padelnomics/docs/CUSTOMER_CHANNELS.md

Padelnomics — Where Customers Live Online

Compiled: 2026-02-25. Updated with live-verified data from web research (Feb 2026). Two customer sides: Demand = aspiring padel hall owners/investors. Supply = court builders & equipment suppliers.

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1. LinkedIn

The primary B2B channel for both sides. German business audience is heavily LinkedIn-native (35–55 demographic).

Groups

Group	Audience	Est. Size	Priority	Action
Padel Business Network	Both	⚠️ ~2–5K	High	Join + post data insights weekly
Sports Facility Management Professionals	Demand	⚠️ ~10–20K	High	Share cornerstone articles
Sportmanagement DACH (also on XING)	Demand	⚠️ ~3–8K	High	Seed calculator link in discussions
Tennis Club Management	Demand (beachhead)	⚠️ ~1–3K	High	Beachhead segment lives here
Real Estate Investment Germany	Demand	⚠️ ~15–30K	Medium	Sports-as-real-estate angle
Construction & Sports Infrastructure EU	Supply	⚠️ ~5–10K	Medium	Supplier acquisition
DOSB / DTB official pages	Demand	Large	High	Follow + engage with their posts

Sales Navigator Job Titles

Demand side (aspiring owners):

• Geschäftsführer (GmbH/AG) — sports, leisure, fitness, real estate
• Vereinsvorstand / Vereinsvorsitzender (club board chair) — tennis clubs specifically
• Sportstättenleiter / Sportanlagenleiter
• Immobilienentwickler / Real Estate Developer
• Investor / Beteiligungsmanager (alternative assets)
• Fitnessclub Betreiber / Freizeitanlagen Betreiber
• DTB-licensed tennis club administrative roles

Supply side (builders/equipment):

• Sales Director / Business Development — court manufacturers
• Key Account Manager — sports construction
• Vertriebsleiter Hallenbau / Sportanlagenbau
• Projektleiter Sportstätten
• Export Manager — padel equipment manufacturers

Key Hashtags

#padelbusiness #padelgermany #padelhalle #sportstätten #sportsfacility #freizeitanlage #padelanlage #padelin #sportinvestment #vereinsentwicklung

Influential Accounts to Engage

• DTB (Deutscher Tennis Bund) official page — posts about padel expansion actively
• DPV (Deutscher Padel Verband) page
• DOSB Sportstättenentwicklung content
• Track Indoor (court manufacturer) — active LinkedIn presence
• Individual padel hall founders who post about their journey (search "Padelhalle eröffnet")

Organic play: Comment with data insights on every DTB/DPV padel post. One well-placed comment with a real statistic ("interesting — our Playtomic data shows Munich at 73% weekend occupancy") builds awareness with exactly the right audience.

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2. XING

Often overlooked but critical for German Mittelstand. Tennis/sports club boards, regional business owners, and traditional facility operators use XING more than LinkedIn in Germany, especially the 45–60 age group.

Group	Audience	Priority	Action
Sport als Business	Demand	High	Post cornerstone articles
Sportmanagement DACH	Demand	High	Same as LinkedIn group
Sportstätten und Freizeitanlagen	Both	High	Primary target — exact audience
Unternehmer in Deutschland	Demand	Medium	Broader reach
IHK Netzwerk [Region]	Demand	Medium	Chamber of commerce network

Note: XING Groups are less active than LinkedIn groups, but XING messaging (ProBusiness) has higher open rates for German B2B outreach than LinkedIn InMail in many cases.

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3. Reddit

Honest assessment: Reddit is not a primary channel for this audience. German-language Reddit is thin, and the padel-specific communities are player-focused.

Subreddit	Audience	Members	Assessment	Action
r/padel	Both (players)	⚠️ ~50–80K	Player-focused, minimal business discussion. Occasional "I want to open a court" threads	Monitor for those threads, respond with planner link
r/entrepreneur	Demand	~1.4M	General, but will engage with "I built a padel hall data platform" founder stories	One-time post when you have traction/revenue milestone
r/realestateinvesting	Demand	~500K	Sports assets as alternative investment angle	Share Location Guide / investment case article
r/smallbusiness	Demand	~300K	Post cost bible article as resource	Low effort, medium reach
r/germany	Demand	~500K	German audience but generalist	Share State of Padel report when published
r/Finanzen (German)	Demand	⚠️ ~150K	German personal finance — not perfect fit but "padel als Investment" angle could work	Occasional, carefully framed

Bottom line: Reddit is for content distribution, not community building. Post articles here for backlinks and occasional traffic spikes. Don't try to build a presence.

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4. Facebook Groups

Facebook is stronger than expected for this audience — specifically German sports club operators (older demographic, club culture) still live on Facebook.

Group	Language	Audience	Priority	Action
Padel Deutschland	DE	Demand (players + some owners)	High	Active community, share market data
Padel in Deutschland / Padel Germany	DE	Demand	High	Multiple groups, search all variants
Padel Business & Investment (search to verify)	EN	Demand	High if active	Spanish-origin groups are most active in padel business
Tennis & Padel Club Betreiber Deutschland	DE	Demand (beachhead)	Highest	Club boards making facility decisions
Sportstätten und Freizeitanlagen Betreiber	DE	Both	High	Facility owners/operators
Gründer & Unternehmer Deutschland	DE	Demand	Medium	General entrepreneur group, large
Real Estate Investment Deutschland	DE	Demand	Medium	Property investor angle
Padel Clube e Empresas (Portuguese, but internationally active)	PT/EN	Both	Medium	Spanish/Portuguese padel industry very active, worth monitoring

Important: Spanish and Portuguese Facebook padel business groups are the most active globally. Padel originated in Spain — the Spanish market is 5–10 years ahead. Mining these groups for market intelligence (what challenges did Spanish operators face?) is valuable beyond just outreach.

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5. Newsletters & Publications

Padel-specific

Publication	Language	Audience	Reach	Priority	Opportunity
Padel World Press (padelworldpress.com)	EN/ES	Both	~100K monthly visitors	Highest	Guest article: "State of Padel in Germany — A Data View". They actively look for market data content.
Padel Magazine (padelmagazine.fr)	FR only	Both	⚠️ ~50K	Medium	French-language only. Good for France expansion (Phase 3), less relevant for DACH now.
Padel Alto newsletter	EN	Demand	⚠️ ~20–50K	High	Their audience is players who aspire to business
FEP (European Padel Federation) newsletter	Multi	Both	~federation members	High	Co-distribute State of Padel report
DTB Newsletter	DE	Demand (beachhead)	~DTB members/clubs	Highest	DTB sends to ~1,400 affiliated clubs. A feature here reaches exactly the beachhead. Approach as: data partner / market research contributor.
DPV (Deutscher Padel Verband) newsletter	DE	Demand	German padel community	High	Same angle as DTB

Sports Business / Facility Management

Publication	Language	Audience	Priority	Opportunity
SportBusiness (sportbusiness.com)	EN	Both	High	Press outreach: "Padel boom + nobody has the data" angle
Sportswear International	EN/DE	Supply	Medium	Court manufacturer advertising
Sportstättenmanagement / sb Magazin (IAKS)	DE	Demand	High	IAKS (International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities) publishes sb Magazin — reaches German facility managers and club owners directly. Guest article or data contribution.
Tennis Magazin (tennismagazin.de)	DE	Demand (beachhead)	High	Germany's most-read tennis publication. Actively covers padel. Direct line to club managers and tennis operators adding padel courts.
Sportplatzwelt (sportplatzwelt.de)	DE	Both	High	Specialist portal for municipal/recreational sports. Has padel section with 8 listed court builders (all hardware — zero software). Padelnomics would be the only SaaS in their padel directory. Part of Stadionwelt GmbH. Contacts: editorial: redaktion@stadionwelt.de; marketing: info@sportplatzwelt.de (+49 2232 5772-20). Full research at docs/SPORTPLATZWELT_RESEARCH.md.
mypadel.de (DTB platform)	DE	Demand (beachhead)	High	DTB's own padel platform with newsletter, Instagram, TikTok. Contacts: Carina Meyer (events), Sandra Achatz (marketing/sales). Best accessed through DTB contacts above.
Der Tennisclub (DTB publication)	DE	Demand (beachhead)	Highest	DTB's own magazine for club managers. A feature here is a direct line to the beachhead segment.
Facility Management Magazin (fm-magazin.de)	DE	Demand	Medium	Broader facility management audience

Business / Investment

Publication	Language	Audience	Priority	Opportunity
Gründerszene (gründerszene.de)	DE	Demand	Medium	Startup/founder angle: "Ich habe eine Marktdaten-Plattform für Padel aufgebaut"
Capital / WirtschaftsWoche	DE	Demand	Low (hard to get in)	PR milestone: when you hit €1M ARR or raise
Handelsblatt	DE	Demand	Low (hard to get in)	Same — milestone-gated

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6. Trade Shows & Events

Tier 1 — Must Attend

Event	Location	When	Audience	Why
Padel World Summit	Barcelona (Gran Via)	May 26–28, 2026	Both	THE dedicated padel B2B event globally. Conference + B2B Exhibition + Play Arena + Innovation Arena. Organized by Fira Barcelona + Inter Padel Cluster. Entire padel industry in one venue. Higher padel ROI than FSB.
FSB Cologne (Freiraum, Sport- und Bäderanlagen)	Cologne	Oct 26–29, 2027 (28,000 visitors, 575 exhibitors)	Both — entire German target market in one hall	THE German sports facility trade show. Every court manufacturer, facility operator, architect, and club investor attends. Padel has had a dedicated section since ~2022. Next edition 2027.
FIBO	Cologne	Apr 16–19, 2026	Demand (fitness/sports operators)	Padel increasingly featured. Large German sports operator audience.
Padel Pro Am (various European stops)	EU	Year-round	Both	Industry networking alongside tournaments. Business audience present at VIP/sponsor days.

Tier 2 — High Value

Event	Location	When	Audience	Why
ISPO	Amsterdam (moved from Munich)	Nov 3–5, 2026	Both	Broader sports industry. Court manufacturers exhibit. Padel presence growing. Note: no longer in Munich.
Sportplatzwelt LIVE	Cologne	Jun 23, 2026	Demand	300+ sports facility decision-makers (municipal officials, club boards, architects — CPD credits from Architects' Chamber NRW). Padelnomics as the only SaaS speaker/exhibitor would stand out. Contact: ponsar@stadionwelt.de
IAKS Congress	Cologne	Oct 28–31, 2025	Demand	International sports facility planning congress. Architects, planners, facility investors.
Madrid Open (Mutua Madrid)	Madrid	April/May	Both	Has industry days. Spanish padel business community — most developed globally. Good for supply side sourcing.
DTB Congress / DTB Vereinskongress	Germany	Annual	Demand (beachhead)	DTB runs conferences for club managers. Attending as a "data partner" or speaker gets you in front of the exact beachhead segment.

Tier 3 — Monitor

Event	Location	When	Notes
Expo Real	Munich	Oct 5–7, 2026	Real estate exhibition — relevant when targeting real estate developer segment
BAU Munich	Munich	Jan 11–15, 2027	Construction industry — supply side contacts
INTERNORGA	Hamburg	Mar 13–17, 2026	Food/hospitality — relevant if targeting the F&B angle of padel halls

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7. Associations & Bodies

Primary Targets

Association	Relevance	Contact Strategy
DTB (Deutscher Tennis Bund) — dtb.de	Highest — 1,400+ affiliated clubs, many adding padel. Runs the DPV. Has a Sportstättenentwicklung department.	Approach as data partner: "We'd like to contribute market data to DTB's padel expansion guidance for clubs." Offer to co-publish a Germany-specific padel market report. Verified contacts: Zamani Badawere (Projektmanager Padel) zamani.badawere@tennis.de; Fabienne Bretz (Leitung Vereins-/Mitglieder-/Trainerentwicklung) fabienne.bretz@tennis.de; Toralf Bitzer (Facility Management) toralf.bitzer@tennis.de. DTB runs mypadel.de — its own padel platform with newsletter, Instagram, TikTok. Platform contacts: Carina Meyer (events), Sandra Achatz (marketing/sales).
DPV (Deutscher Padel Verband)	High — specifically padel. Growing fast.	Same as DTB — they're integrated.
DOSB (Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund)	Medium — umbrella body. Runs Sportstättenentwicklung. Has grants for facility improvements.	Less direct but can open doors to Landessportbünde.
Landessportbünde (16 state federations)	High — they advise clubs on facility investments. Bayern, NRW, Baden-Württemberg most important.	Each LSB has a Sportstättenberatung (facility advice) service. Position Padelnomics as a tool they can recommend to clubs.

Secondary Targets

Association	Relevance	Notes
FEP (Federación Europea de Pádel)	Medium	European reach, good for Phase 3 expansion
FIP (Federación Internacional de Pádel)	Low-Medium	Global, less action-oriented for our purposes
IHK (Chambers of Commerce)	Medium	They advise businesses starting sports facilities. Gründerberatung teams could recommend Padelnomics.
VDS (Verband für Sport- und Bauelemente)	Medium	German sports construction equipment association. Supply side contacts here.
IAKS (Intl. Association for Sports & Leisure Facilities)	Medium	Global facility planning network. Good for thought leadership and conference speaking.
Österreichischer Tennis Verband / Swiss Tennis	Low-Medium	DACH expansion in Phase 2

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8. YouTube & Podcasts

Podcasts — Business/Industry Focused

Podcast	Language	Audience	Reach	Action
Padel Alto Podcast	EN/ES	Both	⚠️ ~10–30K listeners	Guest pitch: "Data on where padel is actually profitable in Europe" — unique data angle gets you booked
The Padel Show (British Padel)	EN	Demand	⚠️ ~5–15K	Guest pitch for UK market awareness
Padel & Business (search for current active shows)	ES	Both	⚠️ Varies	Spanish padel business podcasts are the most developed. Good for supply side contacts.
SportBusiness Podcast	EN	Both	~industry	Tier 2 — harder to get on but high credibility

Gap/Opportunity: There is no dedicated German-language padel business podcast as of early 2025. This is both a distribution gap (nowhere to appear) and a content opportunity (start a "Padel Business Report" audio version of your newsletter).

YouTube

Channel	Audience	Why
FSB Cologne official	Both	Trade show content — suppliers and facility operators watch this
DTB YouTube	Demand (beachhead)	Club-oriented content. Comment with data when padel content posted.
Track Indoor, Padelcreations, World Padel (manufacturer channels)	Supply	Understand what messaging works for court manufacturers
"How to open a padel hall" searches	Demand	Currently very thin — 1–2 low-production videos in German. This is an SEO video opportunity. A 10-minute "Padelhalle eröffnen: Was kostet es wirklich?" YouTube video with your data would likely rank #1 in Germany within weeks.

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9. Competitor Audiences

Sportstättenrechner.de

Generic sports facility cost calculator. Their audience is Padelnomics' audience.

• Channels: Primarily SEO + Google Ads. No meaningful LinkedIn or community presence.
• Approach: They're a generic sports calculator. Any club owner who found them via "Sporthalle kosten" is a Padelnomics prospect.
• Action: Target the same keywords they rank for. Their content is generic; yours is padel-specific + data-backed.
• Note: Distinct from Sportplatzwelt (sportplatzwelt.de) — both sites exist independently and cover overlapping topics. Sportplatzwelt is a richer media property (news, directory, events). See docs/SPORTPLATZWELT_RESEARCH.md.

Padelfinder.de

• Germany's largest padel court directory (1,357 courts listed).
• More B2B than expected: has "Padel-Platz bauen?" CTA and "Partner werden" program for builders.
• Small overlap with demand side (players who want to become operators).
• Supply side relevance: court builders who partner with Padelfinder are Padelnomics supply-side prospects.

World Padel Tour / Premier Padel

• Massive fan audience but almost entirely consumer/player.
• Business audience: sponsors and venue operators who host events.
• Supply side angle: WPT venue operators are a premium segment — they're already running halls.

Court Manufacturers (Track Indoor, Padelcreations, Mondo, World Padel Construction)

• These companies are Padelnomics' supply-side customers AND indirect competitors (they do some advisory).
• Their LinkedIn followers and trade show attendees are exactly the audience Padelnomics wants.
• Action: Monitor their content. When a manufacturer posts about a new hall opening, the client who opened that hall is a Padelnomics demand-side prospect. Comment: "Congrats — our data shows [city] has strong occupancy for new halls right now."

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10. Cold Outreach Targets

Demand Side (aspiring owners)

Best sources for building a targeted outreach list:

1. DTB club database — DTB publishes an affiliated club directory. Filter by club size and region. Tennis clubs with 200+ members in cities with growing padel demand = ideal beachhead targets. Introduce as: "We built a free padel planning tool for clubs considering adding courts."

2. LinkedIn Sales Navigator — Filter: Germany + job titles (Vereinsvorsitzender, Geschäftsführer) + industry (Sport, Freizeit, Immobilien) + company size 1–50.

3. Google Maps — Search "Tennisclub [city]" → find club websites → find contact/Vorstand email. Manual but high conversion. The beachhead segment is reachable this way.

4. FSB Cologne attendee list — Available post-event. Previous attendees are a warm list of facility investors.

Supply Side (builders)

Best sources:

1. FSB Cologne exhibitor list — Public. Every padel court manufacturer and sports construction company exhibits here. This IS the list.

2. DTB supplier network — DTB maintains a list of recommended suppliers for club infrastructure. Getting on this list = inbound supply-side leads.

3. Google "Padelhalle bauen Anbieter" — Manually find the 20–30 German-market court builders. Most have contact forms. Cold email with: "We have X aspiring hall owners in our platform actively seeking builder quotes."

4. XING / LinkedIn — Search "Padel court construction Germany" and variations. Very small world — maybe 30–50 relevant companies in DACH.

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Top 10 Priority Actions

Sorted by effort-to-impact ratio:

#	Action	Effort	Impact	Side
1	Email DTB Padel team (zamani.badawere@tennis.de) offering to co-publish State of Padel Q1 2026 report via mypadel.de	Low (1 email, contacts verified)	Very High — reaches ~1,400 affiliated clubs	Demand
2	Pitch Padel World Press a guest article using your Playtomic occupancy data	Low (1 pitch)	High — 100K+ readers, backlink	Both
3	LinkedIn organic: weekly data insight posts (3 posts/week, German + English)	Medium (ongoing)	High — exactly right audience, compounds	Both
4	Sportplatzwelt editorial pitch (redaktion@stadionwelt.de) — case study article on data-driven padel management	Low (1 email)	High — DE B2B facility media, only software in padel section	Both
5	DTB affiliated club outreach — 50 clubs, beachhead pitch	Medium (list building + emails)	Very High — highest-converting segment	Demand
6	FSB Cologne exhibitor list (supply side acquisition) — cold email padel court manufacturers	Medium (1–2 days research + emails)	High — entire German supply side in one list	Supply
7	XING Sportstätten und Freizeitanlagen group — post + engage	Low (30 min/week)	Medium-High — German-specific, less competitive than LinkedIn	Demand
8	Padel Alto Podcast guest pitch — "padel occupancy data across Europe"	Low (1 email)	Medium — English audience, brand authority	Both
9	"Padelhalle eröffnen" YouTube video — 10 minutes, uses your cost data	High (production)	High — currently no German-language video, would rank fast	Demand
10	Register for Padel World Summit (May 26–28, 2026, Barcelona) — global padel B2B event	Low (register now)	High — entire padel industry, supply side sourcing, potential speaking slot	Both

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What Doesn't Exist Yet (Opportunity Gaps)

These channels don't exist but should, and Padelnomics could own them:

• No German-language padel business podcast — "Der Padel Business Report" as a bi-weekly audio show
• No German-language "how to open a padel hall" YouTube video with real data — rank within weeks
• No padel hall operator community in Germany — a Slack or Discord for German-language padel hall owners/operators would be a product moat, not just a marketing channel. Padelnomics could own this.
• No quarterly padel market report in German — the DTB/DPV publish player stats but no investment-focused market report

Note: Member counts and activity levels marked ⚠️ should be verified before investing heavily in that channel. Verified items are based on solid industry knowledge through mid-2025.