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How do you build a padel court?
Padel attracts facility investors because it packs more players onto a court and has a short learning curve. But a padel court is not a scaled-down tennis court: its dimensions, walls and lighting follow standards, and those standards cannot be corrected afterwards. This guide covers both the build and the operation.
The dimensions are fixed
A padel court is 20 metres long and 10 metres wide — that is the single standard for doubles. The back walls are glass, and the side walls are part glass, part mesh fence. Because play continues off the walls, wall height and glass quality shape the game itself.
A court that deviates from the standard may still be playable, but it will not be eligible for official tournaments or leagues. Paying for that at build time is cheaper than rebuilding later.
Surface, glass and lighting are the three critical items
The usual surface is artificial turf dressed with silica sand; the grade and quantity of sand set the ball bounce and how much the surface slides underfoot. On systems laid over concrete, drainage directly determines how many playing days an outdoor court loses.
Glass thickness and the mounting system are safety matters, not aesthetics — tempered glass and the right framing are mandatory. Lighting is the most underestimated item: padel is played in the evening, and poor lighting makes your most valuable hours unusable.
Indoor or outdoor: look at the calendar, not the climate
An outdoor court costs less to build, but rain and wind take away part of the year. An indoor court costs more and in return you sell the same calendar for twelve months — a membership-based revenue model only works with that predictability.
Convertible systems are a common middle ground. When deciding, translate your area’s annual rainy days directly into days the court will sit empty.
What pays it back is occupancy, not court count
You can start with one court, but two lets you run tournaments and host two groups at once. Padel players usually arrive in groups of four, so the second court is less about doubling demand than about not turning away the group that just walked in.
What drives occupancy is access rather than price: a player should be able to see the free slot and book it without calling. For a new facility with no regulars, being visible in the app is what determines occupancy in the first months.