Victory Ground Tennis Club in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, has been warned it may be forced out of its home after a padel operator expressed interest in taking over its two courts at the Victory Sports Ground Complex. The club, which is 80 years old and has around 170 members, currently pays £4,000 a year in rent - but according to membership secretary Steve Daniel, the figure being discussed with the padel company represents a jump of roughly 500%, which the club says it simply cannot match. The facility's management, Victory Sports Ground CIC, confirmed to the BBC that talks with other prospective operators had taken place, though no final decision has been made.
This story will feel very familiar to anyone who has been watching what has happened to court space across Europe over the last three years. Padel's economics are just different. A padel court generates more revenue per hour than a tennis court in most club settings, operators are prepared to pay premium site rents, and planning authorities in many countries are relatively sympathetic to the enclosed glass structures. The result is that tennis clubs occupying good urban or peri-urban land are starting to face real commercial pressure - not from councils or developers, but from another racket sport.
Why padel operators can outbid tennis clubs#
The LTA's own research, cited in the BBC's report, found that 860,000 adults and juniors in the UK now play padel - more than double the figure from the previous year. That kind of growth rate attracts serious investment, and investors need courts. Unlike tennis, padel sessions are almost always sold as time slots in structured groups of four, which means predictable, high-turnover revenue. A site that generates a modest rental return for a community tennis club can become a genuinely profitable commercial operation for a padel operator. The maths is brutal but it is not complicated.
For the 170 members at Victory Ground, none of this is abstract. They have built something real - membership grew significantly after the pandemic - and they now face losing it to market forces rather than anything they did wrong.
What this means for the pre-owned padel market#
Every new padel court that opens - whether it displaces tennis or occupies fresh space - means a new cohort of players who need rackets. Padel rackets use a solid foam or EVA core with a carbon fibre or fibreglass face; there are no strings. Players tend to start with a mid-range all-round shape, then upgrade within 12 to 18 months once they understand their own playing style. That first racket almost always ends up in the second-hand market, which is exactly where EpicRackets comes in.
If you are in that cycle right now - either picking up a first racket or moving on from one that no longer suits your game - the pre-owned selection is genuinely the smarter place to start.
| Player stage | What to look for | Why pre-owned makes sense |
|---|---|---|
| Absolute beginner | Round or teardrop shape, medium-soft foam core | Lower financial risk while you work out your game |
| Club regular (6-12 months) | Teardrop or diamond shape, firmer core | Upgrade without paying new-stock prices |
| Competitive player | Diamond shape, full carbon face | Previous-season pro models at a fraction of RRP |
The Suffolk situation is unlikely to be the last of its kind. As padel operators scale up across the UK, Portugal, and Spain, the competition for court space will intensify. For players, the upside is more courts and a bigger second-hand gear market. For long-standing tennis clubs in the wrong postcode, the picture is considerably less comfortable. Worth keeping an eye on how Victory Sports Ground CIC makes its call - and whether the LTA steps in to help.
Read the original BBC report for the full account from Steve Daniel and the club.
