The website of the Czech Padel Federation looks like a brand yearbook. Air Bank, Kaufland, CUPRA, Powerade. None of those companies invented padel, yet all of them want to be seen on it. These brands are not buying sport. They are buying its relevance.
The federation reports 80 courts in 26 locations and expects their number to double over the spring and reach around 200 by the end of 2026.
“If I see any hype after all those beige pilates studios, it is padel,” wrote on LinkedIn brand consultant Kristýna Halouzková, who appears as The Brand Gardener. In doing so she described the principle by which brands turn hype into business: borrowed relevance.
Borrowed relevance and the case of Levi’s
Borrowed relevance is not a new idea. In advertising it is called borrowed interest, linking a brand to something that already has attention. It works only under one condition. Bnbranding, a studio focused on brand building, sums it up: “The key to using borrowed interest successfully is relevance. Whatever idea you’re borrowing from better be relevant to your business category.” Without a link to your own category, it is an expensive detour.
A textbook example came from Levi’s in spring 2024. When Beyoncé released the song “Levii’s Jeans”, a duet with Post Malone, on her album Cowboy Carter, the brand’s shares jumped 20% in early April. CEO Michelle Gass called the song “proof point” and said that “denim is having a moment and the Levi’s brand is having a powerful moment around the world”. Levi’s changed its Instagram handle to “Levii’s” to match the song.
The moment did not fade. In September 2024 Levi’s launched the Reiimagine campaign, in which Beyoncé replays the brand’s classic ads, including “Launderette” from 1985. In the first 48 hours the campaign generated $5 million in Media Impact Value. Beyoncé wrote the song herself, on her own initiative. Levi’s simply spotted someone else’s cultural moment in time and attached itself to it.
Padel as a market with affluent audiences
Padel is currently the most visible rising trend a brand can attach itself to. According to the Global Padel Report 2026 from Playtomic, there are 58,300 courts worldwide, nearly 20,000 clubs and 19.4 million players, and by 2028 the number of courts is set to rise to 91,000.
Growth is concentrated in Europe. At the end of 2024 the continent and Britain had around 44,000 of the then roughly 50,000 courts, and in a single year 7,187 were added. Players also stick around. According to the source, 92% of those who try padel return to it.
Brands, however, pay for an audience that gathers at the courts. After the final of the US Pro Padel League was broadcast on CNBC, the viewer base proved to be “the most affluent audience in sports”, ahead of Wimbledon and Formula 1. Money is flowing into the league as a result. In March 2026 it raised a Series A of $15 million, led by Rick Schnall, co-owner of the Charlotte Hornets.
The teams are owned by Daddy Yankee, Carmelo Anthony and tennis player Frances Tiafoe, and fans include Rafael Nadal, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. Swiss watchmaker Frédérique Constant chose padel for its very first sports sponsorship, aiming through it at the 25 to 35 age group. “We want people to grow up in our brand. Padel is the future,” the Yahoo Finance report quotes.
Padel in the Czech Republic and its corporate sponsors
The same logic is playing out in Czechia, just one step earlier. Padel is newer there, and therefore more valuable to whoever arrives early. The federation has around 1,200 registered members, and tens of thousands of people play recreationally.
And companies are already there. The logos of Air Bank, Kaufland, CUPRA and Powerade line the federation’s website as its partners. A bank, a retail chain, a car maker and a drinks brand have nothing to do with rackets and balls, yet all four want to be present in a growing, young and affluent community that they did not create themselves.
The ceiling of borrowed relevance
Borrowed relevance has a ceiling, and Halouzková herself points this out. “Of course it has to make sense within your target audience,” she writes in her post.
Padel suits brands with an urban, visually oriented and affluent audience, such as fashion, wellness, finance or car makers. Halouzková describes padel as a sport with a strong aesthetic, one that is social and looks good on social networks. A company outside this overlap will pay for a tournament with a DJ and a signature drink that its audience will never connect with its brand.
Padel offers brands what Levi’s got from Beyoncé: ready-made attention for which they would otherwise pay years of building. When a brand joins in early and credibly, it buys relevance more cheaply than if it created it from scratch. Without a connection to its own category, it pays only for the backdrop.
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