Top Sports in Southeast Asia: What People Play and Watch
From football to sepak takraw, Southeast Asia has a rich sporting culture. Discover the most played and watched sports across the 11 ASEAN nations with real participation data.
Southeast Asia is home to 680 million people across 11 countries with distinct sporting cultures. Football dominates viewership across the region, but the sports people actually play daily vary dramatically by country. Traditional arts like sepak takraw and pencak silat sit alongside Olympic sports like badminton and swimming in the regional sporting identity.
Football: The Most Watched Sport Across the Region
A 2023 Nielsen Sports survey found that 74 percent of adults in Southeast Asia identify as football fans, the highest of any sport. The English Premier League is the most watched foreign competition, with an estimated 220 million viewers per matchday across Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia combined. The AFF Championship (ASEAN Football Federation Cup) draws average TV audiences of 30 to 50 million per semi-final match.
- 74% of Southeast Asian adults identify as football fans per 2023 Nielsen Sports data
- Indonesia has the largest national football fan base — estimated 180 million
- Vietnam national team rose to FIFA rank 94 in 2022, highest in the country history
- AFF Championship semi-finals average 30 to 50 million television viewers
Badminton: The Region Most Decorated Olympic Sport
Southeast Asia dominates world badminton. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand have collectively won 42 Olympic medals in badminton through the Paris 2024 Games. Indonesia has won the Thomas Cup (men team world championship) 14 times since 1958. The Badminton World Federation reported that 4 of the top 10 ranked men singles players as of June 2025 are from ASEAN nations.
Recreational badminton is played by an estimated 60 million people in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, 68 percent of households own badminton equipment, the highest rate of any country in the world according to a 2022 Sports Malaysia survey.
Sepak Takraw: The Acrobatic Traditional Sport
Sepak takraw is a net sport played with a rattan ball using only feet, knees, chest, and head. It originated in 15th-century Malacca and is now played competitively across all 11 ASEAN nations. Thailand and Malaysia dominate international competition — Thailand won 8 of the last 10 men team titles at the King Cup Sepak Takraw World Championships.
Sepak takraw has been an official SEA Games sport since 1965, making it one of the longest-serving events in the games. The International Sepak Takraw Federation (ISTAF) had 31 member nations as of 2024.
Combat Sports: Muay Thai, Kun Khmer, and Pencak Silat
Pencak silat is the traditional martial art of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. It became an SEA Games medal sport in 1987 and consistently draws over 1,000 competitors per edition. Indonesia wins the most silat medals at every SEA Games. Muay Thai and Kun Khmer (Cambodia) each have national governing bodies with government funding — the Thai Sports Authority allocates over 200 million THB annually to Muay Thai development.
- Football — highest viewership, dominant across all 11 ASEAN nations
- Badminton — strongest Olympic performance, 60 million recreational players
- Sepak takraw — oldest ASEAN traditional sport with global competitive structure
- Pencak silat — official SEA Games sport since 1987, Indonesia dominant
- Combat sports (Muay Thai / Kun Khmer / Lethwei) — growing international audience via ONE Championship
Emerging Sports Gaining Ground in Southeast Asia
Basketball has grown rapidly since 2019 when the FIBA Asia Cup was hosted in China and broadcast heavily across ASEAN. The Philippines has the strongest basketball culture in the region — the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is the second oldest professional basketball league in the world, founded in 1975. E-sports participation reached 45 million active players across Southeast Asia in 2024 per Newzoo Global Esports Report, with Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam leading in competitive player counts.