Is Footbag Making a Comeback? The Quiet Resurgence of a 70s Sport

Is Footbag Making a Comeback?

Footbag never really died — but for most of the 2000s and 2010s, it lived quietly inside a tight-knit competitive community. That's changing.

The TikTok Effect

Short-form video is the perfect medium for footbag tricks. A 15-second clip can show a full freestyle combo without context, and the visual payoff is immediate. Hashtags like #footbag and #hackysack have collectively passed 400 million views, and creators like Honza Weber (multi-time freestyle world champion) regularly post tutorials to audiences in the hundreds of thousands.

College Clubs Are Back

After bottoming out around 2015, collegiate footbag clubs are reappearing at schools like Oregon State, University of Colorado, and McGill. Most run as informal "jams" — circle-kicking sessions where players pass the bag and try not to drop it.

Better Bags, Cheaper

Twenty years ago, a tournament-grade 32-panel footbag was a special-order item. Today brands like Sipa Sipa and Flying Clipper ship hand-stitched bags worldwide for $25–$40, and the materials (synthetic suede, polypropylene pellets) hold up far better than the old sand-and-cloth Wham-O originals.

The Olympic Question

Footbag has been an exhibition sport at the World Games and is recognized by GAISF (the umbrella body for non-Olympic sports). Olympic inclusion isn't imminent — the sport's competitive base is still small — but a new generation of players is the foundation any future bid would need.

Why Now?

Three things are converging:

1. Low-cost, high-skill content is what algorithms reward.

2. Outdoor, screen-free hobbies got a permanent post-2020 boost.

3. Cheap, high-quality gear finally exists.

Footbag isn't going to overtake soccer. But after two decades in the background, it's the most visible it's been since the Wham-O era.