Tennis courts in England have fallen by 183 since 2023 while padel facilities have jumped from 382 to more than 2,200, a shift that changes who uses community sport sites and how venues allocate space. Sport England’s figures, which record courts at local authorities, community venues, privately run health clubs, schools and sports clubs, show net tennis closures at venues that have introduced padel. Since 2023, 77 tennis courts have closed where padel installations followed.
Padel’s expansion reflects its accessibility and format. Courts are about three quarters the size of a tennis court, play can continue off a back wall, and underarm serves make rallies easier to establish. Those qualities have made the sport quicker to pick up and gentler on bodies for some players, a point reinforced by Bee Armstrong, a London project manager who took up padel after a back injury, who said, "Padel is a bit easier on the body. It's really growing now so more people are getting into it. It's a really great way to meet people, and now with more courts it’s become easier to meet friends after work for a game. It’s easier to have a good game even as a first timer, compared to tennis which needs a bit more practice."
Governing-body data underline the pace of uptake off the court. The Lawn Tennis Association found a million people were playing padel as of May this year, up from 860,000 at the end of 2025. Despite that growth, tennis still outnumbers padel by roughly 11 to one, and the recent loss of courts represents less than 1% of total tennis provision, bringing totals close to 2018 levels.
The boom has been strongest in parts of northern England, with 39 padel courts built in Sheffield since 2023, 38 in North Yorkshire and 36 apiece in Leeds and Cheshire East. Padel courts now appear across both deprived and affluent areas, while tennis courts remain more concentrated in less deprived neighbourhoods, a pattern that could alter local access to racket sports.
The LTA stresses the national effect so far is modest, saying the change amounts to just 0.7% of all tennis courts since the start of 2024 and that courts replaced by padel represent only 0.3%. It adds many displaced courts were underused or in poor condition, and that introducing padel has diversified venue offerings and attracted new players. The LTA is working with the UK government to secure investment into community tennis, padel and multi-sport hubs. Sport England’s live facility database is maintained by venues, so these figures may shift as centres revise their records.
