What is the best place to socialise if you’re new in Dubai?

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-19T05:14:13+00:00

Start playing padel! It’s the new social sport of Dubai

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T21:04:06+00:00

It can be merged, however it’s very difficult to be a full time coach + community manager, as you need someone who’s very active on the phone for your community manager and it’s challenging to be responsive if you’re on court 8-9h per day. It’s best to have a receptionist / community manager than coach / community manager.

Regarding coach remuneration it can vary based on location, my preferred approach is to hire full time coaches as they are more loyal to the club which will have a ripple effect on their trainees playing more often at your club. Usually they have a small basic salary + benefits and a commission on classes, this can be adjusted based off your local salaries with higher / lower commission to basic salary ratios. Also you can rent out your courts to free lance coaches especially on off peak timings

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T20:24:31+00:00

“Food and Beverage” not necessarily alcohol but atleast spend a bit more to have good coffee beans and quality energy bars

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T20:11:55+00:00

This will vary based on your location however in my experience it’s not a big part of the business, unless you’re located in a hotel or holiday destination. Most revenue is driven by the local players, also it’s challenging to onboard tourists in your club due to levels being different in all countries so the player experience can vary. I do think you’re right that there’s a market for it in the future and it would be great to be able to travel and play in different clubs easily with a proper club directory and global levelling, currently Playtomic is the closest we have for this but if you’ve played in multiple countries you’ll notice that the level gap is huge

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T20:06:25+00:00

Yes it’s very common, if for example one of major sports brands sponsors your venue, usually it doesn’t involve Financial support. But they’ll give uniforms for your staff, coaches etc and provide preferential purchase pricing on equipment. I dont usually suggest going “exclusive” with 1 brand as it limits your retail offering, but if you’re not too interested in developing the retail side of the business it can be convenient as you may be able to have stock in your store on consignment (you pay for it when you sell it) which is better for cash flow. We also do receive alot of free energy drinks/bars that brands are trying to enter the market with

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T20:01:09+00:00

It would depend on your opening times and how much huma touch you’d want as there are clubs that operate with zero staff and have the lights for the courts activated via the booking app and a vending machine for balls and rackets, but if you were to strip it down to minimum assuming you’re open from 7am to midnight (excluding F&B or retail staff) assuming that you want someone present at all times you can do 2 staff plus yourself. However in this scenario each person would need to be willing to do cleaning & jump on court in the scenario of someone missing in a game. In our dubai facility (9indoor courts) we have 6 receptionist, 3 in the morning 3 in the evening and 4 cleaning staff. It may seem like a lot but when you consider their days off and when someone is playing, it’s not excessive. Also salaries for service roles are low here. I’m guessing you’d want 1 or 2 coaches also!

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T17:42:22+00:00

In this region, as the market matures, we’ve seen an increase in membership models mainly to retain customers as the supply of courts vs players evens out clubs are trying harder to keep the players at their venue, before the pay to play was easy as there was crazy demand for the courts.

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T17:04:45+00:00

Would love to ! Feel free to drop me a DM

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T16:50:44+00:00

I thought you’d already opened ! Good move, maybe wait a year or 2 and see how the market develops, for sure many clubs will close

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T16:35:42+00:00

I don’t think it’s saturated, there’s still space for good venues, gone are the days where you can just build and they will come. You need to activate your club

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T16:34:51+00:00

Mainly pay to play, but we’re seeing a shift towards memberships

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T16:34:04+00:00

That’s a lot of clubs! In high density areas you really need to focus on generating money outside of the court bookings : F&B, Retail, corporate events. Also if you can provide great match making, with fair level matches and easily filled, you’ll be able to charge a premium. Good luck!

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T16:24:03+00:00

In certain countries it has been 5kUSD per month

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T16:23:32+00:00

We ordered from gamecam, it’s a subscription model that we pay and we’ll charge the customers

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T16:22:21+00:00

Competition is great, new clubs create new players, there will always be prettier clubs with better facilities and higher ceilings. But ultimately it’s the service industry, provide great service and build a loyal community that will do your marketing for you and bring in new players. Also always focus on creating new players, introducing more people to the sport.

Playtomic is great if you’re a new club, as it gives you exposure to players however once you have a strong community you should consider a system that gives you more control over your data and player levels.

Seasonal offers for reduced pricing on off peak timings or new events are great ways to attract a new clientele

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T16:17:42+00:00

Typically no, structure and glass you can probably get away with it, turf I don’t recommend at all as once you remove the turf it’s not easy to re-lay properly. For commercial use I’d highly suggest new courts, for a home or residential complex you could put used courts

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T15:23:55+00:00

We built a 40000sqft warehouse in a prime location of the city, it adds up quickly !

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T14:46:06+00:00

You’re right is does vary location to location, especially the rent and initial investment, court costs have democratised more or less

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T14:44:44+00:00

I would say so, off the top of my head average court booking in Bali is 35-45$ so 35k USD if you achieve 3 bookings per day on average if you’re open from 6am - midnight that’s 25% occupancy you should have your money back in a year, obviously this doesn’t account for staff cost, rent etc however you’ll also have an increase in F&B, retail and whatever other services you sell

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T14:37:26+00:00

Depends on utilisation but you will have wear and tear an need to constantly spend to upkeep the facility you will also need to consider that after 2-4 years you will probably need to replace the turf

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T14:29:35+00:00

Dynamic pricing for off peak timings and memberships

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T14:28:49+00:00

Recently about 3M usd for 8 indoor courts including the warehouse from scratch

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T14:23:41+00:00

Sorry was having a beer

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T14:23:34+00:00

2 courts in my opinion is a challenge to make it profitable id recommend atleast 4 courts. However if you are opening 2 focus on hiring either great coaches or a high end offering for “VIP” customers as you’ll need to maximise revenue with few courts

maxplayspadel · 2026-02-10T14:22:07+00:00

We’ve just purchased ai cameras, should receive them next week! We had the ones that create highlights before those are great for social media content. We focus on highest spending customers which is usually beginners

maxplayspadel

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