Encouraging growth in youth team sports participation is one of the highlights of the 2025 Edition of the National Sporting Goods Association’s (NSGA) Sports Participation in the U.S. report.*

The study found increases in nearly all youth team sports (ages 7-to-17) tracked by NSGA in 2024 compared to their three-year averages. The leader was flag football, with an increase of 21 percent, followed by basketball and tackle football at 12 percent.

“It is exciting to see more and more kids taking advantage of the mental and physical benefits of participating in a team sport,” said Nick Rigitano, NSGA director of Insights and Analysis. “These increases in youth team sports are also encouraging for retailers, team dealers and manufacturers because this segment is the foundation for lifelong sports participation.”

Other key takeaways from in the NSGA 2025 Sports ParticipationReport:

  • Most sports/activities tracked (35 of 56) experienced increased participation for 2024 compared to the previous year (2023).
  • Pickleball’s boom continued as it increased 56 percent to 15.4 million participants. It is the third consecutive year the sport has seen an increase of over 50 percent year-over-year.
  • Most sports segments tracked experienced increases in participation points compared to the previous year (2023). Participation points characterize segment increases/decreases because they include both the reach (the number of people participating in the segment) and depth (the number of sports/activities those people are playing) of participation.
  • The individual sports segment saw the most significant increase (+7.4 percent) in participation points, led by pickleball, bowling, golf and swimming.
  • Indoor sports were up 6.9 percent, with table tennis, dart throwing, and billiards/pool all experiencing 5 percent or more yearly increases.
  • Personal Contact sports were up 6.5 percent, led by boxing.
  • Open Water sports were up 5.2 percent, driven by boating (motor/power), kayaking and surfing. Snow sports were also up 5 percent.
  • Outdoor (+1.3 percent) and Shooting (+1.2 percent) segments were up slightly, driven by hiking and target shooting (live ammunition), respectively.
  • Wheel sports (-2.5 percent) and Fitness (-2.8 percent) were down slightly, driven by slight declines in bike riding and exercise walking.

Go here to see which sports are in which segments and here for an explanation of the Total Participation Points (TPPs) calculation.

The 2025 Edition of the Sports Participation in the U.S. Report is available on the research page of NSGA’s website. The report tracks 56 sports and recreational activities and features snapshots for each, allowing users to see a 10-year participation trend (when available) and demographic details regarding age, income and U.S. region. NSGA’s participation research also includes Cross Participation, Lifecycle Demographics and Single-Sport reports.

Images courtesy NFL Flag