According to the 15th annual State of the Industry Report by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) and Sports Marketing Surveys USA, a record 242 million Americans participated in sports and fitness activities in 2023. This marks the highest level of participation in the survey’s history, with more than three-quarters of executives at sporting goods manufacturers expressing confidence in the industry’s strong future.
The year-round survey, conducted annually since 2008, features a nationwide sample of 18,000 respondents from proprietary online panels representative of the U.S. population aged 6 and older. The industry’s continued strength was cautiously projected by SFIA last year, following a surge in participation as people returned to sports post-pandemic or adopted new fitness-related activities.
“We went from just under 73% of Americans participating in one of the 200-plus activities we monitor in 2018 to 78.8% in 2023,” said SFIA president and CEO Tom Cove. “That’s effectively 24 million more people engaging in physical activity, in addition to those who maintained their active lifestyle.”
While the increased participation rate is encouraging, approximately 65 million Americans (21.2% of the population aged 6 and older) reported no physical activity in 2023, presenting an opportunity for further growth.
Highlights from the report:
- Basketball remained the most popular team sport, with 29.7 million participants (up 5.6% year-over-year).
- Pickleball experienced a staggering 223.5% growth, reflecting its status as the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. since 2016.
- Significant increases were observed in sports involving younger female athletes and travel, such as fast-pitch softball (up 28.3%), indoor volleyball (up 27.6%), swimming on a team (up 27.3%), and gymnastics (up 23.6%).
via: Sports Business Journal / DAVID BROUGHTON
photo: YMCA
