What Unusual Sports Are Popular in 2025?
In 2025, while traditional sports like football and basketball still dominate headlines, a wild wave of unusual sports is taking the underground—and now global—stage. From the high-flying chaos of bossaball to the adrenaline-pumping danger of death diving, these offbeat activities are redefining what it means to compete. And let’s not forget “phygital” sports, where the digital and physical worlds collide in oddly satisfying harmony.
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In the otherwise offbeat world of weird sports of 2025, everyone’s still obsessed with football and basketball (yawn!), while these crazy ones are actually working over the underground scene. And honestly, some of these certainly top the boredom of a 3-hour-long baseball game.
Padel Is Taking Over (Sorry, Tennis)
First and foremost – in comes Padel. Padel is to tennis and squash as a child to a parent. In Europe, the local equivalent to pickleball is padel, which is growing extremely fast. You play on a smaller court with walls that can be used in play; these aspects pave the way for amazing rallies, and spectacular jinxes from the Premier Padel Tour are getting quite a bit of regional attention.
More amazing stuff? An even newer game called Padel Smash is basically portable Padel meets Spikeball. The two-person company shot to fame on Shark Tank in 2023 when it raised $250,000. Just a little over a year later, the company is worth $3 million. Not bad for a sport that sounds like it was invented during a drunk brainstorming session.
Death Diving (Because Regular Diving is Too Safe)
Death diving, for instance, so terrible it is truly a sport, is another terrifying instance. Yes, a Norway invention (of course). The divers jump off a platform 10 meters high, spending as much time in a particular pose before entering the water tucked in. Try to look like they will do a belly flop from about a nanosecond to eternity before backing out at the last second. Pure spectacle, but definitely not for persons who treasure their internal properties.
Chess Boxing: For When You Can’t Decide Between Brain or Brawn
It is pretty much exactly as its name states. The players take turns between a round of chess and one of boxing. The winner is declared after someone either achieves a checkmate or knocks the other person out. I’m telling you! Somebody actually thought, “chess would be better with punching.” And it is catching on! There is strangely great appeal in watching somebody trying to think three moves ahead while adjusting to a black eye.
Underwater Hockey (Hold Your Breath!)
Remember gym class hockey? Well, this is that, minus the gym part and the holding one breath at the bottom of a pool part. This weird sport is six versus six with no goaltenders, played in a swimming pool. A weighted puck is used, which is placed at the bottom of the pool. The kicker: players must hold their breath underwater and occasionally come up to the surface to breathe. Imagine just regular hockey but with the thrill of maybe getting drowned!
Bossaball: Volleyball, Trampolines Chaos
My personal favorite!! Bossaball is a crazy sport that mixes volleyball with football (soccer), gymnastics, and capoeira. It is played on an inflatable court with an inflatable net. On either side of the net is a small inflatable trampoline. So, backflips while spiking a volleyball—what could go wrong?
The Rise of Phygital Sports
Here is where things go truly in 2025. A whole new category of sports is booming, called “phygital” sports- physical meet digital for those not fluent in start-up speak- Think racing simulators that have come so close to real that many argue shoes with thin and flexible soles are a necessity- their thin and flexible soles help maximize the driver’s feel of the petals and give them well control not less. People are buying special shoes to play better at video games. Peak 2025 is here now, peeps!
Extreme Ironing (Yes, Really)
I saved the weirdest for last. Extreme ironing is done in dangerous locations—the sides of mountains, in the sea, in the forest, etc. There are also rules: the participants must use ironing boards with a specified length, and the irons must be made of real iron. At a minimum, one has to use a tea towel for the size of the garment. Somebody looked at ironing and thought: this mundane household chore needs more DANGER.
Why Are We Like This?
Look, I think the explosion of weird sporting events in 2025 says something about our society. Maybe we are bored with traditional sports. Or maybe, social media has transformed us all into attention-seekers who crave ever more bizarre activities to go viral. Or maybe-just maybe-humans have always been weird, and now we finally have the platforms to share our weirdness with the world.
Whatever the reason, the 2025 World Games for non-Olympic disciplines and events will be staged in Chengdu, China, thus putting the bizarre sports into legitimate worldwide recognition. So next time a well-meaning friend tries to get you to join their amateur softball league, suggest underwater hockey. You’re going to have some good stories to tell.
Note: The author takes no responsibility for any injuries sustained while attempting death diving, extreme ironing, or trying to explain chess boxing to your grandmother.
