Different Universe: Padel vs Tennis Prize Money in 2026

June 2026 · Business of Sport · Padel vs Tennis

Last weekend, Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia won the Italy Major in Rome — one of the biggest events on the Premier Padel circuit. They battled through five matches in 38-degree heat at the Foro Italico, beat the world number 3 pair in a tight final, and lifted the trophy in front of 9,000 fans.

Each player took home €47,250.

The same weekend, Alexander Zverev won Roland Garros. He took home €2,800,000.

That is not a typo. One sport, one player, one tournament: nearly 60 times more than the best pair in padel earned together. We ran the numbers — and the picture they paint is both striking and, for padel, full of opportunity.

The Numbers, Side by Side

To understand the gap properly, you need to look at it across every level — not just the top prize, but what players at every round take home. This is where the difference becomes truly structural.

The gap is not just at the top — it is crushing at every level. A player who loses in the first round of Roland Garros earns €87,000. A padel player who loses in the first round of a Major earns €984. That is nearly 90 times less, for a player who is among the best 50 in the world at their sport.

How Do the Tournaments Compare?

What Does a Top Padel Player Actually Earn?

In 2024 — the most complete data we have — the highest-earning padel players on the circuit were Coello and Tapia themselves, each taking home €475,375 in prize money for the entire year. That is a significant income, but it is what Zverev earned for reaching the semi-finals of a single Grand Slam.

Outside the very top, the numbers are even more sobering. A padel player ranked around number 16 in the world earned around €76,000 in prize money in 2024 for the full season. That number does not account for travel, coaching, physio, or equipment costs — all of which come out of the player's pocket. After expenses, many players ranked inside the top 50 in the world are effectively breaking even or operating at a loss from prize money alone, depending entirely on sponsorship deals to sustain their careers.

Why Is the Gap So Large?

The answer is structural, not a judgement on the quality of the sport. Three things explain most of the gap:

Television rights. Roland Garros alone generates hundreds of millions in broadcasting revenue. Premier Padel is still building its media footprint — rights deals exist, but the scale is incomparable. A Grand Slam's two-week broadcast deal can fund an entire padel circuit for a year.

Age and history. Wimbledon first awarded prize money in 1968. The US Open has been running since 1881. Premier Padel launched in 2022. Tennis has had a century to build its commercial infrastructure; padel has had four years.

Total prize pool scale. The Roland Garros 2026 total prize fund is €61.7 million. The entire Premier Padel Major prize fund — for one event — is €525,000. That is the difference between a multi-billion euro institution and a sport that is, commercially speaking, still a startup.

The Good News: Padel Is Moving Fast

The gap is real — but the direction of travel matters more than the current position. The Italy Major 2026 total prize pool was €1,044,849 — the first time a Premier Padel event has broken the million-euro barrier. That is a doubling in four years. Prize money at the top level is growing, and the structural ingredients for continued growth are all in place: new markets opening (the US, Indonesia, India), major sponsorships arriving, and broadcast deals being negotiated at scale for the first time.

Padel is following a path that tennis walked over decades, but it is walking it faster. The sport that went from 4 million to 19 million players in six years is not going to stay at these prize money levels for long. The question is not whether padel will close the gap with tennis — it is how quickly.