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Badminton is booming amid a surge in pickleball participation.The popularity of both racquet sports — especially among Generation Z — is increasing, prompting a Fort Worth group to build its own new 30,000-square-foot facility dedicated to the court games.Fort Worth Badminton Club plans to build an indoor badminton and pickleball facility on a nearly 5-acre site at 3001 Fisher Ave. in the Riverside neighborhood on the city’s east side.The site, near the intersection of East 4th Street and Riverside Drive, ceased use as an industrial storage yard about 20 years ago, according to a city staff report.On March 12, the Fort Worth Zoning Commission gave their approval for a zoning change to allow the facility. The commissioners decided to change the land’s zoning from “ER” neighborhood commercial restricted to “E” neighborhood commercial.The facility, which is also near a rail line used by the Trinity Railway Express and freight trains, will hold its games inside so “noise would not impact the nearby residential uses” of the neighborhood, staff wrote in their report.Fort Worth City Council members will consider the zoning case at their April 8 meeting.The badminton club currently plays on Sundays and Thursdays at the Chisholm Trail Community Center, 4936 McPherson Blvd. in far southwest Fort Worth east of Crowley.A site plan shows where a new badminton and pickleball facility will be built on the city’s east side. Fort Worth zoning commissioners requested that the building be shifted slightly away from nearby railroad tracks. (Courtesy image | City of Fort Worth)
Roy Lantang, a member of Fort Worth Badminton Club, posted about the new facility on the club’s Facebook page: “Are y’all excited? We can’t wait to have our own facility in the city of Fort Worth!”Lantang pointed out that the Fisher Avenue facility — which is slated to open in January 2026 — will be more centrally located than the club’s current location. The site, just north of Interstate 30, is about a five-minute drive from downtown Fort Worth and is within a 15 to 20 minute drive from Tarrant area cities such as Arlington, Burleson, Keller and Benbrook.A 2023 study by London-based accounting firm Ernst Young found badminton was the fifth most popular sport among Gen Z sports enthusiasts, although it ranked as No. 14 among the general population.Last June, more than 300 badminton athletes visited Fort Worth when the city hosted the 2024 Yonex US Open at the Fort Worth Convention Center, resulting in a $1.2 million economic impact through hotel bookings, according to USA Badminton.Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.