editorial: Feb 2026 content batch review + market maturity rewrite

5-pass editorial pipeline across 11 cornerstone articles (6 DE + 5 EN)
and 3 bilingual pSEO templates. All pieces scored ≥4.4 and cleared the
publish threshold.

Critical/High fixes applied:
- Ceiling height inconsistency: 7m → 8m in build guide tables (EN + DE)
- HTML <span> tags removed from meta_description_pattern in all 3 templates
- German gendering violations fixed in padel-halle-bauen-de (4 instances)
- Grammatical gender fix: "Das häufigste Vorabend-Fehler" → "Der häufigste Fehler"
- Noun capitalisation: "sport" → "Sport" in padel-standort-analyse-de

Medium fixes applied:
- Varied repeated "well-run padel halls" phrase in EN investment risks article
- Orphaned F&B note elevated to bold callout
- Colloquial idiom replaced in EN cost guide
- "analyze" → "analyse" (British English) in EN location guide

P4-A resolved: replaced static German city-tier lists in both location
guide articles with a universal "market maturity stages" framework section
(established / growth / emerging markets). Articles are now country-agnostic
and link to pSEO country overview pages for live market data.

7 open improvement items remain (P1-A/B, P2-A/B/C, P3-A, P4-B/C) — none
are publish blockers. See docs/editorial-review-2026-02.md.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

data/content/articles/padel-hall-location-guide-en.md

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ The location decision is the only decision in a padel hall's lifecycle that can'
 
 ### 1. Catchment Area Analysis
 
-Before any property is seriously evaluated, the catchment area must be understood. Start with two drive-time isochrones from the candidate site: 15 minutes and 30 minutes. Within these zones, analyze the population — not by headcount alone, but by the metrics that predict padel demand:
+Before any property is seriously evaluated, the catchment area must be understood. Start with two drive-time isochrones from the candidate site: 15 minutes and 30 minutes. Within these zones, analyse the population — not by headcount alone, but by the metrics that predict padel demand:
 
 **Age distribution**: The core padel demographic is 25–55. Areas with a median age above 55 or a very young demographic without disposable income are harder markets.
 
@@ -144,24 +144,21 @@ The matrix also reveals where trade-offs are being made explicitly, which makes
 
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-## German and DACH Markets: City-Level Signals for 2026
+## Reading Market Maturity: What Stage Is Your Target City?
 
-Padel demand is unevenly distributed across DACH. Some current market read:
+The 8 criteria above evaluate specific sites. But before shortlisting sites, it is worth stepping back to read the stage of the overall market — because the right operational strategy differs fundamentally depending on where a city sits in its padel development cycle.
 
-**Established markets with continued strong demand**
-Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt — padel is already an established sport in these cities, well-positioned facilities run at high utilization, and the market has capacity for additional well-located halls. Construction and lease costs are correspondingly elevated.
+**Established markets**: Booking platforms show consistent peak-hour sell-out across most venues. Waiting lists are common. Demand is validated beyond doubt. The challenge here is elevated rent, elevated build costs, and entrenched operators who have already captured community loyalty. New entrants need a genuine differentiation angle — a superior facility specification, a better location within the city, or an F&B and coaching product that existing venues don't offer. Entry costs are high; returns, if execution is strong, are also high. Munich is the canonical German example.
 
-**Strong growth, not yet saturated**
-Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Cologne — intermediate market maturity, clear growth momentum, identifiable supply gaps in specific districts and surrounding municipalities. Often a better rent-to-demand ratio than the top-four cities.
+**Growth markets**: Demand is clearly building — booking availability tightens at weekends, new facilities are announced regularly, and the sport is gaining local media visibility. Supply hasn't caught up, so identifiable gaps still exist in specific districts or the surrounding hinterland. The risk profile is lower than in emerging markets, but the window for securing good real estate at reasonable rent is narrowing. The premium for moving decisively goes to those who arrive before the obvious sites are taken.
 
-**Emerging markets with attractive risk-return**
-Leipzig, Dresden, Nuremberg — lower rent costs, growing player base, but lower absolute demand volume. Suited to operators with cost discipline and a marketing strategy that actively builds community rather than relying on organic demand.
+**Emerging markets**: Limited current supply, a small but growing player base, and padel not yet mainstream enough to generate organic walk-in demand. Entry costs — rent especially — are lower. The constraint is that demand must be actively created rather than captured. Operators who succeed here invest in community: beginner programmes, local leagues, school partnerships, conversions from tennis clubs. The time to first profitability is longer, but the competitive position built in the first two years is often decisive for the long term.
 
-**Mid-size cities in metro hinterlands**
-Towns of 50,000–200,000 people near major economic centers are frequently underserved, offer more attractive commercial rents, and have less complex permitting processes. Operators willing to invest in community building — local leagues, beginner programs, partnerships with tennis clubs — often find better unit economics here than in the major metros.
+Before committing to a site search in any city, calibrate where it sits on this spectrum. The 8-criteria framework then tells you whether a specific site works; market maturity tells you what kind of operator and strategy is required to make it work at all.
 
-**Austria and Switzerland**
-Vienna and Zurich both show strong padel growth signals, with utilization data from booking platforms suggesting meaningful unmet demand. Regulatory complexity differs from Germany (Austrian *Bauordnung* varies by state; Swiss cantonal permitting adds procedural steps), but the demographic and income profile of both cities is highly favorable.
+Padelnomics tracks venue density, booking platform utilisation, and demographic fit for cities across Europe. Use the country market overview to read the maturity stage of your target city before evaluating individual sites.
+
+[→ View market data by country](/markets/germany)
 
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