#218 The Business Behind America's Fastest-Growing Padel League - Luis Fernando Ramirez, CEO of NPL

Welcome to episode 218 of Sports Management Podcast. Today's guest is Luis Fernando Ramirez – the CEO of National Padel League  (NPL) We spoke about: Juggling being CEO of NFL with commercial responsibilities for Bull Padel Padel's potential in the US Challenges and opportunities for Padel The importance of digital broadcast and streaming And much more! Time stamps: 00:00 Intro 00:42  Why Luis rebuilt the NPL from scratch 02:10  The first version of the league — what was broken 04:03  How the NPL expanded to 42 cities 06:58  The business model behind the league 08:20  How Racket360 powers streaming + scoring 11:12  Creating the NPL pyramid: juniors → amateurs → pros 14:33  The partnership with USPA 16:48  Why amateurs are the key to U.S. padel's growth 18:26  Why padel is exploding in the U.S. (data + trends) 21:17  The long-term vision — becoming the MLS of padel 24:09  The future of pro padel in America 26:40  How to build sustainable leagues 29:55  Luis' advice for young sports professionals 35:00 Outro   Follow Sports Management Podcast on social media Instagram Twitter LinkedIn YouTube www.sportsmanagementpodcast.com