--- title: "Marcos del Pilar, Pro Padel League | CourtSide | TopSpin Digital" description: "Marcos del Pilar on building padel in America, why the business model comes before the courts, and his 2030 projection for the sport." lang: en-US json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "name": "TopSpin Digital", "url": "https://topspindigital.co", "logo": "https://topspindigital.co/__l5e/assets-v1/950004f0-86d1-4cda-a0d6-27967e4b0537/topspin-logo-light.webp", "telephone": "+17208970448", "description": "Racquet sports marketing agency serving tennis, pickleball, padel, and platform tennis coaches, clubs, and facilities.", "parentOrganization": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "HEARD Digital Marketing", "url": "https://heardmarketing.io" }, "sameAs": [ "https://facebook.com/topspindigital", "https://www.instagram.com/topspindigitalco/", "https://linkedin.com/company/topspindigital" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://topspindigital.co/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Courtside", "item": "https://topspindigital.co/courtside" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ep", "item": "https://topspindigital.co/courtside/ep" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Marcos Del Pilar", "item": "https://topspindigital.co/courtside/ep/marcos-del-pilar" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "PodcastEpisode", "name": "Marcos del Pilar, Pro Padel League", "episodeNumber": 10, "datePublished": "2026-09-21", "description": "Marcos del Pilar on building padel in America, why the business model comes before the courts, and his 2030 projection for the sport.", "url": "https://topspindigital.co/courtside/ep/marcos-del-pilar", "image": "https://topspindigital.co/courtside/og/marcos-del-pilar.jpg", "inLanguage": "en-US", "partOfSeries": { "@type": "PodcastSeries", "name": "CourtSide", "url": "https://topspindigital.co/courtside" }, "associatedMedia": { "@type": "MediaObject", "contentUrl": "https://youtu.be/F9PRk4XbLEk" }, "actor": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcos del Pilar", "jobTitle": "Padel Educator and Co-Founder", "worksFor": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Pro Padel League" } }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Evan Dechtman" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "TopSpin Digital", "url": "https://topspindigital.co" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://topspindigital.co/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "CourtSide", "item": "https://topspindigital.co/courtside" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Marcos del Pilar, Pro Padel League", "item": "https://topspindigital.co/courtside/ep/marcos-del-pilar" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "ProfessionalService", "@id": "https://topspindigital.co/#agency", "name": "TopSpin Digital", "url": "https://topspindigital.co", "image": "https://topspindigital.co/images/og-image.png?v=2", "description": "The only digital marketing agency built exclusively for tennis, pickleball, padel, and platform tennis pros, clubs, and facilities.", "knowsAbout": [ "tennis marketing", "pickleball marketing", "padel marketing", "racquet sports digital marketing", "sports facility marketing" ], "areaServed": { "@type": "Country", "name": "United States" }, "serviceType": [ "Digital Marketing", "SEO", "Google Ads", "Social Media Marketing", "Website Design" ] } ] --- [![TopSpin Digital — racquet sports marketing agency logo](/__l5e/assets-v1/b14e4b3e-585d-42e4-841b-89453ec3c58f/topspin-logo-light-320.webp)![TopSpin Digital — racquet sports marketing agency logo](/__l5e/assets-v1/dcc8ce91-65e2-4add-8da9-0ac731fbddb6/topspin-logo-dark-320.webp)](/) [For Facilities](/facilities) The Offer [ Facility Marketing Overview The marketing layer that runs in front of your club software. ](/facilities)[ How We Work What the first 90 days looks like. ](/about) What We Do [ Digital Marketing Strategy ](/services/digital-marketing-strategy)[ Social Media and Content ](/services/social-media-content)[ Local SEO and Google Visibility ](/services/local-seo-google-visibility)[ Automation and AI Tools ](/services/marketing-automation) [All services](/services) Featured ### The Game Plan Call A free strategy session built for racquet sports pros. Walk away with a clear path to fill your courts. 30 minute deep dive Custom growth roadmap No obligation, no pressure [Book your call](/consultation) By Sport [Pickleball](/pickleball-coach-marketing)[Tennis](/tennis-coach-marketing)[Padel](/padel-marketing) [For Coaches](/coaches) The Offer [ Coach Marketing Overview Marketing built for independent teaching pros. ](/coaches)[ Baseline The business system built for racquet sports coaches. ](/baseline)[ See Baseline in Action Walk through the product yourself. ](/demo) What We Do [ Digital Marketing Strategy ](/services/digital-marketing-strategy)[ Social Media and Content ](/services/social-media-content)[ Local SEO and Google Visibility ](/services/local-seo-google-visibility)[ Automation and AI Tools ](/services/marketing-automation) [All services](/services) Featured ### The Game Plan Call A free strategy session built for racquet sports pros. Walk away with a clear path to fill your lesson book. 30 minute deep dive Custom growth roadmap No obligation, no pressure [Book your call](/consultation) By Sport [Pickleball](/pickleball-coach-marketing)[Tennis](/tennis-coach-marketing)[Padel](/padel-marketing) [Resources](/blog) Featured [ Padel Facility Marketing Strategy: Your 2026 Playbook for Bookings and Memberships A capacity-led marketing strategy for padel facilities in 2026. Occupancy targets, CAC and LTV benchmarks, stage-based playbooks, and a free downloadable PDF. ](/blog/padel-facility-marketing-strategy-2026-playbook)[ The Best Pickleball Club Software in 2026, Plus the Marketing Layer Every Owner Misses An honest comparison of CourtReserve, PlayByPoint, Playtime Scheduler, and the rest, plus the marketing system every pickleball owner forgets to build. ](/blog/best-pickleball-club-software-2026)[ How to Start a Padel Club: The 2026 Founder's Playbook A practical, step-by-step guide to starting a padel club in the US in 2026, from picking a model to filling your first 100 memberships. ](/blog/how-to-start-a-padel-club) Explore [ All Articles Browse the full resource library. ](/blog)[ CourtSide Podcast Conversations with racquet sports operators. ](/courtside)[ Media Kit Brand assets, founder bio, and press kit. ](/media-kit)[ Find the three leaks costing you members Answer nine questions and find what to fix first. ](/three-leaks) Free Playbook ### Padel Facility Marketing Playbook Capacity targets, CAC and LTV benchmarks, and stage-based marketing tactics, with a free downloadable PDF. Pre-launch to steady state Worksheets and budget templates Free, no credit card [Get the playbook](/blog/padel-facility-marketing-strategy-2026-playbook#download) New episode every other week. [Listen to CourtSide](/courtside) [CourtSide](/courtside)[Book a Call](/consultation) [![TopSpin Digital](/__l5e/assets-v1/b14e4b3e-585d-42e4-841b-89453ec3c58f/topspin-logo-light-320.webp)](/) ### For Facilities [Facility Marketing Overview ](/facilities)[How We Work ](/about)[Digital Marketing Strategy ](/services/digital-marketing-strategy)[Social Media and Content ](/services/social-media-content)[Local SEO and Google Visibility ](/services/local-seo-google-visibility)[Automation and AI Tools ](/services/marketing-automation)[All services ](/services) ### For Coaches ### Resources ### By Sport [CourtSide Show ](/courtside) [ Featured ### The Game Plan Call Free strategy session for racquet sports pros. Book now ](/consultation) [Book a Call](/consultation) [All episodes](/courtside)EP 10 # Marcos del Pilar, Pro Padel League Padel Educator and Co-Founder September 21, 2026 Marcos del Pilar left a successful life in Spain in 2017 to build padel as a business in the United States, where clubs, investors, and property owners kept telling him no. He had already built and run five tennis and padel venues in Spain. Since then he has helped bring the first Padel World Championship to U.S. soil, co-founded the Pro Padel League, led the USPA, and certified more than 1,500 padel coaches. People call him the Godfather of Padel in the U.S. ## Key Takeaways - Why Marcos says to build the business model before building the courts. - Leaving Spain to create a category in a country that kept saying no to padel. - Why courts are only the physical asset, and coaches, staff, and programming bring players back. - The questions a tennis or pickleball club needs to answer before adding padel. - His projection of 20,000 U.S. courts and 15 million players by 2030, and why padel cannot stay a luxury product. MD Marcos del Pilar Padel Educator and Co-Founder Pro Padel League - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcos-del-pilar-padel/) - [Website](https://www.padelandsuccess.com/) ### Listen on [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/courtside-with-evan-dechtman/id1896637504)[Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/033gdwEfkshnRXGzo5s7Ay)[Amazon Music](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6683235f-b038-43e4-9db8-9a927e972fd0/courtside-with-evan-dechtman) ### Need help filling courts? Book a free strategy call with TopSpin Digital. [Book a Call](https://grow.topspindigital.co) [Previous · EP 09 Jennifer Gelhaus ](/courtside/ep/jennifer-gelhaus) ## More episodes [ ![CourtSide Episode 0: Evan Dechtman](/courtside/introducing-courtside-thumb.jpg) Episode 0 May 13, 2026 ### Evan Dechtman, TopSpin Digital Founder A short introduction to CourtSide: why we are building a long-form interview series for the people running racquet sports, what each episode looks like, and how to be considered as a guest. ](/courtside/ep/introducing-courtside)[ ![CourtSide Episode 1: Andy Zodin](/courtside/andy-zodin-thumb.jpg) Episode 1 May 15, 2026 ### Andy Zodin, Columbine Country Club Director of Racquet Sports Andy Zodin on 15 years running racquet sports at Columbine Country Club, what a director actually does day-to-day, the ownership conversations that never go away, staffing teaching pros in 2026, and how private clubs are handling pickleball. ](/courtside/ep/andy-zodin)[ ![CourtSide Episode 2: Julius Gavin](/courtside/julius-gavin-thumb.jpg) Episode 2 May 22, 2026 ### Julius Gavin, Tennis University Independent Tennis Coach, Founder Julius Gavin, known online as tennis.god, has nearly 90,000 Instagram followers, charges $1,000 for six hours of coaching, and claims he can build a complete tennis game in 40 hours. We get into the math behind the program, the fraud accusations, the real economics of driving thousands of miles with a trunk full of balls, and how short-form content converts a viewer into a paid client. ](/courtside/ep/julius-gavin) ![TopSpin Digital — racquet sports marketing agency by Heard Digital Marketing](/__l5e/assets-v1/b14e4b3e-585d-42e4-841b-89453ec3c58f/topspin-logo-light-320.webp) Full-service digital marketing for tennis, pickleball, padel & platform tennis professionals. A division of HEARD Digital Marketing. 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