Overall participation in sports, fitness and related physical activities remained relatively steady from ’11 to ’12, according to recent data published by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (formerly SGMA). Fitness sports had the biggest increase, while team and water sports also saw gains. Individual and winter sports saw slight declines. There are 206.7 million active Americans ages 6+, while 28% of all Americans can be described as inactive, up slightly from ’11. The most active states in the U.S. are Colorado and Utah, while Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi rank as states with the lowest levels of healthy activity. Meanwhile, spending levels in ’12 were up from ’11, with some of the biggest gains seen in team sports at the school level. Some 70% of parents polled said they spent more than $100 for team school sports. This year’s survey was conducted online among 42,356 U.S. respondents during January and February. Listed below are participation levels among select sports, with comparisons to previous years (SFIA).
|
TOTAL PARTICIPATION LEVELS AMONG SELECT SPORTS IN THE U.S.
|
| SPORT |
'12 (000)
|
1-YR % +/-
|
2-YR % +/-
|
5-YR % +/-
|
| Running/jogging |
51,450
|
2.8%
|
5.0%
|
4.7%
|
| Basketball |
23,708
|
-4.4%
|
-2.9%
|
-1.8%
|
| Swimming (fitness) |
23,216
|
7.9%
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
| Tennis |
17,020
|
-4.2%
|
-4.6%
|
0.2%
|
| Baseball |
12,976
|
-4.3%
|
-4.4%
|
-4.2%
|
| Soccer (outdoor) |
12,944
|
-5.3%
|
-3.4%
|
-1.1%
|
| Softball (slow-pitch) |
7,411
|
-5.1%
|
-6.5%
|
-4.8%
|
| Snowboarding |
7,351
|
-3.0%
|
-5.3%
|
1.6%
|
| Football (tackle) |
6,220
|
-3.5%
|
-4.7%
|
-4.7%
|
| Lacrosse |
1,607
|
7.1%
|
6.3%
|
8.9%
|
