Rafael Nadal, partner of Abel Matutes Prats, continues to expand his fortune outside the courts. After a successful sports career, the Mallorcan has found an inexhaustible source of income in the business world. The sale of almost half of the company that manages the Rafa Nadal Academy and its international centers in Hong Kong, Kuwait, Mexico and Greece has brought him a profit of close to 85 million euros. The origin of the operation is the controversial urban requalification promoted by PP and PSOE, which allowed the transformation of a rustic land into a sports center in Manacor and then into a larger complex with hotel use.
An academy turned into a luxury hotel thanks to legislative changes
The Rafa Nadal Academy, inaugurated in 2016 in Manacor, was born with the promise of being a high performance center for promising young tennis players. However, in 2018, PP and PSOE promoted an amendment to the Balearic Housing Law that allowed its transformation into a 214-room hotel and the expansion of the complex by 54%, reaching 73,507 square meters.
This legislative modification was harshly criticized by parties such as MÉS per Mallorca and Podemos, who denounced a favored treatment to Nadal and an a la carte urbanism. In addition, the then mayor of Manacor, Miquel Oliver, accused the academy of operating outside municipal regulations and of not paying IBI since 2016.
With this requalification, the academy went from being a sports center to a first-class hotel business, with accommodation rates that can exceed 500 euros per night in high season. The project, which was initially presented as a space to promote tennis, ended up consolidating itself as an exclusive tourist complex.
The construction of the center on rustic land also had the favored treatment of the Parliament in 2012. A Balearic law considered the project of regional interest.
Nadal sells almost half of its business for 85 million euros
Now, the business generated by the academy is paying off. The company Centre Esportiu Manacor, which manages the Rafa Nadal Academy and its subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Kuwait, Greece and Mexico, has been partially sold to the investment fund GPF Capital, which has acquired almost 50% of the company.
This transaction resulted in an extraordinary profit of 85 million euros for Aspemir, Nadal’s holding company. Thanks to this sale, the company’s net worth has soared by 44%, from 237 million in 2022 to 341.4 million in 2023.
GPF Capital is an investment fund that manages more than 1.2 billion euros and is committed to sectors with high growth and profitability. With this purchase, it enters fully into the management of Nadal’s sports centers, consolidating its international expansion.
The Nadal empire: from racquet to business
In addition to his tennis centers, Nadal has diversified his fortune in sectors such as hospitality, energy, real estate and audiovisual production. Through his holding company Aspemir, he has invested in his hotel brand Zel, in collaboration with Meliá, in the MadCool festival and in the production company Mabel Capital, which has financed series such as Soy Georgina.
It has also ventured into the nutritional supplements sector with NDL Pro-Health, a brand developed together with Cantabria Labs. The company expects to have a turnover of 30 million euros in five years.
Aspemir is the partner of Aballist, Abel Matutes Prats’ company, in Mabel Capital.
The future of the Rafa Nadal Academy after the sale
Despite having sold almost half of Centre Esportiu Manacor, Nadal remains the main owner of his academy in Manacor. However, this operation confirms that his business vision has gone beyond sport, turning his academy into a money-making machine.
What began as a training center for tennis players has ended up being a large hotel complex and a key financial asset, favored by the controversial urban requalification of PP and PSOE. Meanwhile, Nadal continues to monetize his image and consolidate his position as one of the best positioned sportsmen in the business world.
