Sports Participation in the US – 2022 Edition

NSGA’s highly successful Sports Participation study has been executed for more than 35 years.  Conducted in 2022, the study measures the annual number of participants in a variety of sports / recreational activities and the frequency of participation during the calendar year 2021.

The report contains two sections, giving the reader a comprehensive picture of sports participation in the United States:

Section One delivers snapshots for a quick view of participation of any sport or activity included in the study.  The snapshots include: 10 year participation information (when available), 2021 frequency and participation by age, household income, and US region.

Section Two furnishes detailed tables providing participation information regarding:  gender, age, education, presence of children in household, household income, market size, US region, ethnicity/race, and frequency of participation.

Sports Participation: Lifecycle Demographics classifies households in terms of several demographic characteristics and defines them in broad socioeconomic terms, providing a tool which can help understand consumer behavior.  The report includes the following 8 lifecycle segments:

• High Income Singles
• Low/Middle Income Singles
• Young Adult Households
• High Income Households
• Low/Middle Income Families
• High Income Middle Aged Households
• Low Income Middle Aged Households
• Seniors

How can Lifecycle Demographics be used?

Use demographic research to develop analytics and fact-based business planning including demographic-specific marketing and product mix.

Click here for Methodology

Sports Included

• Archery (Target)
• Backpack/Wilderness Camping
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Bicycle Riding
• Billiards/Pool
• Boating (Motor/Power)
• Bowling
• Boxing
• Camping (Vacation/Overnight)
• Canoeing
• Cheerleading
• Dart Throwing
• Exercise Walking
• Exercising with Equipment
• Fishing (Fresh Water)
• Fishing (Salt Water)
• Football (Flag)
• Football (Tackle)
• Football (Touch)
• Golf
• Gymnastics
• Hiking
• Hockey (Ice)
• Hunting with Bow & Arrow
• Hunting with Firearms
• Ice/Figure Skating
• In-Line Roller Skating
• Kayaking
• Lacrosse
• Martial Arts/MMA/Tae Kwon Do
• Mountain Biking (Off Road)
• Muzzleloading
• Paintball Games
• Pickleball
• Pilates
• Running/Jogging
• Scuba Diving (Open Water)
• Skateboarding
• Skiing (Alpine)
• Skiing (Cross Country)
• Snowboarding
• Soccer
• Softball
• Surfing
• Swimming
• Table Tennis
• Target Shooting (Airgun)
• Target Shooting (Live Ammunition)
• Tennis
• Volleyball
• Water Skiing
• Weight Lifting
• Work Out at Club/Gym/Fitness Studio
• Wrestling
• Yoga