Early figures from the 2018 edition of the National Sporting Goods Association’s (NSGA) Sports Participation in the U.S. report, the industry’s longest-standing and most comprehensive participation study, were released to the industry today.
The 2017 results point to a mixed performance among the ten segments tracked by NSGA. In total, 2017 saw five segments increase in participation, four segments decrease and one segment remain flat versus 2016.
Segments experiencing growth included Open Water Sports (+2.7 percent), Outdoor Activities (+2.5 percent), Snow Sports (+1.4 percent), Personal Contact Sports (+0.6 percent) and Individual Sports (+0.5 percent). Segments declining included Team Sports (-0.6 percent), Fitness Activities (-1.3 percent), Shooting Sports (-1.9 percent) and Indoor Games (-1.9 percent). The Wheel Sports segment remained flat (+0.1 percent).
This year’s mixed results continue a pattern of inconsistency and lack of growth experienced in recent years. Among the segments tracked by NSGA, only Open Water Sports and Outdoor Activities have experienced increases in each of the last three years (2015-2017), while all other segments have experienced both increases and decreases over the same period.
“While the percent changes among the different segments in recent years have not been drastic, the industry has not seen the kind of sustained growth that is beneficial to all organizations” said NSGA President and CEO Matt Carlson.
The Sports Participation in the U.S. report will be available in the coming weeks on NSGA’s website. The report encompasses a wide variety of sports and recreational activities and includes easy-to-understand, quick-view snapshots for each, allowing users to easily see a 10-year participation trend (when available), as well as demographic details regarding age, income and U.S. region. NSGA’s participation research also includes Cross Participation, Lifecycle Demographics and Single Sport reports.
Visit www.nsga.org/researchofferings for more information.
