The Pro Padel League’s Los Angeles Beat has been acquired by David Eisen for about $10 million, the largest direct investment from a single owner into a PPL club since the league was founded in 2023.
Eisen, managing partner at Ten (Transportation Equipment Network), is a former tennis player who became enamored with padel over the past year. Eisen acquired the Beat from team founder Christ Ishoo, and he is purchasing the team without any outside investors.
“We see this as a venture play for us,” team president and general manager Corey Eisen, David’s son, said in a phone interview. “Given our love for the sport and the ability to operate the team, we think of a lot of the tailwinds globally within padel, which should benefit the pro padel league in the U.S. It all just came together for us over the last couple of months.”
The PPL consists of 10 teams across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The league is half-owned by the teams and half-owned by the league itself under a holding company. Earlier this year, the PPL closed on a $10 million seed round led by New York-based venture capital firm Left Lane Capital.
“Miami is the capital of padel in the U.S. for now, but LA is one of the highest growth markets for us,” PPL CEO Mike Dorfman said in a phone interview. “They caught on a little bit late but we’re starting to see a number of courts being built [there].”
In August, the New York Atlantics welcomed tennis star Frances Tiafoe to their ownership group, as he led a funding round that valued the club at about $10 million. Tiafoe was the first active professional tennis player to partner with a professional padel franchise.
The Eisen family is also looking to add high-profile strategic advisors and athlete investors in the Los Angeles area to help drive brand awareness and visibility. The club has already started its own outreach to prospective celebrity ambassadors about opportunities.
“Part of the attractiveness of acquiring a team in that market yields the ability to have celebrity influence and that was in our underwriting case,” Corey Eisen said. “That’s absolutely part of our business plan and we’re hoping to have that done within the next year.”
The New York-based ownership group has plans on a major team rebrand, introducing new colors schemes and logos, along with revamped content creation.
Parent company Los Angeles Beat Partners, LLC was represented by Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo. P.C. Dentons acted as legal counsel to the PPL.
The PPL just wrapped up its second regular season with the eight-team playoffs (City’s Cup) set to begin next month. The league champion will be crowned in New York City.
As it looks to cash in on its growth, the PPL hired Horizon Sports & Experiences to manage its sponsorships earlier this year, and it has also inked commercial partnerships with Adidas, Bullpadel and others.
Additionally, the National Padel League recently announced a new U.S. amateur league which could complement the North American-based PPL by providing a talent development pipeline.
(This article has been updated to correct Corey Eisen’s name.)
