The Surge
Mahjong topped a ticketing platform's come meet people index
An index published in July 2026 put mahjong events up 235 percent, but it counted only the listings that said out loud who the evening was for.
A large US ticketing platform published an index in July 2026 comparing the first half of 2025 with the first half of 2026 across its own listings, and mahjong sat at the top of its hobby table. Per the report, mahjong events rose 235 percent and attendance rose 272 percent, with Phoenix, Chicago and Washington, DC named as the leading markets.
The methodology is the part worth reading. The platform says an event was counted only if its title or description carried explicit meeting language, phrases such as meet new people, singles, mixer, come solo, or find your people, in addition to matching the activity keyword. A room listed as open play, with none of those words in it, was not in the count at all.
Other categories in the same table, according to the report: trivia nights up 403 percent in events and 388 percent in attendance, birdwatching meetups up 131 percent and 82 percent, pilates socials up 84 percent and 87 percent, and pottery and craft circles up 38 percent in events with attendance up 116 percent.
Two limits are worth stating plainly. The index reflects listings on one platform rather than every table in the country, and it counts events listed as mahjong without separating American play from other styles. Read exactly as written, it measures how organizers worded their invitations at least as much as how many games were held.