The independent knowledge institute for racquet sports

We are the independent knowledge institute for the racquet sports ecosystem. Decision-grade data, benchmarks, and analysis for the decisions that shape facilities, investments, and policy — across padel, pickleball, tennis, badminton, and squash. Built for operators, investors, developers, manufacturers, and public institutions.

Latest from the Institute

IOC Olympic Day 'Let's Move' campaign graphic — 'You Can Do This' in bubble lettering over faded everyday excuses, the Olympic rings, and 'Over 150 opportunities to get active on Olympic Day.'

Are racquet sports missing the Olympic Day’s participation engine?

Pickleball reached 13.6 million U.S. participants in 2025 (USTA), up from 4.2 million in 2020 — yet the fastest-growing racquet sports are absent from the IOC's 150-plus 'Let's Move' activations on Olympic Day. Sport by sport, this RSI analysis shows the Olympic participation engine mobilizes where federation governance is mature, not where players are. Only badminton fits; padel and pickleball watch from outside the gate. For operators, investors, and federations weighing th

Ecosystem

Bar chart of U.S. tennis players by yearly session frequency; regular plus avid players make up 28.6%, the highest engaged share of any racquet sport.

Tennis — The Real-Estate Giant Renovating in Three National Modes

Tennis has the most documented player base in racquet sports: 25.7 million U.S. players — 13.0 M core, 12.7 M casual. Regular plus avid players make up 28.6%, the highest engaged share of any racquet sport. It is also the only one whose core players (average age 43) are older than its casuals (33), with a balanced 53/47 gender split, +9.7 years of added life expectancy, and an 80% junior drop-out by 13 that still feeds a deep, multi-decade competitive core for operators and i

Ecosystem

Infographic mapping world badminton by facility model: Asia's mass participation, France's engineered club base, Europe's casual public-hall play, Germany's commercial boom-and-bust, and no base at all in the US and Australia.

Badminton — Communal Sport, State Project, or Commercial Niche?

Badminton has the world's largest player base — over 220 million — yet the smallest commercial footprint. The reason is the series' core lesson: the sport is never the variable, the facility is. Asia built mass participation through public halls and schools; France engineered a durable club base; Britain runs a wide but casual public-hall game; Germany built a commercial base in the 1990s and lost it, exactly as squash did; the US and Australia built no base at all. One sport

Ecosystem

Racquet Sports Institute chart "Squash — a tale of three trajectories": four major markets from the 1970s/80s peak to 2025. Egypt rises on Type 4 member-club mass participation, the USA holds steady on a Type 2/3 college pipeline, Europe and Australia/NZ both decline on the Type 1 commercial model — Australia at sharper pace.

Squash — A Tale of Three Trajectories Going Three Different Directions

For operators, investors and federations: four squash markets, three trajectories. Egypt's member-club system produces global elite dominance from 2,000–2,500 courts. The US builds a Type 2/3 college pipeline (65 varsity teams). Europe and Australia/NZ run Type 1 commercial models in erosion — England 4,200 courts; Australia 1,300→580 in 20 years. Facility type, not the sport, drives outcomes — and the strategic Brisbane 2032 case is the one the WSF isn't making.

Ecosystem

Pickleball — The Public-Sector Wave Meets the Commercial Operator

Pickleball is the racquet sport where public-private tension is most visible globally. The US has built 82,613 mostly public courts colliding with a Picklr-style indoor commercial wave. Asia counts 812 million who have tried the sport against just 5,000–8,000 courts — the rare supply-constrained market. Europe arrived a decade late: tennis-club add-ons dominate, Type 1 commercial is essentially unborn. Three regions, same paddle, three radically different investment stories.

Ecosystem

Padel — A Hospitality Product Tested in Three Geographies

Padel is the same sport everywhere — 20×10 metres, four players, glass walls — but the business is not. This article maps the global market through three lenses: maturity (Spain, Italy, Argentina), active growth (UK, France, Germany), and early stage (USA, MENA, India, Indonesia). Sweden's 4,200-court boom became a €500 million crash. The UK now leads the world in revenue per court. And headline player-per-court figures overstate real operational demand by a factor of three t

Ecosystem

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In View

Candidate disciplines await Brisbane'32 decision

The International Olympic Committee's Programme Working Group informed this week to the IOC-recognised federations regarding the process by which their respective sports may be considered as contenders for inclusion in the Games following LA28. The procedure allows greater flexibility when assessing sports and disciplines proposed by the Organising Committee, reflecting the advanced stage already reached in Brisbane 2032's planning.

Pickleball now has the highest habitual engagement of any activity in US fitness facilities

HFA's annual consumer report shows the US fitness market at 81 million members and 7 billion facility visits — record highs across the board. The standout for racquet sports: pickleball is now played by 7.6 million fitness-facility members, with 64.8% playing weekly — the highest habitual engagement rate of any activity HFA tracks. Pickleball has moved from boom story to engagement leader.

How The Lobb Club became Bangkok’s coolest tennis hangout

The Lobb Club, which opened in Bangkok in March, grew out of a holiday conversation among friends in Mallorca and was built by seven co-founders who converted a former metals warehouse into two tennis courts, five simulators, a pickleball court, an ice bath and an on-site Thai restaurant. Most owners keep their day jobs and contribute different skills, and a few months in, court bookings are already competitive with talk of a second location.

Europe's fitness market at €39bn: the adjacent benchmark racquet sports doesn't have

EuropeActive and Deloitte's annual European fitness report — now in its thirteenth edition — documents a €39 billion market, 75 million members, and granular operator data from 11,250 consumer interviews across 20 countries. Racquet sports, the sector competing for the same square meter and the same member wallet, has no equivalent annual benchmark. The information asymmetry is the opportunity.

Class of 2035: the next decade of facility demand is being shaped in primary schools today

The Youth Sport Trust's Class of 2035 report tracks Generation Alpha and finds today's primary-school children increasingly sedentary, with rising obesity and mental health concerns. The structural implication for facility planners: capital committed today serves users for the next 20-30 years. For racquet sports — with pickleball and padel already positioned around low-social access — the generational window is open now.

Sport as asset class: WSJ launches dedicated business vertical

Following CNBC's 2024 vertical and Puck's The Varsity, the WSJ becomes the latest major outlet treating sport as a standalone business beat. The bigger signal: sport-as-asset-class is now the mainstream frame — and the analytical bar for owners, investors, and operators is rising across the entire industry.