NSGA SPORTS PARTICIPATION SHOWS INCREASES FOR MAJORITY OF SEGMENTS TRACKED

People taking advantage of opportunities to participate in a wide range of sports and activities in 2022 was reflected in the 10 segments tracked for the 2023 edition of the National Sporting Goods Association’s (NSGA) Sports Participation in the U.S. report. The industry’s longest-standing and most comprehensive participation study saw seven segments increase in participation, two segments remain relatively flat and one segment decrease compared to 2021.

Segments showing growth, according to NSGA’s Total Participation Points (TPP) measure, included Indoor Sports (+8.4%), Individual Sports (+7.2%), Outdoor (+6.3%), Wheel Sports (+4.2%), Open Water Sports (+3.9%), Personal Contact Sports (+1.5%) and Team Sports (+1.2%). Remaining relatively flat were the segments of Snow Sports (-0.7%) and Fitness (-0.7%). The only segment showing a slight decline was Shooting Sports (-1.3%).

“It was great to see so many segments experience participation increases in 2022,” said Nick Rigitano, NSGA Director of Insights & Analysis. “This ultimately helps lead to more opportunities for retailers, team dealers and manufacturers to sell products related to those activities. “We saw a good recovery of some segments in 2021 coming out of COVID-19. It was also encouraging to see team sports show some growth in 2022 after a significant decline in 2020 and slight drop in 2021.”

The increase in the Indoor Sports segment was driven by increases in billiards/pool, dart throwing and table tennis. Individual sports saw pickleball participation nearly double (+79%) while bowling and swimming both increased for the second straight year. The Outdoor segment experienced strong gains led by hiking and camping (vacation/overnight). Bicycle riding, in-line roller skating and mountain biking (off road) drove the increase in Wheel Sports. The Open Water segment saw moderate gains in all six activities tracked.

The team sports segment saw mixed results but was ultimately up slightly as increases in volleyball, basketball and flag football offset slight decreases in lacrosse, ice hockey and soccer.

For snow sports, an increase in cross country skiing offset slight decreases in alpine skiing and snowboarding to keep the segment relatively flat compared to the previous year. The fitness segment also remained flat as an increase in working out at club/gym/fitness studio helped offset a decrease in exercise walking.

Lastly, the shooting sports segment showed slight declines compared to the previous year as a slight increase in hunting with firearms was not able to offset slight declines for the rest of the activities tracked in this segment.

The 2023 Sports Participation in the U.S. report will be available in the coming weeks on NSGA’s website. The report tracks 55+ sports and recreational activities and includes easy-to-understand, quick-view snapshots for each, allowing users to easily see a 10-year participation trend (when available), as well as demographic details regarding age, income and U.S. region. NSGA’s participation research also includes Cross Participation, Lifecycle Demographics and SingleSport reports.

Go to www.nsga.org/research/ to learn more about NSGA’s research products.