Pakistan has had a padel obsession for three years. Now it has a national league to match.

The Premier Padel League of Pakistan — PPLP — launched on January 5, 2026, making Pakistan one of the few countries in Asia to run a franchise-based professional padel league in the same calendar year. PKR 30 million in prize money. Three cities. Six franchise teams. A player pathway open to anyone aged 16 with a CNIC and PKR 5,000 in their pocket.

This is the complete guide: what the PPLP is, how it works, who the teams are, what the cities mean for fans and players, how to register if you want to compete, and how to follow every match from wherever you are in Pakistan.

Everything you need. In one place.

What is the Premier Padel League of Pakistan?

The PPLP is Pakistan’s first franchise-based national padel league — a structured, season-long competition across three of the country’s biggest cities, designed to give Pakistani padel players a professional career pathway and give fans a league they can follow team by team.

It takes direct inspiration from the North American Pro Padel League (PPL), which Chairman and CEO Basim Ahmed consulted extensively before launching. “The League has been founded to build on the passion for padel across the country and to provide ambitious and talented players a clear career pathway,” Ahmed said at the launch announcement. “Padel is not hindered by the traditions of much more established sports so there is a real opportunity to lay the foundations from the start.”

The timing is not accidental. Pakistan reached 50,000 amateur padel players and 350+ courts by early 2026. The PPLP is the institutional response to that grassroots momentum — the moment padel in Pakistan moved from a growing scene to a structured sport.

PPLP Format — How the League Works

The Three-City Structure

The PPLP runs as a travelling league across three city legs in its inaugural year:

Each city leg is a self-contained competitive event with its own prize pool. The full PKR 30 million is distributed across all three legs — making every city leg genuinely competitive rather than a warm-up for a single final.

Four Competitive Categories

Each city leg runs four separate competitive tracks simultaneously:

This tiered structure means PPLP is not just a showcase for Pakistan’s top handful of players. It is a genuine league structure where a developing player in Charlie can work toward Bravo, and Bravo toward Alpha — across the same franchise.

Match Format

All matches follow a best-of-three sets format throughout the league. The group stage runs as a full round robin — every club within each category plays every other club on a home and away basis. Standings are determined by match record across the full round robin.

Relegation system: Teams finishing in 5th or 6th position in their category at the end of a leg exit the league for the following year. New teams are introduced in their place. No comfortable mid-table. Every position matters.

Squad Structure

Each franchise fields 8–12 players per squad, drawn across the three playing level categories. Clubs are required to register three teams — one in Alpha, one in Bravo, one in Charlie — ensuring development across all levels under a single franchise identity. The women’s category operates separately.

Player contracts include monthly engagement allowances and travel allowances for away fixtures, paid by the franchise club.

The Six Franchise Teams

The PPLP launched with six franchise teams for the Twin City leg, each purchased at auction in December 2025. All six franchises sold for above PKR 2.5 million, with 10 bidders competing for the initial auction round (meatechwatch.com, December 2025).

The Markhor franchise carries a particular cultural weight. Pakistan’s national animal — the screw-horned wild goat native to the mountains of northern Pakistan — gives that franchise an identity rooted specifically in Pakistani national character. In a league of six teams, one chose the symbol of the country itself.

The Three Cities — What PPLP Means for Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi

Islamabad / Rawalpindi (Twin Cities) — First Leg, January–March

The inaugural leg in the Twin Cities gave PPLP its opening statement. Islamabad was already the city where the government had formally recognised padel as infrastructure — the Capital Development Authority auctioned five public sites for padel court development in June 2025, expecting PKR 7.6 million per month in rental income (Dawn, June 2025). Running the first PPLP leg here connected the league to the city where padel had the strongest institutional backing.

Lahore — Second Leg, April–June

Lahore is Pakistan’s padel culture capital — community-led, lifestyle-integrated, with the deepest coaching infrastructure in the country. The Lahore leg of PPLP runs April through June, bringing franchise padel to the city that arguably built the grassroots player base the league depends on.

For Lahore’s players and fans, PPLP is not abstract. The courts where PPLP matches are contested are the same courts where the city’s recreational players book evening sessions.

PadelCafe in Lahore — Lahore’s padel and lifestyle venue — sits at the centre of that community. The same players who compete in PPLP’s Alpha category are the players coaching beginners, running community tournaments, and building the Lahore scene that made the Lahore leg viable.

The Women’s Category opened specifically for the Lahore and Karachi legs — a signal that female padel participation in these two cities has reached the level needed to run a competitive league format.

Karachi — Third Leg, July–September

Karachi is where padel started in Pakistan. The city’s entrepreneurial energy built courts before any national structure existed — by 2026, it has 100+ courts, more than any other city. The Karachi leg closes the inaugural PPLP season, running July through September. Given Karachi’s head start on court infrastructure and player base, the final leg carries the heaviest competitive expectations of the three.

How to Register for PPLP as a Player

PPLP is open to anyone who meets the criteria — recreational player, club competitor, or serious aspirant. Registration happens through premierpadelleague.pk.

Player registration requirements:

• Age: 16 or above (male or female)
• Documents: Valid CNIC (or B-form for players under 18)
• Registration fee: PKR 5,000 (non-refundable)
• Categories: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, or Women’s Category

What happens after registration:

Players enter the live auction process. The auction runs three rounds of bidding — franchise clubs bid openly, with the highest bid winning after 10 seconds of no new offers. The winning club signs the player immediately after the auction. Squads of 8–12 players are assembled per franchise per leg.

Registered players who are selected receive monthly engagement allowances and travel allowances from their franchise clubs throughout the leg they compete in.

Expert Tip: If you are playing regularly at a padel club in Lahore, Islamabad, or Karachi, the Charlie category is the entry point. It is designed for developing players — not beginners, but players who have been playing competitively at club level and want a structured league framework. The six-month window between city legs is the right time to sharpen your game before the next registration cycle opens.

How to Register a Club or Franchise

Clubs entering PPLP must be registered business entities with demonstrated financial stability and full commitment to PPL operating standards. Each club enters three teams — one across each of the Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie categories. Club registration, documentation, and commitment forms are submitted through premierpadelleague.pk.

The franchise auction format mirrors established sports league models: bidders compete openly, the highest offer at auction close wins, and the franchise is bound to the full season commitment on signing.

How to Follow PPLP — Where to Watch and Stay Updated

Live Streaming — myco

PPLP’s official streaming partner is myco (myco.io), Pakistan’s domestic sports streaming platform. The same platform carries PSL cricket and EPL football. PPLP matches stream free with ads — a premium subscription removes ads and upgrades to HD quality.

To watch: download the myco app on Android or iOS, sign in or create an account, and go to the PPLP section for live matches, upcoming fixtures, and match replays.

Social Media and Official Channels

• Official website: premierpadelleague.pk — live standings, club profiles, player stats, match schedules, registration portal
• Instagram: @premier_padel_league_pk
• Contact: info@premierpadelleague.pk | 03460424141

The official website tracks live results, club standings within each category, and the full player history for every registered PPLP player — a genuinely useful resource for anyone following a specific franchise or player across the season.

The PPLP Five-Year Vision

PPLP launched as a three-city league. The five-year strategy is regional ambition.

Basim Ahmed outlined the growth plan at launch: double the number of competing cities in 2027, then expand regionally to target the Gulf states and Asian markets. The long-term vision is international leagues competing against each other — the PPLP becoming Pakistan’s representative in a broader Asian padel circuit.

The international partnerships already in place support this ambition. PPLP has established working relationships with:

• Asia Pacific Padel Tour (APPT) — which ran its Challenger Circuit in both Karachi (February 2026) and Lahore (April 2026), giving Pakistani players internationally ranked competitive experience
• Pro Padel League (PPL) — the North American league that served as PPLP’s founding model
• International Padel Federation (FIP) — the global governing body through which Pakistani players can earn internationally recognised rankings

For Pakistani players, this connectivity matters. A player who competes in PPLP’s Alpha category, earns FIP-aligned ranking points through the Pakistan Padel Federation, and performs in APPT Challenger events has a genuine pathway to international competitive padel. That pathway did not exist three years ago.

What Changed for PPLP in 2025–2026

• January 5, 2026: PPLP launched in the Twin Cities — the first franchise padel league in Pakistan’s history
• February 2026: APPT Challenger Series inaugural event in Karachi — Pakistan’s first internationally sanctioned padel competition
• April 2026: APPT Challenger Lahore — international ranking points on Pakistani courts for the first time
• Women’s Category opened for Lahore and Karachi legs — formal recognition of female competitive padel in Pakistan’s two largest padel cities
• PPF Ranking Cup 2026 announced for Karachi, July 3–5 — Pakistan’s national ranking system now runs parallel to PPLP

Lahore’s padel scene and PPLP

PPLP gives Lahore’s padel players something the sport has needed: a competitive structure that matches the passion already on the courts.

The same community that built padel in Lahore through club sessions, coaching programmes, and evening round robins is the community PPLP is designed to reward. If you are playing regularly and want to understand where the sport is going — or where your own game might take you — the league is the answer.

Book a court at PadelCafe and experience the game the PPLP is built around. Our padel coaching programme is the most direct route from recreational play toward the competitive level PPLP’s Charlie and Bravo categories are looking for. And for the full context of how Pakistan’s padel scene reached this point, read our breakdown of the rise of padel in Pakistan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the PPLP prize money?

The Premier Padel League of Pakistan has a total prize fund of PKR 30 million across its inaugural 2026 season. The prize pool is split equally across the three city legs — PKR 10 million per city leg in Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi (premierpadelleague.pk, 2026).

How many teams are in PPLP?

PPLP launched with six franchise teams for the inaugural Twin City leg: Lions, Hawks, Sharks, Stallions, Bulls, and Markhor. Each franchise was purchased at auction in December 2025 for above PKR 2.5 million per team.

Where can I watch PPLP matches live?

PPLP matches stream live on myco (myco.io) — Pakistan’s official PPLP streaming partner. The free tier offers standard HD streaming with ads. A myco premium subscription removes ads and upgrades to Ultra HD. The myco app is available on Android, iOS, web browser, and Smart TV.

How do I register as a PPLP player?

Player registration is open to males and females aged 16 and above at premierpadelleague.pk. The registration fee is PKR 5,000 (non-refundable). You will need your CNIC and contact details. Registered players enter the live auction process where franchise clubs bid for their services. Selected players receive monthly engagement and travel allowances from their franchise.

Which cities host PPLP in 2026?

The 2026 inaugural season runs across three city legs: Islamabad/Rawalpindi (January–March), Lahore (April–June), and Karachi (July–September). PPLP’s five-year plan is to double the number of competing cities from 2027 onward.

What are the PPLP competitive categories?

PPLP runs four categories: Alpha (Elite — Pakistan’s highest competitive level), Bravo (Competitive — strong club-level), Charlie (Developing — competitive club players progressing toward elite), and Women (open to female players, now active for Lahore and Karachi legs). Each club must field three teams — one in Alpha, one in Bravo, one in Charlie.