Led by a hike in pickleball participation, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) Topline Participation Report found that physical activity rates increased in the U.S. for a fifth consecutive year. The report also indicates that activities ranging from golf to tennis, basketball, kayaking and surfing continue to build on pandemic-related gains.

In 2022, 77.6 percent of Americans, or 236.9 million people, participated in at least one activity in 2022. Based on SFIA’s trend analysis into and out of the pandemic, the U.S. saw a 9.2 percent increase in total participation rates from 2017 and a 1.9 percent increase from 2021.

“We believe this reflects a fundamental and lasting appreciation for the benefits of physical activity that heightened during the forced isolation of the pandemic,” wrote Tom Cove, SFIA president and CEO, in the study’s executive summary.

Other report highlights include:

  • “Core” participants, which captures those who participate in an activity enough times to reflect commitment and passion for the sport or activity, also increased for the fifth straight year. 158.1 million participants reached the designation across 124 different sports, fitness and outdoor activities the Association tracks, up 10.1 percent since 2017. Core participants are seen as most likely to be “consistent, knowledgeable customers and appreciate brand and technology differentiations” and the industry’s most loyal consumers.
  • Team sports participation continued to recover from the decline in 2020 with a 23.2 percent increase in 2022, just under the 2019 level of 23.4 percent; and
  • “Inactives,” or those Americans who did not participate in any of the activities SFIA tracks over twelve months, dropped below 70 million for the first time since 2010. The 68.6 million “Inactives” still represented about 22.4 percent of the population.

Among activities, racquet sports scored the biggest gain in participation in 2022, increasing by 17.6 percent or 158.6 percent over three years. Core participants (eight-plus times) increased participation by 68.6 percent.

Total pickleball participants were 8.95 million, below tennis, at 23.6 million, in the racquet sports category, and table tennis, 15.6 million. Tennis was a winner stemming from the pandemic, adding another 4.3 percent in participants in 2022, and has expanded participation by 33.4 percent since 2019.

All other racquet sports saw year-over-year participant increases for the first time since 2015.

Lifestyle activities remained popular. Golf grew by more than 20 percent since 2019. Golf, on or off-course, participation increased by 9.7 percent last year and grew over 20 percent since 2019.

Trail running and day hiking participation grew for the fifth straight year; however, facility-based fitness activities like elliptical, group stationary cycling and weight resistance training declined when clubs closed during the height of COVID and have struggled to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Team sports overall participation did not exceed the 2019 rate. Basketball, outdoor soccer and flag football posted three-year increases of over 4.5 percent, with basketball leading with a 13 percent increase since 2019. Basketball grew 3.5 percent year-over-year in 2022.

Evidence that core participation cumulatively across all team sports continues to lag suggests that while athletes play, they may not be playing as much as they once did.

Outdoor soccer participation increased 3.7 percent year-over-year in 2022 and gained 9.3 percent in participation since 2019. Indoor soccer grew 1.6 percent and 3.0 percent over the same time period.

Football participation increased 4.5 percent in 2022 year-over-year and is ahead 6 percent since 2019. Volleyball (court) participation recovered 4.2 percent last year but remains down 6.1 since 2019.

Baseball participation was down 0.7 percent in 2022 and 2.1 percent over the last three years. Participation in ice hockey was down 1.3 percent year-over-year and off 3.4 percent since 2019. Lacrosse participation was down 0.9 percent in 2022 and declined 11.4 percent over the last three years.

Water sports and outdoor sports showed similar participation rate increases to team sports in 2022, while the fitness participation rate remained flat.

Among water activities, winners were kayaking and surfing. Kayaking (recreational) participation was up 1.6 percent year-over-year and up 19.1 percent since 2019. Surfing was up 6.6 percent year-over-year and ahead 24.6 percent since 2019.

Stand-up paddling participation was up 1 percent in 2022 and ahead 6.0 percent over the last three years, while canoeing gained 3.5 percent year-over-year and increased participation by 5.9 percent since 2019. Jet skiing and rafting had solid participation gains since 2019. Snorkeling, scuba diving, boardsailing/windsurfing, and water skiing were down since 2019.

Among outdoor activities, the winner was climbing (sport/boulder), with participation up 151.1 percent year-over-year and 164.7 percent since 2019.

Camping, fishing and cycing recovered to 2020 participation levels after showing slight decreases in 2021. Camping participation was up 4.0 percent year-over-year and gained 32.8 percent since 2019. 

Participation in fishing (freshwater/other) grew 2.4 percent year-over- year and is up 6.7 percent over the last three years.

In the cycling category, gains came from bicycling (road/paved surface), up 1.8 percent year-over-year and 10.6 percent since 2019, and bicycling (BMX), up 8.3 percent year-over-year and 14.6 percent since 2019.

Hiking (day) participation increased 1.5 percent year-over-year and is ahead 19.9 percent over the last three years. Participation in hunting activities was down slightly since 2019. The largest activity, hunting (rifle), grew participants by 0.5 percent in 2022 but remained off 2.5 percent since 2019.

In fitness, participation in group fitness-based activities continued to struggle but showed some recovery. Boot camp style training, cardio kickboxing and stationary cycling (group) increased participation levels in 2022 but are down from 2019. Participation in running/jogging was down 2.4 percent in 2022 and declined 4.5 percent since 2019.

Health club-based activities continued to struggle. Elliptical motion/cross-trainer, stair-climbing machine, stationary cycling (recumbent/upright), and weight resistance machines had participation decreases in 2022 and are down over 10 percent compared to 2019.

Barre and Pilates had solid participation increases in 2022, while yoga decreased for the first time in the last decade. All have had three-year participation increases, with yoga and Pilates increasing over 10 percent over the previous three years. Personal combat sports had a good year. Martial Arts, boxing for fitness, MMA for competition, MMA for fitness, and wrestling all posted participation increases in 2022.