How to Watch Padel in the UK: TV, Streaming and Pro Tours
Padel is easy to play and oddly hard to watch. Nothing shows up on terrestrial TV on a Sunday afternoon, and searching for a live match tends to land you on three sites that all want a subscription before they show you anything.
It is more available than it looks. Most of the professional tour is free in the UK if you know where to point your browser, and British events are easier to follow than a year ago. This guide is current as of late September 2026.
Premier Padel Is the Tour That Matters
Premier Padel is the top circuit, run alongside the International Padel Federation. It is where the best players in the world compete, and almost every clip you have seen on Instagram came off one of its courts.
The 2026 season runs 26 tournaments across 18 countries. They come in three sizes. Majors are worth 2,000 ranking points to the winner, P1 events 1,000, and P2 events 500. Four Majors are spread through the year, with the season closing in Barcelona in December for the top 16 men and women.
Below that sits the FIP Tour, split into Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. That is where British players earn their way towards the main tour.
Where to Watch Premier Padel in the UK
Four options, and the two that matter most cost nothing.
The Premier Padel YouTube channel carries early-round matches from most tournaments. Monday through Wednesday of a tournament week is generally all there, free, with English commentary on the main court. Full replays and highlights usually land within a day.
Red Bull TV picks up the business end, showing quarter-finals through to the final at every tournament. Also free, no account required, and it runs fine on a phone or a smart TV app.
The Premier Padel app is worth having alongside either of those. It needs no subscription and gives you live scores, draws and the order of play.
The paid route is Premier Padel TV, the tour's own streaming service, which covers every court and every round. For most club players it is overkill. Which platform carries which rounds can shift from event to event, so check the Premier Padel site during the week itself.
The London Event
Premier Padel came to London for the first time in August 2026, a P1 running from the 4th to the 9th. Every match streamed on HBO Max, TNT Sports 4 took the television coverage from the round of 16, and Red Bull TV handled the weekend rounds.
That deal was for the London week, not the whole season, so do not expect to find the Milan or Dubai events on TNT Sports. Our London Padel Week guide covers what the week looked like and why it mattered for the UK game.
What Is Left of the 2026 Season
Plenty. Rotterdam hosts a P2 from 28 September to 4 October, then Düsseldorf runs another P2 from 5 to 11 October. Milan follows with a P1 from 12 to 18 October, and that one is worth clearing an evening for.
November opens with the FIP World Cup in Doha from 2 to 7 November. Great Britain's women qualified for it in Madrid in late September, beating Poland in the decisive tie. The men went down 2-1 to Germany and missed out, which is a fair reflection of where the two squads sit right now.
After that come the Dubai P1 from 9 to 15 November, the Mexico Major in Acapulco from 23 to 29 November, and the Finals in Barcelona from 7 to 13 December. The Finals are the one to watch if you only watch one, because there are no easy draws when only 16 players are in the room.
How to Watch British Padel
The LTA Padel British Tour is the domestic circuit, and its Grade 1 events stream on Padel-TV, the LTA's official streaming partner. It is a subscription service rather than free, though LTA Advantage members get a free trial and half price on an annual plan. Some smaller British Tour events have also gone out live on the LTA's own YouTube channel.
The biggest domestic event of the autumn is the LTA Padel National Championships at Rocket Padel Bristol from 1 to 4 October. It streams on Padel-TV, and if you are anywhere near Bristol, spectator entry is free. Ten thousand pounds in prize money means the best British players will all be there. The Junior Nationals follow at Derby on 29 and 30 October.
Then there is the BBC. On Sunday 20 September, BBC Scotland streamed four matches from the Scottish Open Padel Championships, including both finals, on iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app. It was a small step, but it was live padel on the BBC, and it tells you where the sport is heading. Our padel and the Olympics guide looks at the bigger picture behind that momentum.
What to Actually Look At
Watching pro padel as a beginner is confusing, because the ball moves fast and the players make everything look inevitable. The trick is to stop following the ball.
Watch the feet instead. Professionals are almost never stationary between shots, and they are already moving before their partner has made contact. That constant small adjustment is the biggest gap between the pro game and a Tuesday night club match.
Then watch how rarely they smash. A pair at the net will play ten or fifteen bandejas and viboras before anyone commits to a full smash, because the aim is to keep the net rather than end the point. Beginners have this backwards.
Count the Lobs
Pick a rally and count how many lobs go up. In a long professional point it is often four or five. The lob is not a last resort at that level, it is the main tool for taking the net away, and once you notice that your own lobbing gets more deliberate.
Watch the Women's Draw Too
The women's tournaments run on the same courts in the same weeks, and for most club players they are the more useful watch. The pace sits closer to your own games, so the tactics are easier to follow and the positioning is easier to copy.
The men's game is more spectacular. The women's game is the better teacher if you want to take something back to your club.
Make It Worth the Two Hours
A whole match is a lot of screen time if you just let it wash over you. Give yourself one thing to track and it turns into a lesson. Watch only the player on the left side and follow where they stand. Or count how many points end on an unforced error rather than a winner, which is usually more than people expect.
Write down whatever surprised you before you forget it. Then take one idea to your next session and try it, badly, for an hour. That is how watching turns into playing better rather than just being entertained. It also helps to have a racket that behaves the same way every time you swing it, which is why the 12k Padel Shark Blue is built to the one spec every article on this blog keeps coming back to: 12K carbon, medium EVA core, 365 grams.
Questions People Ask About Watching Padel
Is padel on Sky Sports or the BBC?
Not on a season-long basis. Sky Sports showed Premier Padel in its early seasons, but there is no Sky deal for the 2026 tour. The BBC has streamed the Scottish Open finals on iPlayer, and TNT Sports carried the London P1 in August. For everything else, it is YouTube and Red Bull TV.
Is Premier Padel free to watch?
Most of it, yes. Early rounds go out free on the Premier Padel YouTube channel and the quarter-finals onward are free on Red Bull TV. You only need to pay if you want every match on every court, which is what Premier Padel TV is for.
Can you watch padel live in person in the UK?
Yes, and it is cheaper than you would think. British Tour events are usually free to walk into, and the National Championships in Bristol this October are open to spectators at no charge. If watching makes you want to compete rather than just spectate, our guide to UK padel tournaments explains how to enter your first one.
A last thought on the social side. Half the fun of a big tournament week is watching it with people who play, and a padel night with the match on and a few drinks is a decent excuse to get the group together. The After Work Padel Club t-shirt from 12k Padel is made for exactly that kind of evening, on court or off it. Bookmark the Premier Padel YouTube channel, find the Milan P1 in October, and watch one match properly.
