Premier Padel Does this mysterious "Major II" herald a new category of tournaments in 2027? Padel Magazine

A line from the 2026 regulations of Premier Padel Could it provide a clue about the future of the professional circuit?

By studying theThe prize money grids for men and women, a surprising difference appears. For men, the regulations only recognize three regular categories: Major, P1 and P2. For women, however, the financial scale distinguishes between a "Major I" and a "Major II".

However, this famous Major II does not exist as an identified category in the calendar Premier Padel 2026 .

So, what is it? Is it simply a financial distinction specific to the women's regulations? Is it a mechanism planned but not used as a sporting category? Or could it foreshadow a new tier of tournaments that, eventually, would concern both men and women?

Nowadays, no official announcement confirms that Premier Padel will create a Major II in 2027 But the hypothesis deserves to be studied, particularly because it would lead Premier Padel towards an architecture surprisingly similar to that of tennis.

Among men: no trace of Major II

Let's start with what is certain.

The 2026 men's regulations define three tournament categories. Premier Padel : Major, P1 and P2 , in addition to the Finals. He mentions a theoretical distribution of 4 Majors, 10 P1s and 11 P2s, while specifying that these numbers can be modified by Premier Padel.

In the men's prize money structure, there is also only one Major level:

Men's category	Winner / player	Winners / pair
Major	€ 48	€ 97
P1	€ 26	€ 52
P2	€ 13	€ 27

The official amounts are indeed those indicated by the men's regulations.

No Major I. No Major II.

For women, however, the Major II does exist… in the regulations

This is where the story gets interesting.

The 2026 women's grid features not three, but four financial levels :

Women's category	Winner / player	Winners / pair
Major I	€ 48	€ 97
Major II	€ 24	€ 49
P1	€ 17	€ 34
P2	€ 11	€ 22

The rules are particularly explicit: Major I provides €48,700 for each of the champions, while the Major II is priced at €24,750 .

Its positioning is interesting: financially, the Major II is situated exactly between Major I and P1 .

And yet, in the general nomenclature of the Tour, the regulations continue to present Premier Padel around the three categories Major, P1 and P2.

It is this apparent contradiction that raises the question.

Was it Premier Padel was preparing its equivalent of the Masters 1000?

Let us now imagine that this Major II is not solely a contractual peculiarity concerning the women's prize money.

Si Premier Padel If it were to decide in the future to make it a true sporting category and extend it to both men's and women's draws, the circuit would then have four levels of tournaments .

The comparison with tennis would almost become natural:

Tennis	Premier Padel hypothetical
Grand Chelem	Major I
1000 Masters	Major II
ATP/WTA 500	P1
ATP/WTA 250	P2

Please note: This equivalence does not officially exist anywhere. This is a projection to help understand what an intermediate level could bring.

But from a sporting and commercial perspective, it would make sense.

Between the four major matches of the season and the P1, Premier Padel would have an additional premium category capable of consistently bringing together the world's elite, with more points and prize money than a P1.

And that would potentially change a lot of things for P2s.

Premier Padel includes 25 tournaments in 2026

To understand the issue, we need to look at the current density of the circuit.

The 2026 season now includes 25 tournaments Premier Padel spread over 17 countries .

And one element is particularly important for our consideration: Luigi Carraro stated in May that the intention was to maintain a stable calendar of 25 tournaments per year , without increasing or decreasing the number of trials.

This significantly changes the possible interpretation of Major II.

If this intention is maintained, the creation of a fourth category would not necessarily mean more tournaments .

Premier Padel could instead redistribute its 25 events.

Some P1 players could, for example, move up a level. Some P2 players could become P1 players. The pyramid would be reorganized without necessarily adding new weeks of competition.

But another possibility exists: if, in the longer term, Premier Padel As the number of events was finally increased, players would necessarily be led to be more selective about their tournaments.

And that's where P2s could be directly affected.

No, players are not obliged to play 22 Premier Padel

An important clarification is needed here.

The 22 tournaments currently being discussed do not correspond to 22 Premier Padel mandatory.

The 2026 regulations stipulate that a player's ranking is calculated by adding his 22 best results , Premier Padel, FIP Tour and other international events recognised by the FIP included.

It's very different.

However, there is a specific requirement for accessing the Premier Padel Finals: Top 16 players must have competed at least 15 tournaments Premier Padel during the season to be eligible. This rule also appears in the women's regulations.

Once qualified for the Finals, participation is mandatory, with penalties of up to €100,000 for non-participation under the conditions set out in the regulations.

Therefore, we must distinguish between two things:

15 Premier Padel minimum to be eligible for the Finals; 22 best results retained to establish the FIP 2026 ranking.

And in 2027, there will no longer be 22 results, but 21.

This data is particularly interesting for imagining the future of the calendar.

Premier Padel and the FIP have already announced that in In 2027, the number of results counted in the ranking will decrease from 22 to 21. .

The decision is part of a broader reflection on player well-being, recovery, and the sustainability of the schedule.

Premier Padel even indicated that it had been taken even though almost all the stakeholders consulted were rather in favor of an increase in the number of tournaments to support the international development of padel.

We therefore have two forces that could gradually oppose each other: the desire to further develop the world circuit and the need to protect players from an overly busy schedule.

And a new tournament hierarchy could precisely reconcile the two.

Could the P2 become the ATP 250 of padel?

This is probably the most interesting consequence of a possible fourth level.

Today, P2 leagues are still capable of attracting a very large proportion of the world's best players.

But let's imagine tomorrow a circuit offering four Major I events, several Major II events, the P1 events and finally the P2 events.

With only 21 results counting towards the ranking in 2027, the stars would have more incentive to favour competitions offering the most points and the biggest prizes.

A Coello, Tapia, Galán or Chingotto in the men's category, like the world's best in the women's category, would no longer necessarily have the same interest in systematically competing in P2s if their calendar was already full of Major I, Major II and P1s.

The P2s could then gradually take over the role currently occupied by the ATP 250 in men's tennis .

Important professional tournaments, but in which the presence of all the world's best players is no longer automatic.

A threat to P2… or an opportunity?

At first glance, this development might worry developers.

The presence of stars is obviously a major selling point for selling tickets, attracting partners and generating an audience.

If P2s became optional in the construction of the calendar for the world's best, some events could lose their attractiveness.

But there is another way to look at the situation.

It could also open the circuit .

Players ranked around 20th, 30th, 40th, or 50th in the world would have a greater chance of reaching quarterfinals, semifinals, and, above all, titles. Premier Padel.

P2 would become a true access level to the very highest level.

Then the best players would progress to P1, the possible Major II and finally the Major I.

We would then find a much more identifiable pyramid.

A true four-tiered hierarchy

The system could eventually become extremely readable:

Major I : the four ultimate events of the season.

Major II : major premium events bringing together the global elite.

P1 : the major regular tournaments on the circuit.

P2 : the gateway to the summit of Premier Padel.

Just as tennis has gradually built different levels allowing each tournament to occupy a specific place in the professional ecosystem.

For Premier PadelThis segmentation could also facilitate the commercial valuation of events: media rights, sponsors, prize money, infrastructure requested from organizers and the number of points distributed could vary much more clearly according to the level.

But why does Major II only appear in female characters?

That is ultimately the big question.

Si Premier Padel was actually preparing a new world category for 2027, why would it only appear in the women's regulations?

Conversely, if it is only a distinction allowing for having two tiers of prize money among the Women's Majors Why use the specific designations "Major I" and "Major II"?

To date, the documents we have do not allow us to make a definitive decision.

What we can say is much more precise:

The 2026 men's regulations contain only one Major grid; the women's regulations contain two separate grids, Major I and Major II; and the 2026 calendar does not present Major II as a fourth sporting category of the circuit.

The difference is unusual enough to warrant being noted.

Premier Padel made no announcements for 2027

Another element calling for caution: when they unveiled in June the first planned modifications for 2027 , Premier Padel and the FIP continued to talk about the categories Major, P1 and P2 .

They specifically announced an increase in the points distributed during the first rounds of these three categories. No Major II is mentioned in this 2027 reform.

This is probably the element that prevents us from going beyond the hypothesis today.

While a fourth category is indeed being considered, it has not yet been officially announced.

So, was it a mistake, a feminine peculiarity… or a clue for the future?

Three scenarios therefore remain possible.

Major II could simply refer to a second level of funding for the Women's Majors , without constituting an independent sporting category.

It could also correspond to a possibility foreseen contractually but which was ultimately not used as such in the 2026 timetable.

Or, in a much more intriguing scenario, this name could be the first indication of a future evolution of the pyramid Premier Padel possibly extended later to men and women.

It's impossible to say for sure at this time.

But if Premier Padel was expected to one day create its equivalent of the Masters 1000, the location already exists almost naturally between the Major and the P1 .

And its appearance would immediately raise another question: what would become of the P2s?

With 25 events per season, only 21 results counting towards the rankings from 2027 onwards, and a possible fourth category offering more points and prize money, the best players could start to select their schedule much more carefully.

The P2 tournaments could then become to padel what the ATP 250 tournaments are to tennis: tournaments that are essential to the circuit, but where the presence of all the stars is no longer guaranteed.

For now, the Major II therefore remains a phantom category: present in the regulations, but absent from the calendar .

It remains to be seen whether this is simply a regulatory curiosity… or a small window into the future of Premier Padel.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.