Humans of Padel
Join your host Max Marsh Pickard, General Manager of Padel Art & Co founder of The Padel Outlet in a weekly entertaining dive into the world of Padel and the people involved in the industry
Humans of Padel
Crafting the First Premier Padel Tournament in Dubai | Ivan Modia - Tournament Director
Buy tickets: http://www.dubaipremierpadel.ae
Ever wondered how to transition from managing football stars to spearheading major padel sports events in Dubai? Ivan Modia, our esteemed guest and the mastermind behind the Premier Padel event in Dubai, takes us on an intriguing journey through his diverse career in sports management. From his roots as a sports journalist to revolutionizing the Davis Cup format alongside Gerard Piqué, Ivan’s story is one of passion, innovation, and the relentless pursuit of excellence in the sporting world.
Planning a world-class padel tournament in a city known for its opulence comes with its unique challenges and rewards. We delve into the complexities of event logistics, from securing iconic venues like the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium to crafting a marketing strategy that resonates with the city’s dynamic audience. Learn how Ivan and his team creatively navigate the competitive event market, leveraging the sport's growing popularity and strategic collaborations with Dubai Tourism to ensure a successful and memorable tournament.
In the broader landscape of paddle sports, Ivan shares strategies for international expansion and the financial hurdles faced by players. His insights into building strong sports communities and his admiration for the human qualities of legendary athletes like Roger Federer and David Beckham enrich our understanding of what it takes to thrive in this industry. Whether you're a padel enthusiast or new to the sport, this episode promises a captivating look into the intricate world of sports management and the exciting future of padel on the global stage.
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Humans of Paddle. In this episode, I'm joined by Ivan Modia, the tournament director of the Premier Paddle that's happening in Dubai from the 3rd to the 10th of November 2024. It's a really interesting conversation. He shares some behind-the-scenes insight to organising such a huge event and also his previous experience of organising the Davis Cup, and many interesting anecdotes. Enjoy the episode. Ivan, thank you for taking the time to sit with me today. I'm excited to have you here and to get some insight from you about the upcoming event of the Premier Paddle that's happening here in Dubai on the 3rd of November. Let's talk a little bit about you. How did you become a tournament director?
Speaker 2:Well, first of all, thank you for having me, max. I mean, it's a pleasure to be here and connecting with the, with the paddle community here in dubai and uh, in general in the ua, because you know to have a lot of fans following you in the country. That we all know that. And look now my story. If I put it like in a summary, I I've been like all my all my life related to to sports. My dad was a professional basketball player. So, uh, back in the day in spain and uh, and I started like I wanted to be a sports journalist. I have a degree in journalism that I did in barcelona. I come from the northwest of spain, from galicia. Then I went to study in barcelona. I got my degree in sports journalism. I was a sports journalist, uh, beginning of the century, and then then I move on to being a football agent.
Speaker 2:I managed a number of football players back in the day from the older and the younger generation and in 2015. Any of the football players we know, the better known players I mean from the younger generation Christian Pulisic, who plays for Milan now. Victor Wanyama, played in the Champions League final with Tottenham. From the older ones Steven Pienaar, benny McCarthy. Okay, wow, some big names. Yeah, some decent players, yeah, nice. So that was a very demanding job. That is great that when you are younger and you have the energy, it's great to do it.
Speaker 2:But in 2015, I wanted to do a little turn in my career, just to evolve a little bit more in sports and entertainment. And well, in 2015, I wanted to do something in tennis. So I stopped and I said I played tennis when I was a kid and I said, ok, I want to do something in tennis. Who likes tennis like me, that has some access to money? So that was the first idea tennis, like me, that has some, uh, access to money. So that was the first idea.
Speaker 2:So I thought of gerard pique, who is a friend from 20 years ago, that when we were both living in england, uh, 2004, 5 and uh, and yeah, so listen, uh, gerard, I want to do something in tennis. I said, funnily enough, I've been thinking about tennis lately. Uh, we came up with an initial idea. I was crazy, he plays tennis. He used to take some lessons. Yeah, he's actually not bad. Yeah, and yeah, that's that's how we started a company that today is called cosmos, that by then it was not called cosmos. It was me and him just trying to do something crazy in tennis.
Speaker 2:So for the first 18 months we we battled, you know. We went to the ITF, we tried to get the rights for the Davis Cup. We failed. We did something else that actually worked. But then we went back to the ITF and we well, I think it's well known that we got the rights for 25 years for the Davis Cup finals.
Speaker 2:We did the change of the format and then I became the event director worldwide. So I was the COO of Cosmos Tennis that was the company and I was directing the Davis Cup Finals for seven years, with all the challenges, the COVID and all the things for the middle. And, yeah, in 2022 parted ways. I wanted to come and live here in Dubai. I was fortunate enough to see the growth of Padel, that how everything has become so crazy here about it to the levels of my country, in Spain, in many different ways, definitely in participation and engagement is getting there, if you analyze, like apples with apples, thanks to the support of Dubai Tourism and the UAPA. Well, we discussed and well, we decided to take the rights for the Premier Paddle P1 and we negotiated with Premier Paddle and here we are.
Speaker 1:And here we are. Wow, that is a lot to unpack. You have had literally all of my childhood dream jobs. I wanted to be a sports journalist, I wanted to be a sports agent, I mean organizing the Davis Cup. They sound like amazing jobs that you had, obviously, but I'm sure they all came with their challenges as well. Oh, a few. I want to touch a little bit on the Davis Cup because, you know, being obviously a tennis fan and most people who play paddle have some history and some love with, or hate with, the sport of tennis how was that experience of being involved in that amazing event?
Speaker 2:Well, it was an absolute roller coaster, just primarily when we tried to achieve the rights or get the rights. It was a long, long, long process. I mean I said like 18 to 24 months. Then, of course, in the middle the company didn't even have a name and we went out there like being new. In the middle, the company didn't even have a name and we went out there like being new in in the in the tennis world. No, we were not new in the sports world, but tennis is a different type of thing and, honestly speaking, we met along the way incredible individuals. I met the presidents of the 200 federations in the world. Uh, we went, loving around the world to incredible places. I went to, I don't know. I remember Rwanda, cancun. We went Budapest.
Speaker 1:Paraguay, so you have to bring all these federations together in order to organize Correct.
Speaker 2:Because we needed the acceptance. In order to get the project forward, we need the acceptance of two thirds of the associations. How it works in tennis is that in the ITF is that not one country is one boat, like with FIFA. So in tennis is like, depending on a different number of factors, it can go from 12 boats, 9 boats, 6 boats In one country, in one country. So the Grand Slams countries, they have 12 boats. So US, uk, and the only country that doesn't have a Grand Slam that actually has 12 is Germany. Okay, and Australia as well, and then there is a few nine-point countries. I don't know if it changed now. That was when we got it, but it was Spain, italy, argentina.
Speaker 2:So you're lobbying basically to these federations and countries for them to support your project, correct, you know, I think, when look, the initial idea of why we went for the Davis Cup and how we achieved it is because we really wanted to have that feeling of World Cup of tennis. We believe that the Davis Cup I think the initial feeling was that the final of the year before we started, was a great beat against Belgium of World Cup of Tennis. We believe that the the Davis Cup, I think the initial feeling was that the final of the year before we started was great beating against Belgium, I believe. And we thought, okay, if you're not British and you're not Belgian, you're not watching it. It's true. And because you know the big names didn't want to go, they had three sponsors.
Speaker 1:It was also for the players. The schedule of it was very hectic, so our first thing was talking for the players.
Speaker 2:The schedule of it was the schedule was very hectic, so our first thing was talking to the players. Okay, so who is the king of this show? Okay, we need to speak to the top players. So the top players need to participate. How do we achieve that? Okay, they asked.
Speaker 2:Clearly, so we cannot play four weekends in the year. It's difficult. Normally it's after Grand Slams. It's very heavy, we are traveling all the time, risk of injuries, all of that. And we change the surface Because sometimes you know you were playing an away match in clay after coming from hardcore I don't know where, or you play sometimes in grass, coming from clay, like this in 24 or 48 hours. So that was the first challenge, and the second and the second one, of course, is changing such a an iconic and historical competition into the five sets, into three. And all of that because that was another request from the players. Players were saying listen, the five setters are becoming too much. Again, we're traveling, risk of injury, etc. Etc. Etc. And we need to get paid because you know when we come, we play only for this. We need more money for the competition. And that's how we did it. I mean, we took the rides we took from three sponsors to 21. One year. The event in Madrid was amazing.
Speaker 1:And now it's the road to Malaga, isn't it? It's going to be in Malaga, now it's in.
Speaker 2:Malaga. I think it's in Malaga this year which is going to be again iconic, because it's the last dance of Rafa Nadal, right?
Speaker 1:Exactly Doubles with Alcaraz is the plan, I believe.
Speaker 2:It looks like that he feels competitive. He will do that. That's what he said. And and seeing it is there.
Speaker 1:I mean, Djokovic doesn't really want to back down to a challenge, so I think he might go for it. Yeah, no, he might go for it.
Speaker 2:You know, the thing is that the new format, like everything what we did, has pros and cons. The format needed a change. Then we were adjusting it just how to make it feel more friendly, like from the old school school days, like for local countries. So in the 2019 edition, what we did is everything in Madrid 18 teams, world Cup, like we thought the year after COVID hit. The year after we did it in in four different countries. We did it in Italy, austria, spain, because we wanted more local fans to be attending, and I think for next year they're changing it again.
Speaker 1:So that means I did some in Asia this year with the qualifiers as well. Yes, they did. As a fan of the sport, I mean, I'm not saying that just because you're here, but I like the new format because I feel the old format it used to lose a little bit of momentum, because you have a match and then there's a time and then you go back and you kind of, as a fan, you lose focus of it, right, whereas I like the way you mentioned about football as a World Cup. I like it all at the same time. It's a week of tennis. You get the momentum, you get involved and even though it's shorter matches, I think it benefits everybody.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I mean maybe you and I I don't know we look like from the same generation. It's fine. We can actually go through five set of matches without a problem. Younger generations this is a fact. I mean, the attention span is very low. So if you make them watch something that is lasting more than 30, 40 minutes, you have a problem attracting new audience, and that's a problem with tennis. So in tennis, they don't shorten the matches. I understand the nostalgia, I'm a nostalgic, I love the old school, I love it all, but I mean we cannot think only about ourselves, but more about how we promote the sport and how we reach everyone in order to have the younger generations to promote. Because look, look, paddle, paddle and tennis, right. So this is what is happening now. What is giving paddle that tennis is not giving? Access to younger generations is faster, exactly, yeah, it is faster to watch and to play.
Speaker 2:The learning curve is faster. That's a different type of ballgame, for sure.
Speaker 1:But it's interesting you mention it because that's also what Patrick Marottoglou was pushing for. With the UTS they created the new circuit, reduced, changing the format, time-based.
Speaker 2:Yeah, with Patrick. I mean we had conversations with Patrick back in the day I think it was in 2018 after we got the rights of the Davis Cup and we discussed UTS. We discussed UTS with Patrick. I think he's a bright individual who really has a love for the sport. He does it for the right reasons. Actually, we were not far actually from collaborating, but I mean, at that time, we had so much on our plate that we needed to focus on delivering those other items yeah, and speaking of a lot on your plate, we're talking about the premier paddle.
Speaker 1:I could talk about tennis for hours, but let's bring this back to the reason that we're both sitting on this couch today. So what does a day in the life of a tournament director of the premier paddle look like currently, two weeks before the event?
Speaker 2:First of all, I try to wake up in the morning with a smile, positive, and first of anything I check my phone, I check my emails, I check my messages there's thousands of them coming from left and right and just making sure that anything that looks urgent or can become a problem is sorted as soon as possible, that we have like a very important task in our hands and we we always say for perfection. Perfection is difficult to achieve, but if you concentrate on doing something well first thing in the morning, then you can get through the day solving certain issues. You see.
Speaker 1:So what would you prioritize? What would you say is a priority for you?
Speaker 2:For me, you know, in a sporting event racket sports, tennis and paddle the same, you know, I mean imagine, for Davis Cup in three countries. In my last year there I was in charge of 2,200 people for the event. So I mean there was a lot of people working. So just trying to keep track of everything is impossible, so you need to concentrate on what your directors are doing. So we're trying to give Premier Paddle Dubai, premier Paddle the flair of that. It's ambitious because, you know, I don't think paddle events are very used to be similar to tennis events in terms of quality. But we aim for that. We believe that Dubai should be the best paddle tournament in the world. I know it sounds kind of arrogant somehow, but we firmly believe. So we have the city, we have the tools, we have the government support, we have the paddle association support and with all of that you have to do a fantastic event.
Speaker 2:So I would say that first I try to catch up with my directors and see okay, what is the important matters for today? Where are we? But I always say that in a racket sport event, operations is who runs the show. So the operations department has to be on top of everyone, on top of your marketing, on top of your I don't know because activations partners, exhibition area, vip, anything. The operations team, they always have the last shot at everything because they have to execute for everyone, so they have like a more panoramic view of everything. So I would say that my operations well. Well, who is the event director as well? Uh, jaume farraz, former tennis player as well.
Speaker 1:so he will, he, he's always the guy who I normally, if I have to make one call, I, I call him first in the morning okay, and if we go back to the moment where you guys I don't know if you, if you bid for it or you got basically premier paddle in dubai, what's the first thing that you do? Do you choose the venue? Do you just do you celebrate? What's the first thing you do, like when you get?
Speaker 2:that contract. Now you have to get to work. You have to get to work just just bearing in mind that that our event is in november, this high season, in dubai. So the most important thing that you have to do in an event like ours, that is an international event, is securing the venue, because, uh, dubai is not, it doesn't have a lot of infrastructure for like international event like this. That has certain minimum requirements. Okay, so we have like a center court here for 5,000 people amazing venue that you have, by the way, amazing Dubai Duty Free.
Speaker 1:I love that venue. When the World Cup was here, it was two years ago, I think it was 22. Yeah, it was an amazing experience and I think that venue really lends itself well to sporting events. I think it's a great place and I'm excited that it's going to be there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that is correct. The Dubai Duty Free Training Stadium and Dubai Duty Free is also a partner of the event. I mean it's a fantastic venue, honestly speaking. It's one of a kind. They tell us also from Premier Padel Tour that I mean it's one of a kind because you don't only have the center court and then the secondary courts and then the practice courts and exhibition and the VIP Also compact. That is very workable, yeah, and also connects with the hotel, which is very unique. So you have the Jumeirah Crixa Hotel where all the players and the staff and everyone is staying at, and it's unique because, for example, in every event you need a transportation service. For us it's like it's unique because, for example, in every event you need a transportation service. For us it's quite limited. I mean you do the transportation from the airport to the venue.
Speaker 1:Which is five minutes anyway.
Speaker 2:Five minutes. It's around the corner. So I would say that, yes, that's securing the venue is number one and then just putting together the best possible team. I mean, without a top team is impossible to deliver this Impossible. I mean without a top team it's impossible to deliver this Impossible. I mean I could do like a thousand million events, but zero without my team. I mean you have to have a reliable team and a mixture of experienced people with young people. That's how it normally works better, because you know the younger ones. You know they normally are pushing the others and the experience will calm them down. But you know the younger ones. You know they normally are pushing the others and the experience will calm them down. But use the energy of the younger ones.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it must be a very stressful time. I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of loose ends that are not yet tied up and you're constantly putting out fires, aren't you, when it's this close to an event, especially that big. And a key part for that to you guys, obviously, is ticket sales. Right, you want to get the fans involved. You need to get people coming to the event. So how do you activate that, how do you get the community to know about that kind of event and make sure people buy tickets? Because there are a lot of events in Dubai that happen and they're a complete flop and no one shows up. Yeah, and that's, I mean, I guess that's your biggest fear, right, isn't it?
Speaker 2:always, always. I mean, I think you know our primary goal is that the stands look good and that we have the maximum amount of people possible Look lucky enough. We cannot complain because our ticket sales are going well. As you well said, here in Dubai the tendency or the trend is that normally for entertainment events not only sporting events, you know people normally buy like last minute because there's so much offer that, uh, that is very difficult to choose, and when you choose one, maybe, uh, you only take three days to choose one now. So in our case, uh, thanks to the boom of paddle, I would say we tested a little bit the waters in in may, we went out with an early bird that, you see, we put it out for six weeks.
Speaker 1:I bought tickets on the early bird.
Speaker 2:Well done For the final, but well done. Well done Because you know now there's some people asking us why I didn't buy tickets on the early bird, and the early bird worked really well, honestly, I mean not to the levels that events in Europe, because the customer is different in Europe than here, but on a very good level. And now, of course, you know we are pushing sales through different channels. I think we have an out-of-home campaign that is coming on Shadeside Road. For the last week We've been in metro stations. I'm talking externally, I'm here with you, so I'm doing some…. This will sell millions of tickets …likes, like, possibly trillions.
Speaker 1:My.
Speaker 2:DMs are going to explode with people asking for tickets. So I'm here, it's like also, I'm going to radio station tomorrow. And of course, we also all the social media. We have a marketing team. We have a creative team in house as well, which was my former creative team in the Davis Cup. Oh nice, you brought them with you. Yes, good job, yeah. Oh nice, she brought them with you. Yes, good job, yeah.
Speaker 2:So we created a story behind it. So we created this thing called the Pearl of Paddle, so the theme of our Dubai Premier Paddle. We wanted to run away a little bit more from Burj Khalifa and the Museum of the Future and we went back to the roots of Dubai, so the pearl diving and all of that. So the pearl became inside a shell and that's our logo. So if you see our logo, it's the ball of paddle inside a shell, which is a reminiscence of the wealth that came to Dubai in the beginning of this and so on. So that's why it's the discovery of the pearl of paddle. So we have a whole theme, creativity, always put behind it, because for us, this is just not a paddle event. This is something that it has to leave a legacy for Dubai and that's why we insist a lot with our partners. Some partners, honestly, we have rejected because they are not aligned on what is our vision in the mid-long term.
Speaker 2:Yes, of course it's our first edition, but we want to make sure that everything from grassroots to community to engagement with everything with everyone, is done with Premier Padel as well. So we don't want to be saying, oh well, these guys bring the international tournament and that's it. No, no, we are part of the community. You have it for multiple years. Yes, we have an initial period of three years.
Speaker 2:Okay, so we have the P1, as everyone knows, the P1. Well, everyone knows. No, I never say everyone knows. We're working on it. Yeah, most people know. It's like the P1 tournament would be an equivalent, if we talk tennis, at the ATP 1000. So it's a mandatory event. So the players, the best players in the world, so it's a mandatory event. So the players, the best players in the world, are obligated to play by contract, which is a question that I get a lot. So I get two questions a lot. Number one is who's going to play? So, okay, number one question all the top players in the world are mandated to play. I was about to say obligated, but it's not really obligated because no one's obligated to play, but by contract they have to play. And secondly, if Paquito Navarro will play on Tuesday or on Wednesday or on Thursday so you're not doing the scheduling Exactly or Ale Galán is going to play or Ariana Sanchez is going to play.
Speaker 2:The night session or the morning session, exactly. So when are you releasing the schedule? So just for all the fans out there, the schedule is released daily. So they decide on the schedule with the FIP, with the International Paddle Federation, they decide on the schedule of the day after the day before.
Speaker 1:So the FIP is controlling the day-to-day schedule. All the sport. You're not involved at all in that.
Speaker 2:I can give advice. I can give advice depending on the attendance or the fans, just to make it easier for people. If the people are working, they want to see their preferred players. But what it needs to be is consistent throughout the week because by rules and regulations of the FIP you need to give a certain amount of rest to the players. It's very measured. So, for example, if Tapia and Coelho are playing in the morning, then the day after if they have to play, they have to play in the morning because you have to give them the same rest okay.
Speaker 1:So this once it's kind of set in the beginning of the tournament, they will continue to play at the same price In the first rounds In the first rounds.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in the first rounds. For sure, because you know, I think main draw starts on the Tuesday the 5th, and it's the 5th and the 6th, so normally the people that play on the 5th and play on the 7th and the people that play on the 7th Ah that's a good one to know, but the tickets are for the whole day, right?
Speaker 1:Tickets for the whole day.
Speaker 2:That's something that we decided to give a lot of paddle to the people. Some other tournaments around the world. They are giving two sessions. They are chopping the ticket. We thought, no, I mean we give all the content for the day. We differentiated the venue into two areas. In racket sports the most difficult thing is to keep everybody in the venue with such a long journey. So in the first days the session starts at 10 o'clock in the morning. It could go until midnight, 1 o'clock, depending on how long the matches are. So how do you keep the maximum amount of time the people in the venue? So how you keep the maximum amount of time the people in the venue? We don't Two differentiated areas. Which is the external area with the exhibition booths, exhibition and activation booths and the local homegrown concepts for the F&B oh nice, so we're going to do it. Which is a free area because we want the maximum amount of people to drive it. So there's a lot of people that come into the Century Village and the Isles Village that they don't have a ticket.
Speaker 1:So they can access the commercial village. What do you call it? Exhibition Village, Exhibition Village, okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's something very nice, not only for the exhibitors, because they will get a bigger amount of people.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm happy about that because I'm one of the exhibitors with the Paddle Outlet. So do come see the Paddle Outlet at the Exhibition Village. Thank you for your trust.
Speaker 2:Let's see. So yeah, yeah, but so that's, we're going to drive more people. So we believe that when they smell what we are trying to do inside the courts, that will drive them not only just to engage more with the panel but also just maybe get another ticket and go into the court. So that's why one area is more family-oriented I would say this like more general public, family-oriented, but on purpose we created a VIP section which is going to be very high level, just behind the exhibition area that everyone that wants to go into the VIP has to cross that. And the VIP section is like more for adults, more business-oriented. You want to bring your clients, you want to have a nice evening there, we want to have some music and a little bit like in a tennis event.
Speaker 1:And you're also offering to the exhibitors a whole networking service to connect with other businesses, which I think is a great add-on that you're offering to the people who are exhibiting, because it is also an opportunity for them to connect and grow their business as well. You're not just looking at taking money from people, you're looking at also adding value?
Speaker 2:No, no, absolutely, and that's a very good point that you are raising. You know, because, as you can imagine, every decision that we take we benchmark a lot. We benchmark a lot. We understand what people are doing in Europe, we understand what people are doing in South America and how are other events that could be compared to us doing? And we want to offer extra value. There are two things that we try to do. One you mentioned already with exhibitors. We want them to feel that the money that they are paying is really worth. So, networking you're invited to the gala dinner mentioned already with exhibitors. We want them to feel that the money that they are paying is really worth. So, networking you're invited to the gala dinner. For example, there is I'm coming gala dinner on the jumeirah emirates tower uh hotel, where there will be the main stakeholders, hosted by shakespeare and the uapa and dubai economy and tourism, where we will have the maximum amount of players possible, depending on the resting times. Coming from Qatar, the players are going to be there.
Speaker 1:Yes, I'm so excited about. I did not know, I thought it'd just be one of those like stuffy things where you're like hello, yeah, nice to see you again. The players are going to be there.
Speaker 2:Yes, we'll try. We'll try to get as much as much players as possible. It's tricky because they're coming from Qatar, so we don't understand. You know, depending who plays on, who plays the final doesn't play the final, but yes, there are going to be players, for sure, and all the partners, exhibitors. So we want to do that, but not only that, also for the partners throughout the year, we want to create a program, a legacy program, so like create like three or four activations throughout the year that not only people think that they're joining us to be in a week of the event.
Speaker 2:We want to be in the calendar year. We want to be present. We want Dubai feeling that we are there all the time. So that's something that the networking, the feeling all together, that the people that when they go and see the booth, for example this is a thing that I've been very insistent. Okay, there is a benchmark. We mark the price in X amount of money we need to give this quality. It's going to be beautiful, not because you bought one, but I'm saying that it's going to look beautiful, but in full transparency.
Speaker 1:I mean, obviously, knowing a lot of the other vendors, quite a lot chose not to take it because they believed it was expensive and more expensive than it was, for example, in the past. Yeah, but if you're raising a price and you it's more expensive was before you must be adding extra value to that right and you're justifying that cost, correct?
Speaker 2:Maybe not only that, we are cheaper than in Europe. That's what the vendors don't know. True, it's cheaper than in Europe. I mean, I don't know. I can give you examples or not. Even official events Hexagon Cup in Madrid they're pricing a 75% more than us.
Speaker 1:Really, and there was no one there, no one.
Speaker 2:That was a bit of a no one and we will have like 20,000 people normally in the week. Yeah, I mean, there is a compensation for everything, there is a reason behind everything and we are. The thing is that I heard what you said, but I always tell to my team. I said don't worry, let's do this first event, let's show people the event that we're putting together and everyone on the 11th of November, when we finish this, everybody will understand why everything was that way.
Speaker 1:I don't think that's a great way to approach it. Do you still have booths available, if anybody wants to get one?
Speaker 2:It's closed.
Speaker 1:It's all sold out, all gone.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, I mean we closed. We decided to do like. I'll show you the surprise we decided to do something different with a Something different. No, I mean still with a more reduced amount of booths. Also, because we got a car sponsor, we needed to allocate a car and we're trying to do something on the activation side because we we felt that we were missing that point of interaction okay and so it's a surprise. Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 2:I mean I'm working on a couple of things as we speak yeah, but I mean something cool, because you have families, you have kids, you know they're working around, they want to, you want to keep them in that area and if they're walking around, you don't want them to go in one circle and be out in 10 seconds. You want them to keep them there and they will pay more attention to the Civitas.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, for example, in our booth. Obviously we're a retail store, right, so we want to sell and try and recover the money that we put into putting the booth. But we've also we partnership with Ubisoft and Just Dance. So, putting the booth, but we've also we partnership with ubisoft, so and just dance, nice, so we're going to have a just dance activation in our booth so people will come and they will dance with the products and have a chance to win for nintendo switch, which was kindly offered to us by ubisoft.
Speaker 2:So, like you said, we want to keep people in the booth keep people in the area.
Speaker 1:It creates content that can be used for the future, so it's not just about selling rackets you know like and it creates awareness.
Speaker 2:I mean that's a misconception about these events. When you go out there, you create awareness. I mean, this is the only event here in Dubai of this level, with this level of players, and I think if I had a business I would post related to Padella. I would be there, because you need to choose your chances. I mean every strategy, every company strategy, is respectable. I mean there's some people that choose and they would like to go and have I don't know, like a Volcan giant in the middle of Jumeirah Beach and people take a photo with that. Okay, fair play, it's doable, but I believe that we are creating something special. I think you can take 2022 World Champs as a reference, with a little upgrade.
Speaker 1:Actually, I did just want to touch on. You mentioned legacy activations that you're going to be doing throughout the year. Could you develop a little bit more on that, what they're going to be? Is it going to be with clubs, with schools, Like? What's the idea behind?
Speaker 2:that Look with our main partners for the event, because some of them have signed multi-year agreements. What we are doing is like we will try to go to different clubs here and bring kids to schools and use our Dubai Premier Paddle coaches and maybe, if a player is in town, just bring him to that and then do an activation where there's like a paddle clinic or something that is going to have participation yeah, have participation. And that we add because some of our partners, or most of our partners, or something that is going to have participation yeah, have participation. And that we add because some of our partners, or most of our partners, they really want to get in touch with the community. I give you a clear example Oisho.
Speaker 2:Oisho is a brand, a Spanish brand, that is from the Inditex group Semazara, and they are our clothing partner for more than one year and they are not a local company, but they want to be more present with the community. They were very insistent. They presented their training app last week here in Dubai and not in Madrid, Really yeah. So they presented it here in Alcoa, actually in a place called Canvas, and they really want to engage with the community. It was one of their ideas. I said, we want the kids to be wearing our Oisio T-shirts and then we show them, and then we go to different clubs in Dubai and then we want that proximity Max. We want that proximity. Sometimes, you know, people think that because we are doing an international sanction event, that you would be a little bit like this head up or not getting in touch with that. But in our team there's a lot of paddle players that play with the community or with some of us. Try I mean yourself.
Speaker 1:you play, right, you play paddle. Yeah, I play, I try, us try. I mean yourself you play.
Speaker 2:Right, you play paddle. Yeah, I play, I try, I try, I try, I try. No, but I play and I go to most. I've been to every club. They always ask me to which club do you go?
Speaker 2:Today I'm playing here in Padel Art, but I mean, we're lucky to have you, but I've been playing in most of the clubs in Dubai and it doesn't matter, because you know you always smell that atmosphere. It's my oasis of the day. When I go and play paddle, I finish the work. It doesn't matter how many problems I had in the office, how many hours I've spent that time in the evening. That I can be 90 minutes disconnected and playing paddle, that's something that I would recommend to anyone. That's the number one thing and number two. That's something that I would recommend to anyone. That's the number one thing and number two. That's something that we want to bring to the kids in this legacy program.
Speaker 1:Nice. I mean, it's all about the future generation, isn't it? It's correct. If you can get in contact with the kids, obviously it'll impact the parents as well, and there's a whole ecosystem there that you can then develop.
Speaker 2:So, from your perspective, obviously having quite a good perspective of different sporting venues around the world and having been to all the paddle clubs in Dubai, what makes a good paddle club to you? That's a very good question. I would say. For me, and this is a very personal opinion a good, a good club is number one. A good state of the courts, so good maintenance, good looking courts I don't mean fancy, like there's no, like chopped turf or anything like that Definitely, definitely, definitely, and I would say, even more important than the courts is the staff service. Staff, people smiling, you know I mean there's so much amazing people working in clubs. You know that people wake, you know, welcome you in the morning with morning and listen. This is going to be against my country, but sometimes I go to power clubs in Spain and together, good morning, you have to pay them for me five euros, it's. It's difficult here, you know, I don't say everywhere, but many places it's really a joy to go and ask for a smoothie Happens here.
Speaker 1:Those ladies are amazing. I mean, I want to use this opportunity to thank my reception team and all my staff, because they are what make the club have a soul and have a life. And also what I found interesting is they've fallen in love with the sport as well, which also gives them more enthusiasm, so they're not just here doing a job. Obviously it's a job. They wouldn't be here if they didn't get paid.
Speaker 1:Let's be honest but they enjoy the sport, they enjoy the game they play, they participate, they play matches and for me that's great to see because that helps me grow as well, and I think you touched on that as well with your team. There's a lot of paddle players, so it helps them understand what the business needs and how you can create a better event from a customer perspective when you also can play that sport yourself.
Speaker 2:It's so important. You know that sometimes I get asked the question so how do you hire people, right? I get asked the question many, many times and I said the thing that I look for a certain profile professionally speaking. But I always say that I look for a certain profile professional speaking. No-transcript. The most important thing when you hire people is hire good human beings, because those human beings are the ones that are going to make sure that you have a sustainable business.
Speaker 1:I agree with that. I mean, I do the same here. You can teach skills, but it's the soft skills that you can't teach Definitely.
Speaker 2:You know, it's like I'm coming back here because it's a perfect example. You know, the lady always knows that I like the same smoothie every time I come and then you say no, no, no, that's my time, I'm going to go and play. And they tell you, come and see me. It looks like small details, you know, but that sense of proximity with the people that are working in the clubs, it's paramount, paramount. So I would say that that's two important things. Then the third thing, which is a negative thing in some places.
Speaker 2:So you always have to say one negative or what not to do Don't overcrowd the clubs with courts, just be spacious. So, yes, I mean, sometimes you have a court like this very complicated, because it's not because we are Tapia or Galán and we're going to get outside after a portres and put it in. No, it's not because of that, it's because it gives that sensation of, you know, that the club is too restricted in mobility and I think that happens a lot in Spain, here less. And that's something that it creates a feeling when you open the door of the club. It creates a feeling that it's like oh, yeah, you want to play and leave.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I feel like the new generation of clubs that has recently opened, they've understood that a little bit more that you need to keep people in the club. Absolutely. You need them to stay and buy that smoothie and, you know, go to the shop, comfortable, working a little bit from there.
Speaker 2:and you want to offer that because if people just come play and leave, then there's another thing that you do here that actually, uh, that is, it's very positive. It's like how creative you can be to keep engaging the community without being repetitive, which is a complicated matter. So, okay, you know, one day, day you do mixed doubles and then B+ yes, but what do you do the day after? No. So how you wake up in the morning and you come up with new ideas to keep the people in the club. I think that's actually, if I was a club owner, that would be the most challenging part.
Speaker 1:But to let you in on an industry secret. Most of these ideas come from the players. Because we listen to our players. Someone might suggest oh, it would be nice if you did this, it'd be nice if we did one. We tried this and we're always like, yeah sure, let's try it. And we, we listen to people. You know we, we give them a voice. We often do surveys and we ask for interaction and what people think about the club and how we can improve, and we always try to implement them if it's feasible. You know some things are not possible. Someone asked for a retracting roof. Unfortunately that's not within the budget. But you know the more realistic things. We try as much as we can to implement them.
Speaker 2:It's a great community who likes to do things. It's very important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a very entrepreneurial industry. Probably in the UAE. There's a lot of people who you know have made money in other businesses and they've fallen in love with the sport. So it's very fast moving and there's always new stuff coming. I wanted to go back a little bit on your experience and what's the most memorable interaction that you've had with a professional athlete.
Speaker 2:I've had a few.
Speaker 1:I have to ask this question first. Actually have you met Roger Federer?
Speaker 2:Yes, I hate you, you know. Yes, yes, yes. Indian Wells, first time I saw him. I've seen him three, four times, but first time it was Indian Wells 2019, I would say I would yeah, 18, 18, 18. It was before we actually made it, so it was 18, 2018. Nice guy, what you see is what you get. Very polite, a true gentleman, honestly.
Speaker 1:And he spends a lot of time in Dubai. Yeah, I've seen. I know a lot of people who've bumped into him in restaurants, in tennis clubs, and I'm a huge Roger Federer fan. Since I've been a child, I've followed his entire career. I cried when he retired, but I've never come across him.
Speaker 2:So I always ask people who've been had these interactions with famous athletes. Have you met roger federer? And everyone says the same thing that he's amazing. So hopefully my time will come. Yeah, no for sure. Don't lose hope it will come.
Speaker 2:So, other than roger federer because I sorry, I got the three of them the three of them are fantastic people. You know like, like nadal djokovic, are incredible guys, also incredible guys. I mean really really respectful, really polite. I happen to just have less interactions with rafa because because he was always like in this last few years, more injured and he was coming less, but I mean we were building it up. He was in 2019 with that epic match that he won the davis cup, actually in madrid, and, uh, and with jokovic, lately we love Djokovic more in the latter stages, such a great guy with a positive mood and very good with the kids, very welcoming with any fan. I mean really with the biggest stars that I've met or celebrity athletes, I would say that in tennis, they've been the ones that impressed me the most how they are.
Speaker 2:And then there was another person. I always say that I was very impressed with David Beckham. I mean it's a guy who, honestly speaking, cannot do it better. And as a person outside cameras. I mean, I found him in two situations that was totally random. One of them when I was a football agent and I had a player in Real Madrid on trial and he was playing for Real Madrid back in the day and no player from Real Madrid stopped at the gate Sorry the gate. It was at the gate, sorry the gate. It was at the entrance of the building in the training ground was cold winter in madrid and the guy came with, I remember, with a starbucks cup. He stopped, asked the name of the kid what are you doing here? And said, okay, come with me, sat down with him on a couch. I said listen, this is what you should do in on trials. I started to give him a little, a little thing well, that's amazing, that's amazing that's a true human quality a lot.
Speaker 2:and then I met him again in a different environment, in a, in a presentation of of an event, and, and again a true nice person, very easy to talk to, not arrogant and very close to the people. So that's one that I would say that really, really impressed me and I met a few, not only on sport but also music.
Speaker 1:I'm sure you could do quite the name dropping of famous people that you do You're? Good at the cocktail parties. I used to be. I'm retired already. You're good at the cocktail parties. I used to be. I'm retired already.
Speaker 1:I know you're a busy man, so before we close this and I let you get back to your chaotic firefighting before the amazing event that's going to happen in Dubai, I wanted to ask you a last question, which is Paddle has come so far in the last four or five years, how do you think it will continue to grow?
Speaker 2:It's a great question. Again, I believe that Padel needs to do just a couple of things, I think, in terms of the international tour, in terms of the international tour, I think they, although there is some resistance sometimes, I think they should keep growing to other countries, to other continents. That's the only way that Padel is going to become bigger and bigger. I know it was nice for the players to have 10 tournaments in Spain and not move from home Great. But if you want padel to grow, you need to be in Australia, you need to be in I don't know Vietnam and you need to be in Finland and the day after you need to be in Canada. I know it's demanding, but every sport that wants to grow needs to grow gradually and to show that sport to the people.
Speaker 2:Look what's happening in India now it's booming again In the US. It's growing. They need to take advantage of that. That's number one. And number two they need to keep, through this promotion, growing in different countries, typical countries like Spain or Argentina. So those countries that are putting a lot of time behind it, like we start in Scandinavia. Mediterranean countries, here in the UAE fantastic job. Qatar itself, egypt, all these countries they need to keep growing and working on the grassroots countries. They need to keep growing and working on the grassroots. Those are the two things that padel need to do to grow, because we need to create more, more stars outside Spain and Argentina. That's what we're lacking, I think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree, but I think one of the biggest complaints from the players is also there's not enough prize money in the sport to cover these long trips. I mean, you're looking what was it they? In Paris? They got like 25 000 euros000 euros each, which is peanuts. Compared to other professional sports, even esports makes so much more money. I agree that I guess it will be a cycle, right as it goes international, more money will go into the sport.
Speaker 2:It's all related. I mean always the sponsors, the tickets, the television rights. They're not also at the level that you know because it makes me laugh. The tickets, the television rights, you know, they're not also at the level that you know because it makes me laugh. The comparison with tennis no, I don't know. The contract with the television contract for the US Open, I think it's $100 million. So well, yes, okay, you can pay a price, money of three, no, I guess. So I mean, but was the television contract with Premier Padel? Well, I think that would make the difference right.
Speaker 1:Do you actually know how much that is as a ballpark figure? I don't know?
Speaker 2:I really don't know. What I know is that 3-8 are in all the world, so you are in 180 countries on Red Bull TV and YouTube. So that's more or less your answer, right? Yeah, true, I think there's more of a cost than a revenue. No, definitely not. But because you need to show the sport to the world, in football or in basketball or in tennis, you can actually sell the rights. You can actually sell the rights and then you have a pay-per-view and then the pay-per-view is like a wheel, right? So boxing, all these type of things, paddling needs to grow. The only way to grow the sport is that you are seen around the world. You need to make it easy to be seen around the world and the only way to do it is to be free, to work to everyone. And, of course, you know you have the YouTube and Red Bull TV and us here, for Dubai, for example, we have been in sports.
Speaker 1:You also put it in analogic you have to be as much, as much visible as possible. Is there anything?
Speaker 2:that you want to touch on. Go back on only one more thing that I I would encourage people to look at something. You know that, uh, since we started organizing the event, there is one thing that I want to to to reply to many questions that I get from the event, but one of them that is very common. It's uh, it's more difficult to get the good tickets for the weekend and and all of that, maybe I'm shooting against myself, but, honestly speaking, if you want to see all the best players in the world, the field starts on 256 players with male and female right. So on tuesday and wednesday you have every player in the tournament playing and the tickets are 60 dirhams.
Speaker 2:It's not that it's unaffordable to go and watch the best in the world, so you can watch 20 matches or 30 matches if you want and see every player in the world. You go in the first days. I got this question the first time because there was a paquito navarro fan club that wanted to come from elsewhere. In 500 people say when is paquito playing? Listen, if you want to secure to see paquito, the best thing and the most affordable thing is that you want to see paquito. You get yourself a ticket for tuesday and a ticket for wednesday, and that's the most simple way to to secure that you're seeing Tapia, ariana Delphi or whoever is your favorite.
Speaker 1:Yeah because you're risking it right. If you take the last days, you might have lost. That's the thing.
Speaker 2:There's no guarantee if Paquito is being in the semifinal or the final, correct, and it will be the last tournament of Velasteguino. So here in the region, yeah as.
Speaker 1:As a fan of racquet sports and I always say this to people I genuinely prefer going in the first day or two, me too.
Speaker 2:It's very personal, it is very personal.
Speaker 1:You see more matches. The players are more relaxed, more access to a lot of things as well. You see practices.
Speaker 2:The last day or two I feel very corporate because it has to be at the end of the day, everything in the last few days becomes very robotic, more or less. Everything is very incredible, organized. Please follow this line. Please follow the line. You don't want people to collapse, you want people to circulate.
Speaker 2:But it's normally saturday, saturday, sunday, it's going to be sold out, or or near sold out, as I would say sold out. Then it's more complicated because you know, of course, yes, you get, you get incredible good level of of paddle, but you don't get as much content as you wanted. So it's a combination. I mean, you want to watch the final fantastic, because you're going to see the photo, you're going to be there, right, and sometimes, depending on who is playing, you can get a classic. So you remember that final that you know it was an amazing match. Okay, I was there. Okay, you can get that, but me. Okay, I was there. Okay, you can get that, but me, as a racket sports fan and a amateur player, I would love I I love to see the first days.
Speaker 2:Yeah, as a matter of fact, when you know, when there's less people in the venue just is the time that I get more chance to see more battle. Then after tuesday, everything becomes too crazy. Yeah, it gets a little bit too closed down.
Speaker 1:Then, ivan, I'll let you get back to your busy schedule. Thank you so much for taking the time and coming to chat with me. I really enjoyed it. I've learned so much from you. I look forward to sharing this and I look forward to seeing everybody who's listening to this at the Premier Paddle between the 3rd and the 10th of November in Dubai, duty Free.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, max, and don't forget to buy DubaiPremierPuddleae, and I look forward to seeing you all over there.
Speaker 1:I'll put a link down below for that. Thank you, ivan. Thank you so much.