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.

---

## 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.

---

## 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.

---

## 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.

---

## 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.

---

## 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 |

---

## 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 |

---

## 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 |

---

## 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. |

---

## 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."

---

## 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.

---

## 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 |

---

## 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.