Something unexpected is happening on courts across Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Bangkok. New facilities are opening faster than they can be built. Waiting lists are growing. A generation of women who never considered themselves "sporty" are picking up rackets, making friends and staying for drinks after.
Court sports are having a moment — and it's not a trend. It's a movement.
The numbers tell the story
Padel is now played in over 130 countries by an estimated 30 million people worldwide — a 2.5x increase in a decade. By 2026, projections indicate 70,000 padel courts globally, representing a 40% increase from current levels. Padel is now the second most popular sport in Spain, behind only football. In Sweden, the number of registered padel players surpassed tennis players as early as 2022.
Pickleball is growing even faster in some markets. In 2026, pickleball counts over 36 million players in the United States alone — a number that has roughly doubled every three years since 2018. Pickleball recorded 223.5% growth between 2020 and 2023, with 15-20% annual growth continuing today.
And Southeast Asia is catching up fast.
The SEA explosion
The growth of pickleball in Southeast Asian territories has spiked at a 60% rate year-on-year, with 62% of respondents learning about pickleball within the last two years. Malaysia experienced one of the highest growth rates in the past year — awareness of pickleball in 2024 grew 132% compared to 2023, second only to Vietnam at 152%. Approximately 70% of Singapore respondents are now aware of pickleball.
Padel is following the same trajectory. Indonesia became the first Southeast Asian market to break into the global top 20 for padel interest, recording an extraordinary 887% increase in search interest. Indonesia is experiencing a significant boom in racquet sports, driven by rising popularity of padel and pickleball alongside established tennis, with Bali emerging as a key epicentre for padel growth.
In Singapore, padel courts are appearing across the island. In Malaysia, pickleball clubs are waitlisted. In Bangkok, new facilities are opening monthly. The pattern is the same everywhere: courts fill up, communities form, and people keep coming back — not just for the sport, but for everything around it.
Why these sports? Why now?
The rise of padel and pickleball isn't random. These sports share something that traditional gym culture never could: they are fundamentally social.
You can't play padel alone. You can't play pickleball alone. Every session is a doubles match — four people, one court, shared energy. The sport forces connection in a way that a solo treadmill session never will. Post-game drinks aren't optional — they're part of the culture.
For a generation of women increasingly looking for ways to stay active that don't feel like a chore, court sports are the answer. They're accessible — you don't need years of training to enjoy your first game. They're social — your playing partner becomes your friend. They're addictive — the learning curve keeps you coming back. And they fit into a full life — played before work, during lunch, or on a weekend morning before brunch.
The social sport movement
What we're witnessing isn't just sports growth — it's a lifestyle shift. The gym was always a means to an end. Court sports are the end itself. People aren't playing padel to get fit. They're getting fit because they love playing padel.
This is why we built BARDSI. We watched this movement take shape across Barcelona, Dublin and Singapore — in every city we lived in, the courts were full and the energy was the same. Women showing up, playing hard, staying for coffee after. Sport woven into social life rather than separate from it.
The numbers confirm what we already knew: court sports aren't a passing trend. They're the future of how a generation of women choose to move, connect and live.
Your court is waiting. And so is everything after.
Discover BARDSI's Court to Life collection — designed for the padel court, the pickleball court and everywhere after.
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