Episode
Episode 6: He Put Pickleball Courts on a Parking Garage Rooftop. Now He's All In on Padel.
- Podcast
- Padel With Bryant
- Published
- Jun 25, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4054
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
Most people hear "no" and stop. Jay Lerner heard "we'll evict you" and started Googling garage rooftops. He built one of the most talked-about pickleball communities in the US, right in the heart of downtown Austin. Now he's watching padel grow in real time, and he has more ideas about what it needs than most people in the game. In Episode 6, Bryant sits down with Jay Lerner , founder of Urban Pickleball, for a conversation that goes everywhere, from playing padel with Woody Harrelson to why the sport needs a $10 court option to survive. We go deep on: Why padel burns 50% more calories than doubles pickleball (and why that matters in Austin) What pickleball figured out about open play that padel hasn't caught up to yet The naming problem quietly slowing padel's growth in the US Why affordability is the biggest barrier between padel and a pickleball-level explosion The shot Jay invented and why he's dead serious about its legacy What padel needs to crack college athletics and reach the Olympics Main Topics Covered From duct tape on a rooftop to one of the most recognized pickleball brands in the US Why pickleball and padel can and should coexist What padel can learn from pickleball's open play culture The economics of padel and why $30 a session is a real friction point Playing paddle with Woody Harrelson and Ben Johns How to get English-speaking Americans to actually adopt the game El Muerto, the shot, the legacy, the merch Key Takeaways Padel rewards patience, just like pickleball, but the learning curve is steeper and the payoff is deeper Open play and easier matchmaking are the missing keys to padel's growth Affordability and college programs are what will take padel mainstream in the US Culture and community are what make people stay, not just the courts When every…