MLB Hall of Famer Derek Jeter and Wayne Boich, Founder and CEO of Reserve Padel, detail how Reserve Padel came to be and share the group’s growth prospects on “The Claman Countdown.”
Derek Jeter will always be the captain, but this weekend his role is a little different.
Jeter was the captain of the New York Yankees for the final 12 seasons of his 20-year Hall of Fame career.
Now, Jeter has been given the title of captain of a padel team at the Reserve Cup in Miami this weekend.
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Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees celebrates after a game-winning RBI in the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles during his final game at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2014, in the Bronx borough of New York. (Al Bello/Getty Images/Getty Images)
The Reserve Cup, founded by Wayne Boich, is an annual event where the best padel players compete in a tournament.
“I’m here to support Wayne. I’m not a padel expert, he’s the expert on the panel. He first told me about his vision and I’m proud of what he was able to build here,” Jeter said in an interview with Fox Business.
The first Reserve Cup in Miami took place just two years ago, and stars like Jeter, David Beckham and Serena Williams showed their love for the sport which combines tennis, pickleball, racquetball and squash. The prize money is approximately $600,000, with more than $2 million in sponsorship revenue.
“For me, it’s firstly because I loved this sport. I didn’t know anything about padel in 2013. I played at a wedding,” Boich told Fox Business. “And then I was like, ‘Wow, this is an amazing sport.’ I had no idea what it was. And then I started playing with a group of ex-tennis players in Miami, when there were hardly any courts in the United States. I think there were less than 10 in the entire United States, but there were three in Miami.
“We started playing a lot, and then when I went to Spain and played with the pros, we were like, ‘Wow, this is such a cool sport to watch live, and playing against these guys is amazing.'”
Jimmy Butler, Wayne Boich and Derek Jeter pose for photos during the 2025 Reserve Cup. (Reserve Cut/Fox News)
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Boich then began bringing professional players to Miami, built a field at his home and “it became an event.”
“It’s so engaging…I noticed how men and women around 75 years old could become addicted in one session. I found that very eye-opening,” Boich said.
“What we have with the Reserve Cup. It’s not a touring event, but we’re really a high-end lifestyle event that people go to for good padel but many other things,” Boich added. “Whether it’s networking, watching padel, the events we have there, the people they’re exposed to. Above all, I’m very honored and proud to see all these people getting into the game and obviously the role we played in it.”
The Reserve Cup is not an exhibition, however, as some of the best players in the world compete to win the prizes.
“That’s what draws people here. Any time you watch a sport, if you have the best players in the world – look at the World Series and the Super Bowl – people want to go see it,” Jeter added. “He turned this into an event bringing some of the best players in the world here.”
For Boich, that means the world has the support of someone like the 14-time All-Star and five-time World Series winner.
Derek Jeter is introduced during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Clark Sports Center on September 8, 2021 in Cooperstown, NY (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images/Getty Images)
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“I’m just lucky that I’ve been playing sports for a long time, and these people have been my friends for a long time. And I got them into padel, they both really like it. Jimmy is an avid player when he can play, and Derek loves it,” Boich said.
“So they’re helpful, right? And I think they appreciate and believe what we’re building at the Reserve, and they’re happy to be a part of it. And I’m very lucky before that. It’s great.
“And then I think, on the Reserve Cup side, it’s really good to see corporate money starting to flow into it. We’re in a position now where we have great sponsors at the Reserve Cup to help make the event a success. We’ve probably supplied about 20 percent of the courts that have been sold in the United States. That’s the tip of the iceberg.”
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