NSGA and OIA Reports Paint Different Pictures…

With both the National Sporting Goods Association and Outdoor Industry Association releasing participation studies this past week, several new data points have emerged that are cause for optimism as well as concern in the sporting goods industry. On one hand, the NSGA is showing that the established sports are showing record participation growth rates across the country, with only eight of the 41 sports surveyed showing declines; on the other hand OIA reported that the total number of outings for outdoor sports declined sharply, from an average of 51 in 2004 to an average of 45 in 2005.

According to NSGA, big participation increases usually come from sports with smaller participation bases. However, this year half of the ten fastest growing sports had more than ten million total participants, and an additional two were above the nine million mark.

In looking at the top ten fastest growing sports, according to NSGA, it becomes clear that Americans are choosing sports that require less time commitment and have easy access in urban environments. Sports like weight lifting (the fastest growing activity in the study) and aerobics are easily accessed at fitness clubs, while airgun target shooting and archery target shooting can also be easily accessed at indoor ranges. Skateboarding also depends on easy access for growth.

There are also signs that Americans are looking for activities that allow them to escape the urban environment. Watersports showed significant increases, while other outdoor activities, like Mountain Biking, Hunting, Fishing, and Hiking also saw more participants this year. Even in these “escape” activities, time compression is evident. Backpacking and overnight camping both saw significant participation declines in 2005, according to the NSGA study.

OIA’s participation study, conducted by The Leisure Trends Group, paints a very different picture and raises several issues of concern in the outdoor industry. Total outdoor recreation outings were down considerably in 2005 from a total of 8.3 billion in 2004 down to 7.3 billion in 2005. This was mainly due to declines in two of the top three largest outdoor sports, bicycling and fishing. Many of the individual sports covered in the study showed increases in the raw participation numbers, but the participants were doing these activities less frequently.

OIA stated in their analysis of the report that the industry needs to focus on why the number of outings is decreasing and where former outdoor enthusiasts are spending their time. It is becoming clear that this time is becoming more and more valuable, as the public is barraged with movies, video games, and Tivo. In particular, OIA is concerned about declines in the number of outings for 16-24 year olds. The report stated, “There are many other non-outdoor activities that compete for time. For example, on an average day in 2005, 14% of 16 to 24-year-old males indicated that they played video/games and 31% indicated that it is one of their favorite activities. If this group is ignored, other activities will take the place of being in the outdoors.”

The OIA study also shows some similar trends to NSGA – activities that take more time are declining, while activities with easy access are increasing. For example, backpacking participation is falling while hiking and trail running are increasing; recreational and sit-on-top kayaking are increasing while kayak touring is declining.

As with any group of studies, these two reports create contrasting overviews of the consumer market. However the two reports look at participation in different ways and the information shows valuable trends in recreation and exercise.