Welcome back to another Primetime Exclusive!

Our guest this week, Ben Nichols, is the definition of a fascinating career pivot. One day he’s handling global media chaos for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) during one of the most stressful scandals in sports history, and the next, he's founding Padel 22, the planet’s first padel-only PR and communications agency.

Ben traded the intense, rigid world of Olympic governance for the chaotic, beautiful, and sometimes unhinged "banda-and-vibra" energy of the U.S. padel scene. Since launching in 2022, his agency has been the secret weapon behind massive projects like Taktika, the Pro Padel League, and the blockbuster Anglo American Padel Cup.

We dug into his wild journey, the biggest misconceptions investors have, and the one story about padel that still isn't getting told loud enough. Get ready to take notes, because Ben is literally writing the book on how padel becomes a U.S. superpower.

Primetime: Ben, in researching you for this interview, it’s clear you’ve had a fascinating PR past. Walk us through the big plot twist: one day you're the World Anti-Doping Agency’s lead spokesman getting grilled worldwide during the Russian-doping apocalypse, the next you're founding the planet's first padel-only PR agency. What made you trade Olympic-level drama for the banda-and-vibra chaos of padel?

Ben: When you put it like that, you’re right, it’s kind of a “how the hell did you get from here (the media glare amidst the Russian doping crisis) to here (the Wild West $4 billion industry that is Padel).” Good question, and proof if nothing else that life is not a straight line. It’s not symmetrical!

After four years on the front line handling media for WADA in Montreal, I moved back to England and continued in important roles in the Olympic movement, including working with the US Anti-Doping Agency. It was still a wild time—I even found myself at the White House supporting the athlete advocacy movement.

Fast forward to 2022, and I was in a contract role with the LTA (the UK’s national tennis federation, who also govern padel). Part of my job was to support the British padel team’s PR around the World Padel Championships. Suddenly, I was surrounded by people investing in and building courts. I was at a dead end career-wise, and I had family members saying, “You used to play squash and tennis, you should work in padel.” It felt like a crossroads moment. I thought, “I have to work in this sport,” and the big gaping hole that existed was a lack of PR and storytelling. Who was going to start building awareness for this increasingly hyped sport? I realized that had to be me. So, enter Padel 22.

Primetime: Padel 22 just celebrated its third-year milestone—congrats on surviving (and thriving) three chaotic years in this rocket ship of a sport! What’s the one moment from the past 36 months that still makes you go “Holy vibra, we actually pulled that off”?

Ben: I think it’s more a collection of "pinch me moments"—that maybe will have to go in the book one day, hah!—that have defined our first three years. Whether it was securing our first retained client, getting CNN International to cover the sport (an Eva Longoria interview in early 2024), or, perhaps most recently, the unprecedented media coverage we secured for the debut Anglo American Padel Cup. We co-founded that tournament—known as “the Ryder Cup of Padel”—and had ITV Sport, GB News, BBC, and others covering it.

These have been the moments that made me feel, “Wow, we’ve really transformed awareness around the sport here.” We’ve had big moments where we’ve achieved what we set out to do: to make padel that bit more famous each and every day.

Primetime: When you launched in early 2023, everyone still thought padel was “tennis but with walls.” What’s been the single biggest shift in how the media (and the world) finally “gets” padel?

Ben: It depends on which country you’re looking through. In the UK, national awareness is at 43%, up from 20% just a year ago. That’s huge. Awareness in the U.S. is far behind that, but ignore padel at your peril, because it’s coming.

The key shift is that reporters generally see that this isn’t just a sporting story; the fascination is in the community and culture side. People are stepping on court and literally becoming obsessed. It’s a hugely “sticky” game—the retention rate sits around 92%! Players are meeting through Playtomic, becoming friends, business partners, or even hooking up romantically! It’s a cultural and lifestyle transformation—that’s where the media interest lies, or should lie, in my view.

Primetime: Let’s talk America—because that’s where the real party is right now. What’s the craziest misconception American investors or club owners still have when they first call you?

Ben: Well, because I write about the sport, some still mistakenly think I’m a journalist! Not so! I have to educate some people that my company, Padel 22, is there to support businesses and brands in telling their story. The journalism thing no doubt comes from the fact that I write about padel business, and I do that because there’s a need—there’s been a void of storytellers, and my view has been “we’ve got to build the plane and fly it.”

Another big misconception is confusion with pickleball, or that this is just another emerging sport trying to break in. I can’t stress enough: this is not one of the pack. Padel is different, and it’s going to be transformative in the American sporting landscape. Those that can see that early on are at an advantage. We need more prophets out there who can see the evidence and evangelize the sport, because Padel’s on its way, like it or loathe it!

Primetime: The U.S. padel scene sometimes feels like the Wild West. As the guy literally shaping the narrative, what’s the one story you think still isn’t getting told loud enough over here?

Ben: The one story not getting told enough is padel itself. Let’s step outside the bubble for a second: we need the mainstream broadcasters, podcasters, media, and TV shows to see padel coming down the tracks. We need more Joe Rogan moments, we need the likes of NBC and CNN to engage. This isn’t going to be the Diet Coke or Tab Clear (remember that?) of Pickleball. This isn't even Pickleball 2.0. It’s going to be more than that. Look at the evidence worldwide: a new club is opening every 2.5 hours. That’s insane.

Primetime: Last one, because we’re nosy: What’s the most ridiculous (or genius) client request you’ve gotten in the last three years that you can actually tell us about?

Ben: Get me in the New York Times in the morning.

Primetime: If you had to give U.S. club owners one non-negotiable piece of PR/comms advice right now (especially the ones about to open their first location), what is it?

Ben: You need PR. You can’t shortcut it. I’d go so far as to say PR is more important than ever because we live in an era of fragmentation and limited attention spans. It’s critical to get your message through to the right audiences with a good, impactful story that people can relate to.

Given how low the level of awareness of padel is in the U.S. right now, you have to not only promote your new club but promote the sport of padel, too. No one’s paying us to promote the sport, but we’re in a “build the plane and fly it at the same time” era. Your business will succeed more when more people know the sport exists. Once they know it exists, and know there’s somewhere to play, well, the sky’s the limit because padel sells itself once people have stepped on court.

Primetime: Fast-forward five years. It’s 2030, padel is everywhere in the States. What role did you play in making America a padel superpower?

Ben: We’ve spent three years grafting on behalf of our clients (and the sport itself), helping propel the sport into the mainstream. Fast forward five years and I think Padel 22 has its HQ in a padel club on the East Coast, it has a team in the tens or twenties of staff, and it’s a place that young people coming out of university strive to work for (I want the smartest, hungriest young professionals to want to work in the padel industry, and want to work for us). Ultimately, aside from making padel that bit more famous every day, I want us to motivate and inspire students to forge a career in the padel industry. It takes toil, proactivity, and knocking on doors to create opportunities, but if I can help young people see the excitement of this as a career choice, that’s a great win.