The European padel market has become a paradox. Demand has never been higher, and the FIP World Padel Report 2025 shows global court supply has grown by 15 percent in the past year alone. Yet more and more club owners are saying the same thing: "We get them through the door, but we can't keep them."

According to research published in Harvard Business Review by Reichheld and Sasser, acquiring a new customer costs 5 to 25 times more than retaining an existing one, depending on the industry. Their follow-up research at Bain & Company found that a 5 percent improvement in customer retention can lift profits by 25 to 95 percent. The players you lose rarely go to nobody. They go to the club that does retention better.

Below are five strategies that actually work, based on what we see across clubs in the PUP network.

1. Be a community, not a court rental

Most padel clubs sell one thing: court time. That's a commodity. A player who only rents your courts will leave the moment another club is €2 cheaper.

What builds retention is the feeling that this is their club. Concrete moves:

  • Standing mix-in nights where singles join rotating pairs. One night a week is enough.

  • A ladder or internal tournament that runs continuously, not once a quarter.

  • Name-to-face recognition. One receptionist or host who knows players by name doubles the "home" feeling.

A club is a third place: not work, not home. Players become loyal to those.

2. Use gamification to shape behaviour, not as a gimmick

Points, badges and challenges don't work because people love points. They work because they hit three psychological triggers: they make progress visible, deliver small wins frequently, and create social visibility.

What clubs in the PUP network do with this:

  • Tie challenges to events you're already running. A clinic? Now it's a challenge. An open day? Now it's a challenge. Players get points for showing up, you get measurable engagement.

  • Keep rewards local. A free drink at the bar or a discount on a re-string is often valued more than a big remote prize.

  • Target beginners specifically. The Playtomic Global Padel Report 2025 found that 92 percent of people who try padel once come back for a second go. The hard part is the step from "second go" to "regular". A series of five beginner challenges across months 2 and 3 helps that transition.

"By setting up challenges in PUP, HOME Padel has been attracting new players to our location, in a really positive and fun way."

Lars Vlietman, HOME Padel

3. Invest in the first 90 days

The Playtomic data is clear on the first try-out: 92 percent come back. But that's a different question from: do they become a regular? That's where the real retention challenge sits.

What works:

  • A welcome pack. Not a pen. A voucher for a free court hour with instruction, or a free intro clinic.

  • One handwritten card or personal message around day 30. Works disproportionately well.

  • A structured "buddy" programme that pairs new members with an experienced clubmember for one match.

Retention isn't built in month 12. It's built in week 4.

4. Measure what most clubs don't

Most clubs track court occupancy. Important, but incomplete. What also matters:

  • Frequency per member. How often a month does someone show up? The KNLTB Padel in Cijfers 2025 report found that 50 to 60 percent of Dutch padel players play five times a year or less. That's a huge group at retention risk.

  • Partner diversity. Players who only ever play with one specific person are fragile. When that person stops, the pair stops.

  • Time-slot variation. Members locked to one slot leave faster when that slot fills up or rises in price.

You don't have to build this yourself. The PUP club dashboard surfaces exactly these metrics: who's at risk, who's an ambassador, and which members deserve attention.

5. Make it easy for players to bring you new ones

Word-of-mouth is by far the biggest acquisition channel in padel, and that makes it a retention lever too: players who bring others stay longer themselves.

What helps:

  • A "bring-a-friend" court hour structurally available (free or half rate).

  • Referral rewards visible in the player's profile, not just for the friend.

  • Social-shareable moments. A well-run tournament where people want to share a photo and their result is free marketing.

Bottom line: the three things

Retention in padel isn't about discounts or big prizes. It's about delivering three things together:

  1. A reason to come back (community, challenges, goals).

  2. A visible sense of progress (rating, badges, achievements).

  3. Low friction to book and join.

Clubs that build all three see their "we can't keep them" problem quietly disappear.

How PUP helps with this

PUP is built for exactly this problem. Clubs create challenges for their players, attach local rewards to them, and see in a dashboard who's active, who's at risk, and who their ambassadors are. Meanwhile players build their profile, rating and rewards, all tied to your club.

Read more for clubs or get in touch for a short demo of the club dashboard.

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