Is this Padel’s Wall Street Moment?

VanEck Signs as Exclusive ETF Partner of the Anglo American Padel Cup

If you needed any more proof that padel has arrived as a serious global sport, this might be it. VanEck, the New York-headquartered global investment manager overseeing nearly $200 billion in assets, has just announced it is joining the Anglo American Padel Cup as its Exclusive ETF Partner. And the second edition of that tournament? It's coming right here to South Florida.

In what is a firm endorsement of the continued US vs Great Britain sporting story, the deal sees VanEck join sport tech giant Playtomic and world-renowned rackets brand Babolat as part of the Cup's Core Sponsorship Group. Notably, the deal is only the second sports partnership VanEck has ever made, with the first being with the NHL's New York Islanders, announced in 2025. In what feels like a prophetic move, VanEck’s entry into this major transatlantic Ryder Cup-style padel competition points towards a carefully considered alignment from a firm that has built its reputation on spotting long-term trends before others.

With the emotive, culture-fuelled Anglo American Padel Cup undoubtedly proving part of the draw, the numbers with padel’s upward trajectory surely complete the logic. Padel now boasts an estimated 35 million players worldwide, and the sport continues to grow at a pace that's hard to ignore. The Anglo American Padel Cup tapped into that momentum in impressive fashion with its debut London edition in October 2025, reaching an audience of 9.1 million, making it the most significant padel competition in UK history, and setting British and American padel up for a highly anticipated sequel in Palm Beach County next February.

The expanded second edition was recently announced for February 4–6, 2027 at The Replay Club in Boynton Beach, with 104 players across Open and Age Group categories (40s, 50s, 60s), plus a new University Division to add to the mix. 

VanEck CEO Jan van Eck was clear about why the partnership makes sense: “Padel is widely viewed as the fastest-growing sport worldwide, and the Anglo American Padel Cup has quickly established itself as a standout international event, built on a rich and storied sporting rivalry. We see a strong alignment between our global growth and the Cup’s expanding presence across our core ETF markets in the US, UK, and Europe.” 

For the Cup's co-founders Bill Ullman, Ben Nichols, and Joelle Quinn, the VanEck partnership is about more than commercial validation: “Having VanEck as our Exclusive ETF Partner is a powerful endorsement of the international padel competition we are building––and a major statement of backing for the sport of padel. It reflects the growing status of the Cup and the increasing relevance of padel in the US, UK and worldwide.” 

With Florida preparing to host the Cup’s first outing in the U.S., VanEck’s arrival to the Cup, to many, will be viewed as a symbol of the sport’s allure for institutional markets.