Eva Longoria was introduced to padel 15 years ago by her future husband, media executive José Bastón. “At his house, he had this weird little tennis court,” the actress says. It took her another 10 years to pick up a racket, but she is now “obsessed” with the sport that combines elements of tennis and squash.

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Longoria says she now always travels with two paddles. She has padel courts at her homes in Los Angeles, Mexico City and Marbella, Spain.

“It is fun for anybody, if you’re an expert, if you’re a novice, if you’ve never played before, if you’re really good, or you’re kind of good like me,” Longoria says during a phone interviewon a break from editing her second feature film, Netflix’s The Fifth Wheel, starring Kim Kardashian.

Padel is fast becoming the hottest trend among the celebrity luxury class. David Beckham, DJ Khaled, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jay-Z, and former NBA stars Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard have all been spotted on the courts. Comedian Andrew Schulz riffs about it on his podcast. Cristiano Ronaldo recently said he loved the game so much it was one of the reasons he was looking forward to retirement. 

WME has run one-day tournaments the past two years featuring sports and entertainment stars and sponsored by Tom Holland’s non-alcoholic beer brand, BERO. This year, Jay Shetty, Steve Aoki and Diplo were among the celebrity players. Holland told THR he stopped playing padel to avoid getting injured while filming The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day back to back, but he returned to the courts for his 2026 event. “Padel is one of my favorite sports,” Holland says. “I love playing it with my family. I love the social element of it.”

For Longoria, the padel passion goes beyond just playing. She has invested in a padel team, in addition to her stakes in soccer clubs Wrexham and Necaxa, as well as a Brooklyn pickleball team. In 2024, she became co-owner of the Eleven Eleven padel team that competes in the Hexagon Cup, an annual World Cup-style tournament held in Madrid. Other celebrity team owners include tennis player Andy Murray, boxer Anthony Joshua and soccer’s Sergio Agüero. British musician Stormzy is an investor in the London-based Paddle Social Club. The leading international pro tour, Premier Padel, is owned by Qatar Sports Investments, which also owns French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain.

Padel is attractive for its sociability and ease of learning. “I hate tennis,” says Longoria. “The court is too big, and I’m just chasing the ball.” A padel court is about half the size of a tennis court and surrounded by glass walls that can be used in play. The racket, called a pala, has no strings and is shorter and thicker than a tennis racket, resembling a beefier, perforated pickleball paddle.

The game was invented in 1969 by Enrique Corcuera in Acapulco, Mexico, because the tennis enthusiast did not have room at his home for a full-size tennis court. Padel, which is always played in pairs, expanded to Spain and Argentina in the 1970s. There are now 290 tournaments across 49 countries. But Spain remains the epicenter, with more than 17,000 courts; Italy is the only other country with 10,000.

The U.S. has roughly 1,000 courts, up from fewer than 30 in 2020, a number that is expected to hit 20,000 by 2030, according to the United States Padel Association. The Pro Padel League launched in 2023, and in 2025 Charlotte Hornets owner Rick Schnall led a $15 million Series A funding round.  

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“We are still in the top of the first inning of where padel is going to be at maturity in the U.S.,” league CEO Mike Dorfman says. “But from an attraction and momentum and cultural zeitgeist standpoint, there’s definitely a lot more familiarity around the sport.” Dorfman jokes that he spends much less time telling people how to pronounce padel (it is “paddle” and not “pa-DEL.”)

In 2018, there were fewer than 8 million padel players worldwide, but that figure had reached 35 million by the end of 2025, according to the International Padel Federation. Like other racket sports, accessibility and price point remain barriers, but among the well-heeled, padel is booming. Dorfman says he knows of multiple Hamptons summer home rentals that were contingent on converting the backyard tennis court to one for padel.

The latest report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association shows padel participation rates up 14.5 percent in the 12 months ending June 2026. It is the fastest growth among the 30 activities tracked by the SFIA — pickleball was 1.3 percent.

Luxury brands have awoken to the sport, too. Rolex did its first padel deal this year, sponsoring world No. 1 player Arturo Coello, a week after Swiss sneaker brand On signed the Spanish player for its first padel endorsement. The PPL inked a long-term deal with watchmaker Frédérique Constant. Prada and Lamborghini offer branded rackets for $2,500 and $800, respectively.

WME, which has a long history in tennis, launched a padel group in 2024 run by Daniel Dios, Hernan Auguste and Juan Acuna. Dios says many global brands had been taking a wait-and-see approach to padel, but the surge in interest has forced brands to reconsider.

Longoria can comfortably say she is good at padel now, after taking lessons at Nueva Alcantara Club and Puente Romano, home to one of Spain’s original padel clubs. Her schedule has prevented her from playing in Holland’s tournament the past two years, but she says she wants in: “I’m dying to play with him because he’s as obsessed with it as I am.”

This story appears in The Hollywood Reporter’s August 2026 Sports issue. Click here to read more.

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