Six franchise teams, a live player auction and a season-long title race bring franchise-style padel to the UK for the first time.
A new competition is about to change the shape of UK padel. The Icons Padel League (IPL), a franchise-style padel league built on entertainment first, will stage its debut season in Manchester this autumn, making it one of the biggest structural shifts padel in Britain has seen.
Modelled on the team-ownership and live-auction format behind the IPL cricket tournament, as well as football’s Kings League and Baller League, the Icons Padel League brings three ideas to UK padel for the very first time: team ownership, a televised player draft, and a season-long title race.
What Is the Icons Padel League?
The Icons Padel League is a new UK padel competition built around six founding franchise teams. Each squad is anchored by a top-ranked Padel Icon and a rising Padel Captain, with the remaining places filled live on stage during Auction Night, as franchise owners bid in real time to complete their rosters.
It’s part sport, part spectacle, and it’s aimed squarely at the audience padel has picked up over the last few years: viewers who want teams to follow, rivalries to invest in and content built for social media from day one.
Icons Padel League Auction & Season Dates
- Auction & Draft Night: September 2026, streamed live to IPL’s channels
- Season 1 kicks off: October 2026
- Format: Five weeks of group-stage matches, followed by two weeks of finals
- Grand Final: Ticketed, with a cash prize pool shared among the leading teams
Why Manchester?
Manchester has been named as the host city for Icons Padel League’s first season, reflecting the city’s growing padel scene and its status as one of the UK’s fastest-expanding markets for the sport. IPL has already flagged plans to expand into further UK cities in future seasons, with Manchester positioned as the proving ground for the format.
Live Streaming and Social-First Production
Every Icons Padel League match will stream live across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, produced in partnership with one of the UK’s largest TikTok agencies. The aim is to put every player’s match in front of a growing digital audience, week after week, rather than treating streaming as an afterthought.
Co-founder Wasim said the league has been built around content from the ground up, designed for social media and live streaming rather than added on after the fact, with the goal of making padel entertainment that any type of viewer can enjoy, not just existing players.
Franchise Owners and Players Wanted
Icons Padel League is currently recruiting its six founding franchise owners, alongside a shortlist of players competing for Padel Icon and Padel Captain places on each squad. Full team identities, venue details and fixtures are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Brands, venues and individuals interested in a commercial partnership with the league can get in touch via media@iconspadel.com or on Instagram and TikTok at @iconspadeluk.
Proper Padel will be following the Icons Padel League closely as team identities, venues and fixtures are confirmed. Stay tuned for updates.
Leave a Reply