If you have ever wondered how much does it cost to play badminton, you have come to the right place. For this post, I have researched how much does it cost to play badminton both in the US and in the UK. Here is the answer:
Playing badminton can cost between $2 if you play outdoors in your backyard with plastic shuttles and $45 per one-hour session in a sports hall with feathered shuttles.
As you can see, the range is very broad, so let’s get a bit more into the details to understand what drives up most of the cost.
Do you want to improve your badminton game? Then be sure to sign up for Badminton Famly+ by clicking here. Founded by former World Champion Thomas Laybourn, Badminton Famly+ is the best online training platform for badminton.
What are the main expenses when playing badminton?
When playing badminton, these are the main expenses you will have to consider:
- Court
- Shuttle
- Racket
Court
For courts, you basically have three options. You can join a club and play with them, you can hire a court and play with your friends/family or you can buy a net and some posts and play in your backyard (if you have one).
Joining a club
The cost of joining a badminton club in the UK starts at £5 for most cities for one two-hour session, whereas in London this starts at £7.
The cost of joining a badminton club in the US varies greatly. I have found some clubs in smaller cities starting at $1.50 per session, while others offered the same service for $9. New York has higher prices, with prices starting at $17 for one two-hour session. Therefore, if you want to know exactly how much it costs in your area, it is a good idea to check it yourself. Just write in Google “play badminton in (add your city)”.
The advantage of joining a club is that the shuttles are usually included in the price and that it is a good chance to meet new people and play even if none of your friends or family want to join.
Hiring a court
The cost of hiring a court in the UK starts at £8 per hour, with prices going up to £20 per hour in some sports halls.
The cost of hiring a court in the US varies greatly. We have found some places where playing is basically free as long as the courts are not occupied. In other smaller, cities prices start, in general, at around $50 per hour. In New York, the price starts at $79 per hour.
The advantage of hiring a court is that you can choose who you want to play with and you don’t need to be rotating to play whenever there are more people than space in the court. The disadvantages are that it is more expensive and that you will have to bring your own shuttles, which drives the cost even further up.
Buying a net and some posts and playing in your backyard
This is the most cost-effective option out of the three, but also the one where you will enjoy the sport the least. This is because the shuttle is very light so even a small breeze will disrupt its trajectory, making the play more difficult and less enjoyable.
Prices for a set of net and poles start at around £40 on Amazon.co.uk and at around $50 on Amazon.com. The good thing is that this is a one-time investment, so the more you use it, the lower the price per time it will be. If you imagine using this for one year every weekend (around 50 times in total), the price would be around £0.8 or $1 per time, so quite cheap.
Shuttle
If you are joining a club to play badminton, you do not need to worry about this part. If you are either hiring a court or playing in your backyard, this will be an added cost.
Type of shuttle when playing in your backyard
If you are playing in your backyard, as we described in our badminton shuttle post, we recommend the Yonex Mavis 300. They are durable plastic shuttles. They are not comparable to the feathered shuttles in terms of flight, but, since you are playing outdoors, you should be worrying more about stability and durability. Here the Yonex Mavis 300 does a good job. You can buy them on Amazon following this link.
The price for a tube of 6 shuttles is around $15 or £15. Playing once a week, I would expect them to last at least 6 months (so around 25 times). That would make the cost at around $0.6 or £0.6 per time.
Type of shuttle when hiring a court
If you are hiring a court, it depends a bit on your current level. If you are playing for the first few times indoors, I still think that the Yonex Mavis 300 is a good option. If you are getting a bit more serious, I would recommend that you invest in feathered shuttles since the play is much better. In that case, the Yonex Aerosensa line is my go-to option. The Yonex Aerosensa AS 20 is a good balance between quality and price. You can check the current price on Amazon following this link.
The price for a tube of 12 shuttles is around $20 or £20. Playing once a week, you can expect to go through a full tube in 2 or 3 weeks. So that would make the cost of the shuttles at $10 or £10 per session. As you can see, the difference in price with plastic shuttles is quite substantial.
Racket
A racket is the last main expense you have to consider when playing badminton. This is usually a one-time investment if you are going to play regularly. Alternatively, some clubs will also rent rackets to you.
Buying a racket
Prices here vary a lot depending. Basically, the sky is the limit with rackets, but you can also find decent rackets for a very low price. If you are just starting, I would not spend more than $50 or £50 on a racket. I would even say that you should go for something below $30 or £30 to start with, especially if you are thinking about playing outdoors.
Rackets can last for a very long time. I think 2 years (playing once a week) is a reasonable assumption. Doing the calculation with a two-year span in mind would mean that you could use the racket around 100. With that, the cost of a racket per session would be around $0.5 or £0.5.
Renting a racket
Prices can vary a lot so if this is the route you are choosing, it would be good to ask the place you want to play at. However, a common figure I have found online is $10 or £10.
Cost of playing badminton depending on several circumstances
As we have seen, the cost of playing badminton can differ greatly depending on the choices you make. For this reason, we have given a few examples below so you can get a better idea of how much it costs to play badminton depending on the circumstances.
Playing badminton in your courtyard, the most affordable option
If you have a courtyard, you are in luck. You can play badminton every weekend for around $2 or £2 per session, less than a small latte at Starbucks. Below are the calculations:
- Buying a badminton net and posts: Around $50 or £40. If you can use the product every weekend for a whole year (around 50 times), the price of the product would be around 1 dollar or pound per session.
- Buying shuttles: Around $15 or £15. If you can use the product every weekend for half a year (around 25 times), the price of the product would be around 60 cents or pennies per session.
- Buying rackets: Around $50 or £50. If you can use the product every weekend for two years (around 100 times), the price of the product would be around 50 cents or pennies per session.
That would make the total at around $2.1 or £2.1 per session.
Playing badminton with a badminton club, a good option for badminton enthusiasts
If you want to join a badminton club, the price will vary depending on the location you live in. As shuttles are included, you can take that out from the list of expenses. As we have seen in the previous example, the rackets are not a very big expense if you own them. So, if you are going to play badminton often, buying a racket is one of the first purchases you have to make.
If you bring your racket, in an expensive area, such as New York, you can expect to pay around $20 per one two-hour session. In other cities in the United States, the price goes down to around $10 per session, whereas in the UK the prices are between £7 (London) and £5 per session (other cities).
Hiring a court, the most expensive solution
If you want to go down the route of hiring a court, this is the most expensive option. As it happens with joining a club, the price is very dependant on the location.
The cost of joining a badminton club in the US varies greatly. We have found some places where playing is basically free as long as the courts are not occupied. In other smaller cities, prices start at around $50 per hour. If you are playing singles, that would mean $25 per person per hour. In New York, the price starts at $79 per hour, so around $40 per person per hour. Adding the feathered shuttles, that is another $10 per session, so $5 each person per session if you are playing singles.
So, for the US, prices start at $30 per person per hour in small cities, whereas in higher density cities such as New York the prices start at $45 per person per hour.
As I mentioned before, the price in the UK starts at £8 per hour, with prices going up to £20 per hour in some sports halls. If you want to play singles, that means that each person has to pay between £4 and £10 for the court per hour. If you add to that the price of the feathered shuttles, that is another £10 per session, so £5 each person per session if you are playing singles.
So, for the UK, the total price is between £9 and £15 per person per hour depending on where you live.
Final words
And with this, we have arrived at the end of this post. Do you have any questions about the cost of playing badminton in your area? Let us know in the comments below!
License for featured image
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons license “Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International”.
Attribution: Murray Foubister, Flickr, CC BY-SA 4.0
