Andy Murray cashing in as padel company he invested in gets lavish valuation

Kevin Palmer
Andy and Jamie Murray
Andy and Jamie Murray playing padel

Andy Murray’s decision to invest in a padel business looks set to reap huge rewards after a new round of funding gave the company a lavish valuation.

Game4Padel has emerged as the most prolific operator for installing padel courts in the UK, with the sport that is a cross between tennis and squash gathering huge momentum in recent years.

With the LTA, the governing body for British tennis, overseeing the development of padel in the UK, there is huge potential for the sport to gather momentum and the Murray-backed Game4Padel is leading the way.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and former tennis players Andrew Castle and Annabel Croft are among the high-profile investors in a company that has now been valued at a stunning £27million, with Murray set to reap the rewards of that valuation if the company sold.

“We’ve worked really hard to become a profitable business, something not many of our competitors can claim, and are focused on ensuring consistent high utilisation of all our courts by building thriving padel communities,” said Jim McMahon, chairman of Game4Padel.

“Despite the rapid expansion of padel in the UK, we still see plenty of opportunity for carefully calculated growth and are aiming to open at 10-15 more venues in the next 12 months.”

Tennis365 spoke to former British No 1 Andrew Castle about the potential of padel, as he insisted fears that the growth of the sport could threaten tennis were misplaced.

“Padel is a sport that could have a huge reach not just in this country, but around the world,” Castle told Tennis365.

“I still love tennis and that will always be the mummy and daddy for me. From the minute I played tennis, I adored it, but I have to admit it is more technical than padel.

“I think you can get to an enjoyable club standard quicker with padel than tennis. I have no evidence or statistics to back that up, but it feels easier to get to a standard where you can put a massive smile on your face. I think that would be one of the biggest selling points for padel.”

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With Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association offering grants to clubs to install padel courts proving to be a successful venture, the Game4Padel group Castle and Murray are backing are helping to take that process to the next level.

Installing padel courts at clubs and taking a slice of the revenue that comes from them, this is a project with star backing that could take padel to a whole new level.

“If you have got to find £40,000-£50,000 or £140,000-£150,000 for padel courts out of subs and membership fees at a tennis club, that’s going to be difficult,” added Castle.

“Game4Padel build the courts for you, take a percentage of revenue, put a coach in and teaches people how to play the game.

“Where do I see padel in five years’ time? It can only be bigger. It is quite intoxicating. When you play once, you want to go out and do it again. So where is it in five years? It has to be bigger.”

Padal is set for a big year of growth in 2025 and that could be good news for Murray if Game4Padel continues to rise at its present rate.

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