In 2008, Americans continued to participate in sports, fitness and outdoor activities at roughly the same rate as prior years, but manufacturers' shipments of sporting goods in the U.S. declined by almost 4% in wholesale dollar sales according to preliminary findings by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA).
According to SGMA, total manufacturers shipments of sports gear, fitness equipment, sports apparel and athletic footwear in the U.S. were $66.30 billion in 2008, compared to $68.50 billion in 2007, shrinking 3.2%.
“These studies tell us that Americans sharply curtailed their purchases of sports-related products in 2008, but did not let that get in the way of participation. On the sales side, sports industry sales dipped below GDP for the first time since 2003, but the level of decline was not nearly as significant as it was for other durable goods industries,” said SGMA President Tom Cove.
Despite the dip in the economy, sports and activities that had “statistically significant” growth from 2007 to 2008 were either fitness or family/social activities that do not cost much money to play. Fitness activities which had “statistically significant” growth in 2008 over 2007 were step aerobics (21.0%), high impact aerobics (8.7%), low impact aerobics (7.9%), elliptical motion trainers (7.2%), dumbbells (6.2%), and walking for fitness (2.7%).
Walking for fitness is the most popular activity in the U.S., with 111.7 million participants. Family/social activities which had “statistically significant” growth in 2008 over 2007 were ultimate frisbee (20.8%), backpacking (18.5%), surfing (18.2%), racquetball (18.1%), court volleyball (17.2%), trail running (15.2%), indoor soccer (11.8%), bicycling (10.2%), and tennis (9.6%).
Since 2000, the top growth sport for overall participation is bowling (up 12.9% to 58.7 million). The top three activities for overall participation are bowling, billiards/pool (49.0 million), and golf (27.6 million).
