7 Tips for growing the sport badminton
We all love badminton, and we would all love it to be a bigger and more popular sport than it is now. There are a few small things we can do as fans to make a positive impact on the growth of our sport. These things are not very influential on our own, but as a collective they do change the popularity and professionalism of the sport.
According to this recent report from Market Growth Reports (Feb 2026), the global badminton market is growing 4.3% every year. With participation even growing by 15% in recent years. A growing sport with more money to spend, is not directly beneficial, but in broad terms if used correctly by the companies and federations involved, this could lead to more places to play badminton, more innovation in badminton gear and more athletes who can play badminton full-time. This improves the sport and the enjoyment overall, but how can we help to drive this growth as an individual? Check out these 7 ways to increase the potential of our beloved sport.
1. Watch badminton (live)
Watching badminton (live) on YouTube, TV or other platforms has a positive effect on the sport. Not only are there more people watching and therefore it gets recommended by the algorithm to more people, also the Badminton World Federation (BWF) is making more money from advertisements on their content. If more people are watching, there will be more income from the ads in those videos, while also networks are willing to pay a higher price to own the rights for broadcasting the livestream of a tournament. And let’s not forget about the sponsorships BWF has for the tournaments. All the brands you see on the side of the court and around the tournament will be willing to pay a lot more if there were more people watching.
Besides watching on a device, being in person in the arena is even better. This boosts ticket sales, engagement and a more fun atmosphere for the whole tournament. Besides, when you travel there, you cause an increased income for the city it is hosted in, which in turn makes them happier to host the tournament. And you get to watch the action from up close.
2. Follow the players
Follow the players on their social media platforms. Almost all players are on Instagram, YouTube, X, TikTok, Weibo and other platforms. Give them a follow. This helps players to get better sponsorship deals, since they have a bigger reach. The algorithm will show their content to more people who are not (yet) in the badminton scene. Better sponsorship deals means that the players can make more money to pay for the best facilities and don’t have to worry about their income and just focus on their performance. This will raise the overall level of the game and therefore improve our sport. Also, there are some good tutorial videos out there by the players or great podcasts to stay up to date with what is going on. The more content you consume, the better for the players. And you also might learn something from it!
3. Play badminton
Playing badminton for yourself might not feel like you do anything special for the sport. However, you do make an impact. By playing you raise the overall level of badminton in your country, even if you are not anywhere close to playing professionally. Playing by itself makes it tougher for others to go up the ranks in your country, therefore making others better and so on. Your effect on others will eventually end up at the top as well. The more competitive the environment on all levels the better the top players will be growing up in this environment. Even though this effect might be small, it can have some direct effect on your area and from there snowball.
4. Buy badminton products
Buying new shoes or rackets from top badminton brands might seem like you only did this for yourself. However, the more you spend on badminton brands the bigger the market will be for these companies. They will innovate their products more, be able to pay for bigger sponsorship deals with the players and raise the overall level of the game. I’m not saying you should spend all your money on new rackets. But this might take the regret away from spending too much money. 😉
5. Produce content
Besides watching and following all the content that is being put out in the world, you could also take your part in creating content. Make an Instagram account where you post news or fun facts about players. Or create a YouTube channel where you explain certain strokes or where you upload your strokes in slow motion. Or start a website, call it something with the most exciting scoreline in badminton and try to go from there. Try being creative, it is a great way to learn new skills as well, like editing, writing or photoshop. New content can reach new people and introduce them to our sport. As I see it, a win for everybody and there can never be too many badminton content creators.
6. Be vocal about your opinion
Sometimes in badminton things happen that are unfair or there are rules that are not good for the sport. When something like this happens, one of the worst things that can occur is there being no response from fans at all. I believe we can make a change in the regulations of our sport if we as a collective put enough pressure on the federations to change this. This pressure can only occur when there is active discussion by a lot of fans on different platforms. I would recommend going to places like YouTube, Instagram, X, Reddit, or badminton forums and talk about what you think of what is going on. It doesn’t have to be negative things or suggest a change immediately. But having this brewing discussion sets the sport up for the possibility of improvements when a great idea or change does arise, and we can all have a place to talk about it and get behind the idea. The more connected the badminton community is, the better.
7. Improve your local experience
Badminton is fun, but it is a lot more fun when more people are watching, caring, and involved. You can have an impact on this. And compared to the other tips, this one can have a huge impact depending on how much time you have to spend. Find a local club to help them out with some volunteer work. Get more kids to play in your area. Go watch those local tournaments or club matches. This improves the experience for everybody and can get more people excited to play. If you can get more people to play the sport, the level overall will increase.
Conclusion
More money for badminton stakeholders does not always mean improvement, but it does give the opportunity to create more badminton possibilities, more innovation and a higher number of professional athletes who can focus more on the sport instead of running a side business.
There are many things you can do to help this trajectory upwards, but they all come down to loving the sport itself and sparking other people's enthusiasm with your presence online and offline.
I hope you found this view on our sports engagement interesting. If you did, I am sure you would like one of the other articles as well.
