New faces at TIA
At the association’s AGM in July, Jonathan Booth and Jake Whalley were elected as Directors following the resignations of Rob McCowen and Jan Booth. Jonathan was also appointed as the association’s new Company Secretary
Jonathan Booth is a Director at Sunbaba, a UK-based events branding company that provides large-format print, signage, and on-site production (installation and de-rigging) for festivals, concerts, and major live events across the UK and Europe, with recent projects for clients including CarFest, VIP Nation, and international concert tours. At Sunbaba, Jonathan leads strategy and business development, steering the company through its busiest periods and driving growth through external partnerships and innovation programmes, including a recent technology-led push to adopt AI across the business’s design, production and client workflows.
Jonathan is keen to bring a fresh, commercially minded perspective to the TIA UK Board, supporting its continued relevance and value to the wider tennis, padel and pickleball industry.
Jake Whalley is Head of Marketing at MRH Sport, the exclusive distributor of Bullpadel in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Over the past seven years, he has worked across both Babolat and Wilson in a variety of grassroots, trade marketing and commercial roles, spanning the UK and European markets. Jake’s career has been built around growing participation, supporting retailers, clubs and coaches, and helping brands connect more effectively with players at every level of the game. His role at MRH Sport focuses on supporting the continued growth of padel across the UK through retailer partnerships, club activations, events, grassroots initiatives and player development programmes.
As a TIA Board member, Jake aims to bring a fresh perspective from the padel sector, alongside practical experience in marketing, grassroots development and industry engagement. He is passionate about helping grow participation across all racket sports and believes there is significant opportunity for the industry to learn from the growth of padel while continuing to strengthen tennis and emerging sports such as pickleball.
Chairman Steve Matthews welcomed Jonathan and Jake as new Directors and thanked Rob and Jan for all their efforts, insight and friendship over many years, supporting the industry body.
Given the increasing inter-connection between suppliers of tennis, padel and pickleball with clubs and venues, the AGM also agreed to increase the number of Directors from 5 to 7 to allow for enhanced involvement of sector specific interests to help frame future strategy.
The AGM also approved the proposal from the Board to hold the current membership fee rates for the 27/28 membership year.
LTA seeks new revenue sources
The LTA has entered venture capital investing through a partnership with Redrice Ventures as it seeks new revenue sources beyond Wimbledon distributions. The agreement marks the first time the governing body for tennis and padel in Great Britain has entered venture capital investing, with investments expected to focus on areas including coaching platforms, automated line-calling technology and sports nutrition.
The move comes as the LTA explores alternative sources of long-term revenue alongside distributions received from the Wimbledon Championships. The All England Club distributes 90 per cent of its surplus to the LTA, but payments to the governing body have come under pressure as player prize money at the tournament has increased.
In 2025, Wimbledon prize money exceeded the amount distributed to the LTA for the first time. The LTA’s income from Wimbledon fell four per cent year-on-year to £48.6 million, although total revenue increased by two per cent to £104 million.
Scott Lloyd, Chief Executive of the LTA, said the organisation was assessing opportunities within the wider sports investment market, stating, “There’s no doubt that this wider sports investment market now is particularly vibrant. The LTA is starting to think about how we can drive longer-term financial returns.“
For the UK sports industry, the move reflects a broader trend among governing bodies seeking alternative funding models and external investment alongside traditional revenue streams such as events, sponsorship and broadcasting.
The Women’s Tennis Association established an investment arm backed by CVC Capital Partners in 2023, while British Cycling created a separate commercial business in 2025 to attract external capital.
London-based Redrice Ventures has existing links to the sports sector. Former British tennis player Sir Andy Murray and Olympic triathlon gold medallist Alistair Brownlee are Associate Partners at the firm, whose portfolio includes UK sportswear company Castore and running footwear brand HYLO.
Curtesy: The Sports Industry Daily
Campaigners given green light for further legal challenge
A campaign group has been given the green light to launch a second legal battle over the expansion of the Wimbledon tennis site onto land occupied by the former Wimbledon Park Golf Club. Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) brought High Court legal action against the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), the venue which hosts the annual tennis tournament, over its plans to build 38 new tennis courts and an 8,000-seater stadium on the site immediately opposite the tennis club.
The AELTC acquired the freehold of the land occupied by Wimbledon Park Golf Club in the 1990s, and eventually purchased the club in 2018 for £65 million, with the course permanently closed in 2023. Planning permission for the expansion of the tennis club were approved in 2024.
But campaigners have argued the land was subject to a statutory trust under a 150-year-old law which restricted its use for ‘publicly accessible leisure and recreation’. In March, Mr Justice Thompsell ruled the land was “unencumbered by any statutory trust” but the Court of Appeal has granted SWP permission to challenge the ruling.
A spokesperson for the All England Club said the decision was “disappointing news”, but it was “confident that the Court of Appeal will recognise the strength of the High Court ruling, which found by a wide margin that the golf course land had never been held under a statutory trust”.
Barristers for SWP told the High Court in January that a statutory trust exists under the Public Health Act 1875, meaning the land must be used “for the purpose of being used as public walks or pleasure grounds” and therefore the development could not go ahead. Lawyers for the club said the land was never subject to a trust and, if it was, it did not survive the club’s 1993 purchase of the freehold.
Curtesy: Golf Business News
Saudi Arabia’s new mega tennis complex
Saudi Arabia has announced plans to develop its National Tennis Centre, located 45 kilometres west of Riyadh, comprising 30 courts along with major event venues and community spaces. Construction of the National Tennis Centre is already underway, designed by sports architecture firm Populous. Positioned within the picturesque landscape of the Tuwaiq Mountains, the centre is set to incorporate green facades, enhancing its natural surroundings.
- 30 tennis courts in total
- 28 hard courts
- 2 clay courts
- 33,000 total seats across the complex
- 15,000-seat Centre Court with retractable roof
- 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena with retractable roof
- 5,000-seat Court 1
- 2,000-seat Court 2
- 6 competition courts
- 6 indoor courts
- 14 practice courts
At the heart of the development is a 15,000-seat Centre Court arena, featuring a retractable roof, capable of hosting high-profile tennis matches as well as a variety of other major events, including concerts and esports competitions.
This aligns with Saudi Arabia’s strategic objectives under Vision 2030, which emphasise enhancing sporting infrastructure to elevate local talent and foster greater sports participation across the Kingdom.
Curtesy: The Hotelier
‘St George’s Park’ for tennis and padel
The Times reported in June that the LTA is seeking to buy the neighbouring plot of land to its Roehampton HQ and build a ‘St George’s Park’ for tennis and padel. According to the Times, the LTA is proposing to build 36 outdoor courts of each main surface on the Bank of England site that currently stages Wimbledon Qualifying.
The LTA has commissioned the architectural firm Woo, which was involved in the London and Paris Olympics and the redesign of the Nou Camp, to bring the vision to life.
The freehold was put up for sale by the Bank of England in January. Although not on Green Belt, the site is designated as Metropolitan Open Land which brings similar building constraints.
Scott Lloyd commented, “We have ambitious plans – a national network of covered public tennis and padel courts and a new development in Roehampton to create an equivalent of the FA’s St George’s Park, with the best training, sports science and recovery facilities, and an academy, all together on the same site.”
Surge in IP rights for Padel
The Times has reported that businesses are rushing to secure intellectual property rights linked to padel as the sport is attracting more investors, entrepreneurs and celebrity backers eager to capitalise on its explosive growth. Trademark filings for new Padel-related products in the UK surged 148% to 270 in the year to the end of March, up from 109 in the year prior, research from Matthys and Squire, the IP law firm has shown. Over the same period, just 23 new tennis-related brands were registered.
The boom has fuelled a wave of new businesses seeking to establish brands across a broad range of products and services including covered padel clubs and academies, racket manufacturers, specialist clothing brands, professional tournaments and hospitality concepts incorporating Padel-themed identities.
Curtesy: The Times
Padel and Pickleball News
Sheffield
A padel club backed by cricket star Joe Root has netted £1.2 million support to serve up expansion plans. Play Padel is set to open a second Sheffield site to include eight indoor courts. The venture, which will neighbour Sheffield’s Meadowhall Shopping Centre, is earmarked to open in October and will operate alongside the business’ existing courts at Abbeydale Tennis Club.
Play Padel was founded by five childhood friends – entrepreneurs Alex Fleming, Chris Milland and Harry Bliss, alongside decorated England batter Root and former Rotherham United goalkeeper Cameron Dawson – and has attracted players including Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis Hill. The firm’s expansion has been supported by a loan from NPIF II – Mercia Debt Finance, which is managed by Mercia as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, and the South Yorkshire Debt Fund, which is managed by FW Capital for South Yorkshire Pensions Authority.
Barking
A large indoor skatepark in Barking could be demolished for padel courts. It comes as skaters have launched a petition to save the space for extreme sports and the climbing wall which operated in the same building has already seen demolition commence.
The facility is operated by GLL under its brand name ‘Better’ who said that the centre has operated at a financial loss since GLL took it over some 13 years ago, despite a range of initiatives to increase revenue
Swansea
The Ninja Warrior adventure park in Swansea could be replaced by 6 indoor padel courts, in a move that would end the obstacle-course attraction’s four year run at the retail park. The venue is a large unit shared with Aldi, on the site of a former Toys R Us
Aberdeen
A former Ikea store in Aberdeen could be set to be converted into padel tennis courts under ambitious new plans from Slazenger. The property, which was vacated by Ikea in March when the furniture giant moved, is the subject of a planning application seeking to change its use from “retail” to “padel club”.
Lodged with Aberdeen City Council by Mike Ashley-owned Slazenger, the proposals outline 11 individual courts, with showers and changing facilities also included.
Planning documents state the facility would offer coaching and training and feature a shop selling and hiring out equipment. Slazenger has reported that it has already opened 10 facilities across England and Wales, and is now turning its attention towards Scotland, where plans for a similar venue have already been tabled for the Braehead Centre in Glasgow.