As more padel clubs open across the UK, padel court sponsorship is becoming an increasingly attractive additional revenue stream.

The proposition can appear fairly straightforward.

Find a local business. Sell them the naming rights to a court. Put their logo on the glass or structure. Collect the sponsorship fee.

Job done.

Except I don’t think it should be.

If the only thing a business receives for sponsoring a padel court is its logo on the court, there is a good chance that 12 months later you’re going to be looking for another sponsor.

The question clubs should be asking isn’t:

“How much can we charge a company to put its logo on a court?”

It should be:

“How can we make this partnership genuinely valuable to the sponsor?”

Because if you can demonstrate value, sponsorship becomes much more than selling advertising space.

It becomes a long-term commercial relationship.

A Logo Isn’t a Sponsorship Strategy

Court branding undoubtedly has value.

Padel courts are large, highly visible spaces and good branding can be seen by hundreds or potentially thousands of players every month.

It can appear in photographs, social media content, tournament footage and videos created by players.

But visibility alone is difficult to translate into a measurable return on investment.

Imagine sitting down with your sponsor at the end of their first year.

They’ve paid you thousands of pounds and you tell them:

“Your logo has been on Court 2 for the last 12 months.”

Their obvious question is:

“What did we get from it?”

Clubs need to be able to give them a much better answer.

Think Beyond the Court

The starting point should be to look at all the assets the club has available.

The court is just one of them.

A padel club potentially has a valuable local audience, a database of players, social media channels, a website, physical screens, events, tournaments, corporate relationships and, most importantly, a community.

Package those assets together and the sponsorship proposition becomes considerably stronger.

Social Media Collaboration

Don’t announce the sponsor when they join and then forget about them for the next 12 months.

Build regular opportunities for collaboration.

That could include tournament content, competitions, player challenges, event coverage or simply relevant collaborative posts throughout the year.

Done properly, the sponsor benefits from exposure to the club’s audience while the club benefits from reaching the sponsor’s network.

Sponsor Spotlights

Give sponsors an opportunity to tell their story.

A LinkedIn sponsor spotlight can introduce the company, explain what they do and, importantly, why they’ve chosen to support the club.

This is particularly valuable where the club has developed a strong local business network.

Instead of simply being a logo on Court 3, the sponsor becomes part of the club’s story.

Website Exposure

Create a sponsor or partner section on the club website.

Give each major sponsor its own profile and link back to its website.

Again, the objective is to provide something tangible beyond physical branding.

It also allows prospective sponsors to see the calibre of businesses already associated with the club.

In-Club Digital Screens

If you have screens around reception, café, bar or social areas, use them.

Sponsor advertising can become part of the club’s digital signage rather than limiting exposure to the court itself.

It also provides flexibility.

Creative can change throughout the year to promote different services, events or messages from the sponsor.

Bring Your Sponsors Together

This is one of the areas I think has considerable potential.

If you have five, ten or more businesses sponsoring different parts of your club, you have effectively created your own business network.

Use it.

Run sponsor networking events.

Introduce sponsors to each other.

Invite them to club events.

Create opportunities for businesses within the network to work together.

If a sponsor generates a meaningful commercial relationship as a result of being involved with your club, suddenly the value of that sponsorship looks very different.

Get Their Employees on Court

This is perhaps one of the most obvious opportunities.

Your sponsors shouldn’t just advertise at your padel club.

Get them playing padel.

Include preferential rates for corporate events or team-building days as part of the sponsorship package.

Give them opportunities to bring employees to the club.

Allow them to entertain important customers.

Run a sponsors’ tournament.

Introduce employees who have never played before to the sport.

Now the company isn’t simply buying advertising.

Its employees and customers are experiencing the club.

And if some of those people subsequently become regular players, you’ve created value for the club too.

Sponsorship Should Work Both Ways

The best sponsorship relationships shouldn’t feel transactional.

The sponsor should want the club to succeed and the club should genuinely want to help the sponsor achieve its objectives.

That means understanding why the business is sponsoring you in the first place.

Is it looking for:

  • Local brand awareness?
  • New customers?
  • Business-to-business introductions?
  • Employee engagement?
  • Client entertainment?
  • Community involvement?
  • Content and social media exposure?
  • Association with a fast-growing sport?

The answer should influence what you include in the partnership.

Not every sponsor needs exactly the same package.

Measure What You Can

One of the weaknesses of traditional sponsorship has always been proving return on investment.

Padel clubs have an opportunity to improve on that.

At the end of the year, don’t just send an invoice asking the sponsor to renew.

Show them what happened.

How many players visited the club?

How many social posts featured the sponsor?

What reach did those posts generate?

How many corporate events did they hold?

How many people attended sponsor networking events?

How many times was their advertising displayed on club screens?

How much traffic did their profile generate from the club website?

What content was produced featuring their branding?

Not everything will translate neatly into pounds and pence, but you can still demonstrate activity and value.

The Real Objective Is Renewal

There’s an important commercial point here for padel club operators.

Finding sponsors takes time.

Someone has to identify prospects, make introductions, arrange meetings, create proposals, negotiate agreements and organise branding.

If the sponsor leaves after 12 months, you start the process again.

A £10,000 sponsorship that lasts one year is worth £10,000.

A £10,000 sponsorship relationship that lasts five years is worth £50,000, before considering any additional commercial opportunities that relationship might create.

Retention therefore matters just as much in sponsorship as it does in membership.

And retention comes from delivering value.

From Court Sponsor to Club Partner

I’d actually encourage clubs to think less about selling court sponsorship and more about building commercial partnerships.

Of course, put the sponsor’s branding on the court.

Give them the visibility they’ve paid for.

But don’t stop there.

Introduce them to other sponsors.

Promote them through your social channels.

Feature them on your website.

Give them exposure inside the club.

Create content together.

Get their employees playing.

Help them entertain customers.

Invite them to events.

Ask them what they’re trying to achieve and look for ways your club can help them achieve it.

Because the ultimate measure of a successful sponsorship package isn’t whether you managed to sell it.

It’s whether, when renewal comes around, the sponsor wants to buy it again.

What are padel clubs doing particularly well to add value for their sponsors? I’d be interested to hear examples of partnerships that go well beyond simply putting a logo on a court.