Serving up a digital home for the world's fastest-growing sport

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body for tennis in Great Britain. In response to the explosive growth of Padel – one of the fastest-growing sports globally – the LTA set out to build a dedicated website to raise the sport’s profile, drive deeper engagement and deliver a stronger experience for players, clubs and fans.

As the LTA’s Optimizely Partner, we were appointed to deliver a high-performing, future-proof standalone Padel website within their existing DXP platform – resulting in an award-winning solution recognised at The Drum Awards 2025.

Previously, all Padel content and resources were buried within the wider LTA website, limiting the sport’s ability to stand out and engage its rapidly growing audience. Audiences struggled to find relevant information and the LTA’s internal teams faced editorial bottlenecks and inefficient processes to maintain and update Padel-specific content.

The goal was to create a clear, independent identity for Padel while retaining the benefits of integration with the LTA’s established Optimizely solution.

Our engagement began with a focused discovery phase to map requirements and plan how we would integrate with LTA’s existing front-end design system.

In just a few weeks we set up the new Padel microsite within the LTA’s Optimizely instance, integrating a flexible set of content components and templates. A refreshed navigation and footer were designed to reflect Padel’s independent identity, along with dedicated search functionally. Finally, we ensured our front-end development met WCAG AA accessibility standards, providing an inclusive experience for all users.

The website needed to deliver a consistently high-performing user experience while meeting the LTA’s rigorous quality standards. Drawing on our deep Optimizely DXP expertise, we built a future-ready website capable of handling the highest levels of traffic, now and in the future.

The project was recognised at The Drum Awards 2025, winning Silver in the Digital Experience (Sport, Wellness & Fitness) category. This recognition reflects what’s possible when digital delivery is built around the needs of users.

The LTA Padel project exceeded initial performance targets. Within three months of launch, the site attracted 77,000 unique visitors, achieved 610 keywords ranking in the top 10 positions, and delivered a 317% increase in ranking keywords.