Our next guest is a British entrepreneur who moved his family to Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina recently because he believes the Lowcountry is uniquely positioned to become one of the most important cities in America to spur the growth of a racquet sport that most in our country have never heard of but which has over 35 million players globally. The sport is padel. Mike Switzer interviews Ben Nichols, founder and CEO of Padel 22 in Mt. Pleasant, SC.
TRANSCRIPT:
Switzer: Hello and welcome to another edition of the South Carolina Business Review. This is Mike Switzer. Our next guest is a British entrepreneur who moved his family to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina recently because he believes the low country is uniquely positioned to become one of the most important cities in America and to spur the growth of a racket sport that most in our country have never heard of, but which has over 35 million players globally. The sport is Padel, and that's spelled P A D E L. Ben Nichols is founder and CEO of Padel 22. He joins us by phone from his company's headquarters in Mount Pleasant. Ben, welcome to the program.
Nichols: Thank you, Mike. Great to be joining you.
Switzer: So give us the background here on this sport, what it's all about, and why you chose South Carolina to launch this business of yours.
Nichols: Yeah, well, I moved to the area all of eight weeks ago, really, to spearhead the growth of the sport padel, which is the fastest growing racket sport, fastest growing sport in the world. there was actually a study that came out this week from the sfia, a sports industry study, saying it's the fastest growing sport in America. Now it is, been doing to many countries what pickleball has been doing to the States in terms of it being a rapidly growing, very addictive participation sport. A bit of a cross between squash, tennis, racquetball. It's been growing tremendously in countries like the UK, where I'm from, in Spain, Argentina and Germany, many other countries. And you're about to see a big boom of this sport in the United States. And I wanted to come and be part of that, given what I've been doing the last four years in the UK.
Switzer: Okay, and so what have you been doing the last four years in the UK?
Nichols: So my background is in the sports industry. I've always been on the, promotional side of sports, so helping grow the profile of athletes, of federations, of brands, of different businesses in the sports industry. And I identified padel four years ago, having seen what it had done in other countries. I saw it was about to boom in the uk and what I've been doing is really helping businesses from clubs, from professional tours and tournaments, from technology firms that manage bookings for this sport, from players who compete in the professional side, really helping grow their profiles so that the sport can be elevated and get better known amongst the, amongst the wider public. And if you look at what's happening in the States, padel is growing hugely in South Florida, Miami, Southern California, Texas, the Northeast Tri State area, and I believe Charleston and the Low Countries, Given its racket, sport heritage is ripe really for this sport to really make big inroads into the local communities.
Switzer: Give us a description of the game itself, since we're radio and we need more imagery.
Nichols: Absolutely. So think squash and racquetball meets tennis. A court that is glass and cage. It's played as doubles. You serve underarm, and then the ball has to bounce like tennis. You're trying to get it to bounce, but it can also then hit the wall. So tennis scoring, you play with a racket or a bat that is, carbon fiber. It has some kind of like almost mouse holes in the middle, but it's a solid surface. And you play with a ball that's like a tennis ball, but is slightly lower pressure. And it is a very kind of chess type game. It's not about power. It's very kind of, it slows down, it speeds up. It's quite cat and mouse. I know there's a club opening in North Mount Pleasant soon, which is going to be a big indoor warehouse venue. Similarly, there's also a place I played out this morning on, John's island, which is outdoor.
Switzer: And so if it's outdoors, I guess it's a giant cage.
Nichols: Exactly. Think of it as a cage. So glass and mesh combination. You know, you could fit probably two and a half paddle courts on a tennis court. So from a business point of view, the economics are great because you can get four players and you can get much more use of your square footage.
Switzer: Okay, and so what do you see as your main challenges in trying to get, this sport, to take off here in, In South Carolina?
Nichols: Absolutely. Well, it's the same mission I've been on for four years in England, which has been, I call it growing brand padel. It's essentially growing the profile and visibility of this sport. So. So that we get more people playing, more people building courts and facilities so that we might see it become an Olympic sport in the not distant future. So that we get more people on the business side, we get college students involved, school kids involved. I really want to see this sport become mainstream, like pickleball has here in America in the last kind of five or 10 years. And I think it will. So my big job is education. It's kind of going around an evangelizing paddle for anyone that cares to listen. and anyone that wants to get on court, I think nine, nine people out of 10 when they play this sport, really, really enjoy it. So it's got what few other sports have got in terms of a very sticky appeal. Have a go. And, you know, I think it will change your life if I'm honest.
Switzer: Well, Ben, thank you so much for spending time with us today.
Nichols: Thanks for having me. on.
Switzer: Ben Nichols is founder and CEO of Padel 22 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. We will have a link to his company posted at our webpage so you can learn more about SouthCarolinaPublicRadio.org where you can hear this show again. And remember, you can find us wherever you find podcasts with the South Carolina Business Review. This is Mike Switzer.
The views expressed on the South Carolina Business Review do not necessarily reflect those of South Carolina Public Radio.
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