SFIA’s 2024 U.S. Trends in Team Sports Report included some concerning findings, including continued deterioration in CORE participation, but overall had more positive findings than negative, including momentum behind girls’ participation, improving participation rates for lower-income households, and team sports overall recovering smartly from the pandemic.

SGB Media highlights 10 takeaways from the report.

  1. Team Sports Continues Pandemic Recovery. The total team sports participation rate increased from 10.8 percent in 2023 to 25.7 percent, marking its third consecutive year of improvement and a 360-basis-point improvement from the 2020 participation rate of 22.1 percent impacted by the pandemic. The rate stands above the 23.4 percent team sports participation rate notched in the pre-pandemic 2019 year. Total team participation, which counts an individual twice if they play two different team sports, jumped 5.6 percent year-over-year, to 136.1 million, recovering by nearly 10 million since 2020 and exceeding the last decade’s peak year 2016 by 2.5 million or 1.9 percent.
  2. Broader Wins Across Team Sports. In contrast to 2022, when overall team sports participation increased due to major increases from just five team sports, in 2023, the growth was more balanced and spread out. Of the 24 team sports SFIA tracks, 20 showed year-over-year increases with only Roller Hockey (-9.6 percent), Beach Volleyball (-5.1 percent), Rugby (-4.6 percent), and Ultimate Frisbee (-2.6 percent) posting a decline. Swimming on a Team (+14 percent) and Court Volleyball (+13.4 percent) led with the largest percentage increases. The three team sports with the highest number of participants all generated solid gains: Basketball (+5.6 percent to 29.7 million), Outdoor Soccer (+8.1 percent to 14.1 million), and Baseball (+7.6 percent to 16.7 million).
  3. Core Participation continues to Trail Casual. In 2023, the gap between casual participants and Core team sports participants, or basically those regularly playing team sports, continued to widen as the Core number tumbled by 2.8 percent, or 700,000, to 24.7 million. It marked the lowest number of Core participants over the last six years. As stated in SFIA’s 2022 report, the pandemic had a direct impact on the number of Core competitors since many formal teams were disbanded or ceased playing for a period. Core participation declined in 10 of 24 team sports; however, that marked an improvement from the span between 2019 and 2023 when 21 of 24 sports suffered declines in Core participation. The team sports seeing the biggest declines in core participants year over year on a percentage basis were led by Ultimate Frisbee (-20.0 percent), Wrestling (-9.0 percent), and Rugby (-5.9 percent). Baseball (+2.0 percent), Basketball (+1.1 percent), Tackle Football (+1.0 percent), and Indoor Soccer (+6.2 percent) had increases in Core participants last year. Meanwhile, the number of casual players increased by its most significant annual percentage in five years, up 19.4 percent, to top the 50 million level for the first time and 13.3 million more than in 2018.
  4. Team Sports Per Participant Declines. The average number of team sports per participant continued to erode in 2023, dipping to its lowest level in a decade as it fell by 5.2 percent year-over-year. The average number of team sports player per participant was 1.73 in 2023, down from 1.82 in 2022 and as high as 2.02 in 2014. In the Executive Summary of the study, Tom Cove, SFIA’s retiring president and CEO, saw potential positives and negatives in the decline in multiple team sports participation. He said, “On the surface, this finding can be good or bad. Less play per sport could indicate less specialization, and possibly lead to more sampling and a variety of seasonal play. This would generally be seen as good for entry to sport and healthy development for children. On the other hand, fewer play occasions per sport could suggest diminished positive experiences and commitment to that sport, which bodes badly.”
  5. Slight participation decline seen for 6- to 12-year-olds: Team sports participation fell by 1.0 percent in 2023 among 6- to 12-year-olds to 17.6 million but is still above the 17.5 million level reached in the pre-pandemic 2019 year. Encouragingly, the average number of team sports played by 6- to 12-year-olds hit 1.9 for the first time since 2018. The one-year participation growth rate for girls between 6- to 12-year-old was 9.5 percent in 2023, outpacing that of their male counterparts who increased their participation by 6.6 percent to 62.6 percent, which represented the highest level in six years. Compared to the prior year, the biggest participation gains across team sports for 6- to 12-year-olds was Slow-Pitch Softball (+14.9 percent), Swimming on a Team (+13.6 percent), Indoor Soccer (+11.8 percent), Flag Football and Court Volleyball (both +11.2 percent) and Grass Volleyball (+10.1 percent). Meanwhile, it fell most significantly, year-over-year, in Roller Hockey (-8.2 percent) and 7-on-7 Football (-6.5 percent).
  6. Participation Levels By 13- To 17-Year-Old Still Trails Pre-Pandemic Levels. Team sports participation among the 13- to 17-year-old age bracket has risen for two consecutive years, reaching 12.9 million in 2023, but remains 2.3 percent below its peak year of 12.9 million participants in 2019. The participation rate of the 13- to 17-year-olds climbed 200 basis points to 59.3 percent, its highest level since 2019, and the average number of team sports they played increased to 2.1 for the first time since 2018. The teen female growth rate of 7.1 percent outpaced the participation gain of 5.4 percent for their male counterparts. Across team sports, the biggest year-over-year improvement for 13- to 17-year-olds was seen in Flag Football (+19.9 percent), 7-on-7 Football (+14.9 percent), and Ice Hockey (+13.2 percent). Conversely, the biggest annual decliners among 13- to 17-year- olds were Roller Hockey (-18.5 percent) and Wrestling (-9.6 percent).
  7. Older Youth Seeing Strong Team Sports Participation Gains. The number of team sports participants between the ages of 18 and 24 rose 4.8 percent in 2023 to 10.7 million, the highest level since 2020 and 26 percent more than the 8.5 million that participated in 2018. The gains for strongly outpacing their younger counterparts. Within the 18- to 24-year-old segment, participation on a three-year average-annual-growth was highest in Cheerleading, Tackle Football, and Fast-Pitch Softball with Basketball and Baseball also posting solid gains.
  8. Lower-Income Households Seeing Strong Team Sports Participation Gains. Households with the highest incomes have the highest participation levels, but the lower income ranges have made the biggest strides in participation over the last year and three years. Among 6- to 12-year-olds, those with household incomes between $50,000 and $74,999 had the largest one-year change, while those with household incomes at $25,000 or below showed the largest five-year average annual change at 5.1 percent. The 13- to 17-year-old participant with a household income of $25,000 or less showed a 9.4 percent, one-year increase in participation. In terms of income disparity in team sports for 6- to 12-year-olds, it is greatest in Swimming on a Team, Roller Hockey, and Ice Hockey, and least so for Tackle Football, Rugby, and Wrestling. Among 13- to 17-year-olds, income disparity in team sports was the largest in Ice Hockey, Swimming on a Team, and Lacrosse last year and least so in Paintball, Wrestling, and Grass Volleyball.
  9. Tennis Participation Increases For Fourth Straight Year. Tennis participation increased to 23.8 million participants in 2023, marking the fourth consecutive year of growth. This represents a 34.5 percent increase from pre-pandemic figures. Racquet sports as a whole are experiencing a surge, with the overall category increasing by over 40 percent. Tennis, the largest racquet sport tracked by SFIA, is one of the main drivers of this overall. Following a similar trend, tennis play occasions have also increased at a comparable rate. Tennis also benefits by being one of the few sports that can be played throughout one’s life. No single age group accounts for more than 18 percent of the total players, showing a fairly equal distribution across all age groups.
  10. Female Participation Rate Poised to Increase. Female participation grew faster than their male counterparts for both the 6 to 12 years olds segment and 13- to 17-year-olds, but participation across both age groups remain slightly below male participation rates at those ages. Across age groups over six years old, 30.4 percent of males play team sports versus 19.4 percent of women. However, the study highlighted several new developments that offer tailwinds for a boost in women’s sports participation, including wrestling ranking as the fastest-growing sport in high school for females, according to the National Federation of High Schools. Flag football is expected to be fastest-growing sport for females in coming years as more states sanction the sport for girls and significant investments in the activity are being made by the NFL ahead of 2028 when it will be an Olympic sport in Los Angeles. Cove also noted the likely benefit of the “Caitlin Clark effect” for women’s basketball participation as well as standout performances at the recent Olympics for women across soccer, basketball, gymnastics, track and field and swimming that should inspire girls to participate more in sports. Cove said, “We see huge upside potential for girls and women sports participation.”

Image courtesy Citizen Times