A year ago Hoang Tran, co-founder of an international law firm in Ho Chi Minh City, turned to pickleball as an alternative to tennis after ligament surgery.

Noticing the scarcity of equipment on the market at the time he and his wife decided to produce their own Vietnamese racket brand with an “old money” aesthetic: elegant, classic, while still ensuring high performance.

Their brand has made its way into many professional tournaments. Sales of rackets on e-commerce platforms alone in the first 10 months of 2025 topped VND988 billion ($37.93 million).

Though pickleball only came into prominence in Vietnam at the start of 2024, people have embraced it incredibly quickly.

A report by e-commerce data platform Metric.vn reveals the speed of growth: In the first quarter of 2024 the market was only worth VND15 billion, but by the third quarter of 2025 it had skyrocketed to VND357 billion. It is not just the rackets; the real growth in fact is in clothing (up 500%) and shoes (up 459%).

The courts are gradually transforming into fashion runways, leading to a 158% increase in the number of shops selling these products on e-commerce platforms in just a year to 3,900.

The surge in the sport’s popularity has led to a shortage of courts. In Hanoi, from utilizing old sports halls, the market has shifted to a model of high-end entertainment complexes.

Tran Quang Khai, owner of a complex of nine courts on Tran Quy Kien Street in Cau Giay district, says that, after a quiet start in early 2024, things are bustling from morning to late night now. “If you want to find a quiet moment on the court, you can’t.”

In central areas such as Cau Giay, Dong Da and Hai Ba Trung, pickleball courts are always fully booked. A survey by Read found that Cau Giay Ward alone has some 30 courts, one of the highest densities in the capital.

Investors quickly realized that pickleball is not only a sport but also a lifestyle requiring a range of services.

Bui Thi Anh Nguyet, who has invested in pickleball courts, has shifted from small, individual courts to a complex model. Starting from 10 courts in Nam Tu Liem, she realized early the limitations of the small-scale model when customers arriving by car had no parking.

In July 2025 she leased thousands of square meters of factory space in Long Bien District to build a complex of 17 courts with parking for 400 cars, integrating dining and physical therapy facilities.

“Current customers demand international standard court surfaces to protect their knees and ankles. Lighting and services must be commensurate,” Nguyet says.

Revenues come not just from entrance fees of VND120,000-300,000 per hour but also from a variety of others like food and beverage, filming and organizing tournaments.

The tournament schedule is fully booked for until the end of December. Long Bien is now considered the “pickleball capital” of Hanoi. At the end of 2024 there were over 54 courts in the area, and according to a Hanoi referee the number now exceeds 100, many of them high-end and costing 500,000 VND per hour.

A similar craze is happening in HCMC. The city has around 1,000 court complexes.

New professions arise from sports craze

The scarcity of prime-time court availability has given rise to a new profession, that of “social host,” who acts as an intermediary to coordinate and match up groups for matches and social games.

Tuan Anh, 35, rents courts in central locations at prime hours on a long-term basis, and divvies up playing time for a community of 500 people in a group chat.

While collecting higher fees for the courts from the players, the host also has to pair players of similar skill levels to avoid mismatches.

Court owners are starting to collaborate with medical teams and invite professional coaches and referees. Training classes for referees and coaches are often fully booked.

Hoang Thi Thai Binh, a member of the first pickleball referee team in Hanoi, said in October 2024 she had registered for a training course organized by the Department of Physical Education and Sports. It attracted 500 people, a high number for a professional sports training class.

In November this year she and 24 colleagues established the Pickleball Referee Team in Hanoi. She says on average the referee team officiates five to six tournaments a week across the country’s northern and central regions.

For one business tournament in Ha Long with 1,200 players, she had to mobilize more than 60 referees. “I’ve never seen a sport like this where tournaments sprout like mushrooms after the rain, from amateur tournaments to business tournaments with thousands of participants,” she says.

With millions of players and trillions of dong (VND1 trillion = $38 million) flowing into the sport, the establishment of an official Pickleball Federation to standardize the rules and tournament system “is only a matter of time,” she says.

According to market research firms, pickleball shows no signs of being just a fad in Vietnam. The Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating predicts that the number of players will continue to grow at a record pace in 2026, when the sport truly becomes integrated and becomes a part of the modern lifestyle.

For lawyer Hoang Tran’s 36th birthday in October, his wife transformed his celebration into a miniature professional tournament: inviting 50 players, hiring a famous player to challenge him, bringing in an acclaimed referee, and designing a VIP room with a BBQ party.

Even the man who “plays in tournaments all year round without winning a trophy” that day received a special trophy engraved with his name from his wife.

“Pickleball has created a romantic story for my wife and me,” Hoang says. “But more broadly, it’s a microcosm of an economy that’s expanding at a dizzying pace.”