Quick Answer
Three new covered padel courts have opened at Withdean Sports Complex, built and operated by Game4Padel in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council and Freedom Leisure. The courts feature a permanent canopy for year-round play, floodlighting for evening sessions and a staffed reception selling and hiring equipment. To mark the opening, all court bookings are available at 50% off for the first month.
What Brighton Padel Players Need to Know
The Withdean courts are a direct response to demand that has been impossible to ignore. A single temporary court at the same site ran at 90% occupancy before being removed in May 2024. The padel and tennis facilities at Hove Beach Park, also operated by Game4Padel, hit 97% occupancy throughout last summer. Brighton has quietly become one of the most active padel cities in the UK — and until now it has been doing so without a single covered court to its name.
The new facility changes that entirely. The state-of-the-art canopy means the courts are usable in every weather condition Brighton can produce, which in practical terms means year-round access rather than the seasonal window that outdoor courts impose. Floodlighting extends that access into evenings, and the staffed reception removes the barrier of equipment ownership for new players. If you have been considering trying padel but haven’t committed, the timing and the discount make this the obvious moment.
Game4Padel chief executive Michael Gradon said the demand seen at both the Withdean temporary court and Hove Beach Park proved Brighton was a genuine hotspot for the sport. There are now reportedly one million padel players in the UK, and facilities like Withdean — accessible, covered, centrally located — are precisely what converts curiosity into regular play.
Councillor Alan Robins, Cabinet Member for Sport and Recreation, welcomed the opening as part of the council’s broader commitment to widening participation across the city’s leisure facilities. The Withdean site already offers considerable range — small-sided 3G football pitches, squash, tennis, a gym, soft play, a climbing wall and an athletics track with a strong local competitive history. The padel courts add a significant new strand to that offering, and one that skews toward a younger, active demographic that padel has attracted more successfully than almost any other racket sport in recent years.
Freedom Leisure Area Manager Jason Musk said the new courts were an exciting addition to what was already an outstanding facility. The three-way partnership between Game4Padel, Freedom Leisure and the council gives the courts operational stability that temporary or pop-up facilities cannot match — these are permanent infrastructure, not a trial.
The opening at Withdean also means Brighton now has covered padel provision on both sides of the city. Combined with the Hove Beach Park courts to the south, players across Brighton and Hove have a realistic local option regardless of where they live. For a sport that rewards regular practice, that geographic spread matters.
Plans for a new community swimming pool at Withdean have also been approved, with construction due to begin later this year — meaning the site is set to become an even more significant leisure destination for the north of the city over the coming months.
Bookings for the new covered courts can be made through Game4Padel directly. The 50% opening discount runs for the first month — making now the lowest-cost entry point the courts will ever offer
