Premier Padel P1 has announced that Olympia will host the UK’s first elite professional padel tournament.

Taking place this summer from August 4-9, as part of the 2026 Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour, the landmark event will bring the world’s best players to Olympia’s Heritage Halls (managed by Olympia Events). This marks one of the first professional sports tournament to be staged at Olympia, following its redevelopment into a fully integrated global destination.

Backed by a multi-billion pound transformation, Olympia is being reimagined as a world-class destination for entertainment, culture, hospitality and business. Blending on-site hotels, dining, and evening entertainment with Padel’s premier sporting action, the newly transformed Olympia will provide audiences with a dynamic, all-day experience, where Padel sits alongside exceptional hospitality, culture and entertainment in one connected destination in the heart of London.

The tournament will be delivered by Sela in collaboration with Premier Padel, and with support from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

Stewart Hosford, CEO of Sela International, said: “Olympia stood out to us as the ideal venue to deliver Premier Padel P1 London. At Sela, we are focused on creating world-class experiences that sit at the intersection of sport, culture and entertainment, and Olympia’s transformation aligns directly with that ambition. The scale, heritage and connectivity of the venue, combined with the vision behind its redevelopment, give us the perfect platform to deliver this event in a way that reflects our global standards.”

Gareth Lloyd, business development director at Olympia Events, said: “Welcoming London Premier Padel P1 to our Heritage Halls for its UK debut marks a major milestone within Olympia’s wider £1.3 billion transformation, reinforcing our ambition to become a global destination for culture, live entertainment and innovation. This event allows us to showcase the scale and versatility of our world-class heritage halls while celebrating a defining moment in the sport’s professional growth and international expansion. With unrivalled connectivity in the heart of central London, Olympia provides the ideal stage for London Premier Padel P1 to bring together top players and fans from around the world, and we look forward to opening our doors to them this summer.”

New research from the LTA shows that padel participation in Britain has more than doubled in the last year, rising from an engaged audience of 400,000 in 2024 to 860,000 by the end of 2025.

The sport’s surge in popularity has been matched by a rapid expansion in facilities. By the end of 2025 there were 1,553 padel courts across 559 venues in Britain, compared with 870 courts at 293 venues in 2024, and just 69 courts when the LTA became the sport’s national governing body in 2020.