As legend has it, the famous playwright Tennessee Williams once quipped, "America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland."
(No offense intended to our new padel friends in Northern Ohio!)
Similarly, when it comes to padel in the U.S. at the moment, there is Miami… and, well, everywhere else.
But with scores of new clubs opening month after month around the U.S., numerous metro areas around the country are start making a solid push to be padel's "second-" and even "third cities" here in the States.
Among the top contenders are:
Houston
Which is home to the first-ever padel courts/club in the U.S. (at the The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa)... a Pro Padel League franchise (the Volts)... and over a dozen padel clubs in the greater metro area, including the likes of iPadel Houston, Padel Country Club, Racket Social Club, and U-Padel, among others.
Los Angeles
L.A. is a sprawling metropolis with dozens of stunning private courts, as well as a half-dozen publicly accessible clubs from Pura Padel, Padel Up, The Padel Courts, Taktika, and South End Racquet and Health Center (which was one of the first clubs in the U.S. to offer padel courts).
It’s also got exciting new clubs on the horizon from the likes of Ballers, Bay Padel, and Los Angeles Padel Club (LAPC), which will also serve as the home of the city's Pro Padel League franchise, the Los Angeles Beat.
Denver
The Mile High City now offers six different places to play padel, ranging from semi-private clubs like the recently rebranded Denver Racquets Club... to a single court from Olympus Padel in downtown Denver at the new 9+CO development... to clubs like Racket Social Club, Parker Racquet Club, Smash Padel, and soon Padel Haus. And rumor has it several more clubs are currently in the works, too — including an eight court (five indoor, three outdoor) venue in a former brewery with 30-foot-high ceilings from ACE Padel that reportedly will open in the later half of 2026.
Philadelphia
The City of Brotherly Love has always been a legendary racquet-sports mecca. In fact, it’s one of the very few cities in the entire world (along with Boston, Chicago, London, Manchester, New York City, and Tuxedo Park, NY) where you can play both of the O.G. racquet sports of rackets and real (or court) tennis in addition to modern-day “lawn” tennis and squash.
To that list you can now add the squash-tennis hybrid of padel thanks to pioneering clubs like PADELphia (which was home to the first pop-up padel courts in the U.S.)... legendary private clubs like Merion Cricket Club and Philadelphia Cricket Club... and publicly accessible offerings from Viva Padel & Pickleball, Portres Sports Club, and Ballers. And given the sheer number of other private clubs with racquets programs in the greater Philadelphia area, you can bet more courts will be coming soon.
Chicago
The U.S.’s third-largest city and soon to be one of its largest padel meccas thanks to the pioneering padel clubs like Padel Clube… newcomers including Alma Padel, Union Padel Club, Cube Padel, and Proximo Padel… and private clubs like Saddle & Cycle Club — with many more on the way.
New York City
Given its sheer size and stature, it might be hard to imagine The Big Apple as ever being a “second city” in any way, shape, or form. But when it comes to padel, New York City faces an uphill battle given its exorbitant real-estate prices and general lack of suitable available locations.
That being said, New York City is home to two of the U.S.’s most prominent padel club chains in Reserve (which has two NYC outposts) and Padel Haus (which will soon have three). Add to this clubs like Padel&, Golden Point Padel, and the recently opened Mink Padel in Harlem, and you’ll see why New York City will likely at least always be part of the conversation.
Then, of course, there are California padel strongholds like San Diego and San Francisco… up-and-coming Texas hot spots like Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio… and still other potential padel tinder boxes like Atlanta, Boston, Orlando, and Washington D.C. that look like they could quickly — and easily — catch fire.
It’s anyone’s guess at this point. But given its deep history and roots with the sport, sheer number of citizens, relevant affluence, and large Latin population, for now my money is on Houston.
Agree? Disagree? Please feel free to weigh in on the following poll and/or in the comments below.
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