula Josemaría. Matches stream on Premier Padel's official channels.

Sources: Vida Del Padel, Dubai P1 preview