While there will be no shortage of action all across the U.S. padel map this month, it’s a safe bet that most eyes will be on Southern California given the confluence of padel activities taking place there in August, including:
- The second event of the 2026 Pro Padel League (PPL) season, which will take over the famed Barker Hangar in Los Angeles from August 13th - 16th and bring more than 50 of the world’s top pro padel players to the area for four days of team-based competition…
- A “Youth Development Day” co-hosted by the Los Angeles Padel Club (LAPC) and the L.A. Beat of the PPL, which will be held at LAPC on August 9th in the lead up to all the PPL festivities the following weekend…
- World-renowned padel coach and The Padel School Founder Sandy Farquharson embarking on a SoCal teaching tour with stops in L.A. at The Padel Courts August 15th and Padel Up August 16th, along with an extended San Diego stint August 19 - 23 at Padel N9NE…
- RacquetX hosting one of its City Series stops at FairBanks Ranch Country Club in Rancho Santa Fe, just north of San Diego on August 18th, and…
- Padel Up (which will be celebrating its two-year anniversary this month) not only hosting a PPL II competition in conjunction with the PPL’s second event, but also a USA Padel 250-level tournament August 22nd - 23rd and a grassroots, community-building tournament known as The Clash of the Clubs August 29th - 30th.
The Main Event
With this many different padel events going on in Southern California, it may be hard to pick and choose which ones to attend (I’m actually facing this dilemma myself), but it’s hard to argue against the PPL’s showcase event — and not just because of the level of competition that will be there but the actual venue it will be hosted in.
Built in 1954 at the Santa Monica Airport by Learjet founder Bill Lear, Barker Hangar eventually transitioned from a warehouse for private aviation manufacturing and engineering to an iconic 35,000-square-foot L.A. event and production venue that has hosted everything from the Critics’ Choice Awards and Billboard Music Awards to VIP events for the National Basketball Association (NBA) to countless charity galas.
(Oh, and it boasts incredibly lob-friendly, 43-foot-high ceilings to boot. So, let the globos reign — and rain!)
Of the PPL’s decision to host an event in L.A. and what it may mean for the sport’s future in the region, the PPL’s Head of Community & Communications, Will Persson tells me:
We’re elated to bring the Pro Padel League to Los Angeles for California’s only professional padel event of 2026.
Los Angeles is a racquet-sports haven with the international reach, cultural influence, and appetite for new experiences to become one of padel’s most important American markets.
Working alongside the clubs, operators, creators, and players leading that growth — and seeing the week extend through PPL II with activations across the city and a national broadcast on CNBC — has reinforced our conviction that Southern California will play a defining role in the sport’s future.
The Bigger Picture
While I certainly won’t argue with Will’s assessment of the SoCal padel scene, I might even go one step further and say that all of these events — plus the upcoming L.A. openings of clubs like Ballers and Bay Padel — will actually put the City of Angels squarely in the conversation about what will be U.S. padel’s “second city” after Miami along with other U.S.-padel strongholds like Austin, Chicago, Houston, and New York City.
One of the many people helping to build towards that goal is Andre Brown, the co-founder and CEO of Padel Up, which has both an indoor location in Culver City and a rooftop outdoor location in Century City.
Of the upcoming Clash of the Clubs event they are set to host (which will be powered by our Padel Nation preferred partners at Playbypoint) he tells me:
Clash of the Clubs is a tournament unlike any other, because the intention is not to focus on competition but rather to bring clubs and their communities together. Yes, there is a prize pot of $5000 and yes, there is competitive play — but the intention is for players to meet other players.
It’s meant to be a meeting of the minds and the forming of a panel of thought leaders in the padel space, while giving their communities the opportunity to meet other people in other cities. This is actually a community-building exercise for the clubs.
Brown further explains that the idea is to scale the concept and eventually take it beyond L.A., but the fact that grassroots initiatives like this are already taking place across the region makes me think that August is far from the last time that Southern California will be squarely in the U.S. padel spotlight.
Going to be in Southern California for the PPL or any of these other events? Drop me a line and maybe we can meet up — or even hop on court!
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