As reported by Open4Business, September 6 in Kyiv Innovation Park UNIT.City the first all-Ukrainian conference Ukrainian Padel Expo took place. Its central theme was padel - its development in Ukraine, prospects for popularization, formation of club infrastructure, business opportunities, investments, working with the audience, technologies and turning the sport into an accessible activity for a wide range of people.
The organizers of the event were Ukrainian Padel Federation, Sport Business Media Agency and innovation park UNIT.City. The event was attended by almost 750 participants.
The sports partner of the event was Barto Padel Space. This is a modern padel club in the center of Dnipro, opened in May 2026. The territory of Barto Padel Space also includes a stylish bar and a specialized store where you can find everything you need for playing and relaxing.
Biopell became a health partner of the Ukrainian Padel Expo - it is a systematic approach to energy, recovery, focus and longevity through peptide therapy, modern biohacking and personal protocols under the supervision of a doctor. Recently, the company launched the BIOPELL PADEL CLUB - a community of people who play padel, move and stay one step ahead.
System developer RIEL became the exhibitor partner of the event, which presented its new residential complex Sister, which provides sports infrastructure. Its architectural feature is a multi-story building with an emphasis on low-rise, which creates a cozy atmosphere of privacy.
Guests were treated to: sparkling partner Serena 1881, VIP-Lounge partner Eurasia and coffee partner Sky Coffee.
Olexii Dniprov, president of the Ukrainian Padel Federation, spoke first. At the beginning of his speech, he conveyed greetings from the president of the International Padel Federation Luigi Carraro to the audience and read his address.
Olexii Dniprov invited the audience to talk about the future of padel and how to build a trend today that will give results in the future. During the speech, he announced the creation of the Ukrainian Padel Club League. All clubs signed a declaration on its creation. This became part of the strategic vision of the Ukrainian Padel Federation until 2030.
It was attended by Vadim Gutzait(NOC of Ukraine), Andrii Vitrenko (Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine), Vasyl Prodan (Ukrainian Padel Federation), Ilya Shevlyak(Sports Committee of Ukraine), Anton Nikulin (Sports Office of Lviv City Council). The moderator was Olexii Braga (Sport Business Media Agency).Vadim Gutzeit called padel a sport that unites people. He said that in 2027, the European Games will be held in Istanbul, where padel will be presented as a non-Olympic sport. According to him, this is a sport that is rapidly developing in the world and will be included in the competitions. Mr. Gutzeit said that he considers it possible that padel could become an Olympic sport in 2032.
Anton Nikulin talked about the great prospects and ambitious plans for the development of padel in Lviv. Ilya Shevlyak called the speed of development of padel not just a trend, but the result of the work of fans who love it. According to him, this is also the result of the work of the sports team in the federations with clear goals and priorities.
Andriy Vitrenko said that padel will be promoted for registration as part of the Side by Side project for holding competitions among schoolchildren and students. It is also planned to try to organize access to courts for young people.
And Vasyl Prodan talked about the level of development of padel in Ukraine. He noted that it is now difficult to develop, invest in and promote a sport during a war. According to him, padel in Ukraine is at a stage of development, and the country's results compared to countries where there is peace and a better economic situation are quite good.
Padel as a business environment
A separate panel discussion was devoted to the topic "Padel as a business environment: why sport enters people's lives".
Valery Shamotiy (Bartolomeo), Yevhen Mushkin (VDNG), Anton Ivanov (Kharkiv FC), Oleksandr Denisov (Polyssia FC), Vitaly Lubinets (Win Win Club) took part in it. The moderator was Vladislav Antipov, (CERN).
Valery Shamotii noted that padel is a component of a large business system and a continuation of the goal related to a healthy body and a healthy spirit. According to him, it is very important in modern conditions, that is why spaces are created where people can play, including padel.
Vitaly Lubinets emphasized that business is about relationships between people. Padel, he says, helps uncover those relationships beyond business processes. Yugen Mushkin talked about the development of the VDNG cultural and educational park and the system of interconnected public spaces. According to him, most of the content on VDNG is created by partners. And padel occupies an important place in one of the key clusters - sports.
Olexandr Denisov said that padel gives emotions and a certain rest to the players of FC Polissia. At the same time, according to him, football players need to support their bodies after training and playing football, so they need a sports load that allows them to rest at the same time. In addition, the president of FC Polissia, Gennady Butkevich, built a court at the base of the club and can play on it against the head coach or football players. Oleksandr Denisov also called padel a sport that is a community and has an easy entrance threshold for anyone. After all, here you can fight on an equal footing and try to play with anyone. For the soccer environment, padel, he says, is a very good substitute for golf, which has long been considered an alternative for spending free time. He called networking another important advantage of padel.
Anton Ivanov noted that his club and team also actively started playing padel. Top management is gradually involved in this. The academy also actively plays padel. FC "Kharkiv" plays UPL home matches on the left bank of the capital, where, in fact, the team's representatives play padel. According to Anton, through padel the club also creates communication with the target audience, which it involves in cheering for football players during their official matches.
Sport as a territory for building a brand
Next was the speech "Sport as a territory for building a brand", during which Boris Tsomaya (RIEL) talked about how padel is integrated into developer's projects.
He noted that the construction industry generally does not consider sponsorship packages. Apartments are for sale, but much less. Marketing budgets are being cut. Under such conditions, according to Boris, padel has a great future. He suggested taking into account the experience of other sports and using non-standard thinking. According to him, the potential of padel is very great. The sport is starting to become social and accessible. Padel is easier, simpler and more interesting to play than many other team sports.
Padel as an investment product
The topic "Padel as an investment product: how to build a profitable club in Ukraine" was presented by Vasyl Kafidov (Zalizko Sport). He noted that it would be good to invest in this direction in the next 2-3 years. Vasyl also spoke about the construction of clubs and courts and the possibility of making money from them.
Vasyl paid special attention to the feasibility of building clubs in certain locations, and also emphasized the peculiarities of the operation of buildings and courts. According to the speaker, a club with 3-4 courts can have a profit of 2-3 million hryvnias.
Padel clubs in Ukraine
Next was the panel discussion "Padel clubs in Ukraine". It was attended by Ilya Kaufman (Beat Padel Club), Nadia Garmash (RSP), Titus Krylyuk (Padel Baza), Maksim Bibikov (Club UZH, Smash, LEV Padel, Karpaty, Arena Padel Club), Lesya Sedova (X Padel), Marta Martyniuk (ARKAN Arena). The discussion was moderated by Olesya Nikolenko (Ukrainian Padel Federation).
Ilya Kaufman talked about the club in the center of Odessa. He noted that the most important thing in the club is the location and service, as well as additional things that can be offered to customers. According to him, the padel club in this case is like an office where you can do sports and work at the same time.
Nadia Garmash spoke about the recognition of her club, the creation of a system of clubs and systematic development. She also emphasized accessibility for people and the importance of sincerity and politeness of the staff.
Titus Krylyuk shared news about a unique case for Ukraine - the opening of a branch of the academy of Gustavo Prato, coach of the strongest couple in the world of padel (Augustin Tapia/Arturo Coelho). The goal of the project is to bring coaching in Ukraine to a new level. It is about the opportunity to train with different coaches, but at the same time understand the general system of development. The idea is to have international experts teach us and our coaches how to do it.
Maxim Bibikov highlighted the work of clubs under various brands in western Ukraine. According to him, there is no single name, but the team tries to make everything as similar as possible. Lesya Sedova mentioned the friendship between the clubs and joint projects. According to her, the clubs do not perceive each other as competitors. It is about joint development and joint growth. She also mentioned about holding big tournaments in the club, successful experience and organization of such events.
Marta Martyniuk talked about the next big tournament in Ivano-Frankivsk, which will be held in October. According to her, there were many requirements and the team met all these requirements and volunteered to host the tournament. She also emphasized that it is important that in the west of Ukraine and in general there are great clubs that can hold thousands of tournaments not only in Kyiv.
Technology and accessibility of padel
A separate speech "How technology helps players find each other: the case of DropBall" was conducted by Olexandr Nikonov in Q&A format.
During the conversation with Oleksiy Braga (Sport Business Media Agency) it was about a special application for padel. DropBall is a large ecosystem that connects players, clubs, federations and coaches.
According to Oleksandr, CRM DropBall allows you to get the most up-to-date analytics on the club's work. And DropBall players, in particular, offer the opportunity to find opponents of the right level of training.
There was also a presentation "How to make padel accessible to a wide audience", which was presented by Andriy Rebrina (Mass Sports Agency of Ukraine). Andriy started by being a little late because he was playing padel.
Currently, he and the Agency are trying to develop mechanisms that will make padel a mass sport.
Today, according to Andrii Rebryna, the main challenge for padel is to make it accessible to a wider audience. There are still not enough courts, opportunities to play are limited in many cities, and there is no obvious entry route to the sport for beginners. Added to this is the perception of padel as an expensive or exclusively fashionable form of active recreation. Therefore, the future of padel depends not only on its popularity, but also on accessibility.
The topic "How to get 1000+ customers through social networks and make the audience fall in love with your business" was presented by Olexii Aletynskyi (33padel). The speech was devoted to the eight main reactions to think about when working with social networks, including those dedicated to padel.
Stable views begin with systematic work with content. Oleksiy emphasized that it is important to regularly publish materials on platforms that can provide organic, free traffic, and to make content that really benefits the audience - to provide knowledge, answers and interesting information. It is not necessary to invent a new format every time. It is worth analyzing the scenarios that have already shown results and adapting them to your own topic.
Padel as a hobby
The final panel discussion was the topic "Padel as a hobby". It was attended by Stanislav Horuna (Ukrainian Karate Federation), Oleg Zahorodnyi – theater and film actor, Yugen Komarov (gastro-lawyer), Stanislav Mospan (FC "Phantom"). The moderator was Andrii Kovalskyi (ICTV).
The star participants shared their stories of entry into padel, told what they like about this game and why they can recommend padel to others.
Stanislav Horuna humorously complained that he was dragged into padel by force, however, he has absolutely no regrets about this new sport experience.
Yevgen Komarov noted that he got into padel already having experience playing big tennis. According to his feelings, tennis skills help a lot to easily enter a new sport - padel.
Stanislav Mospan said that a year ago he was invited to play padel by football player Pylyp Budkivskyi. For Stanislav, the first game of padel became decisive for his great liking for this game.
Oleg Zahorodnyi also came to padel training at the invitation of a friend and tried himself in padel for the first time at a media tournament. Later, Oleg, according to him, felt the excitement and even started working out with a coach.
Exhibits and finals of the championship of Ukraine
At the same time, outdoor and indoor expos were running, where guests could familiarize themselves with the activities of the event's partner brands, try padel equipment and have fun in an informal atmosphere. All those willing had the opportunity to play on the open street court, as well as take part in raffles and contests from partners.
On the indoor padel court UNIT.City the final matches of the Ukrainian padel championship took place. Live broadcast of the finals was organized on Kyivstar TV.
Interfax-Ukraine and Open4Business acted as event partners
