JDS2003 --
Two of the sporting goods trade associations -- NSGA and SGMA -- have
a fair amount of public information on sports participation. It's an
excellent place to start, though one of the data sources is
consistently higher than the other organization.
The National Sporting Goods Association's 2002 survey was done during
January of this year and is mailed to 10,000 families. It defines
participation in the sport as being active in it more than once each
year (except for the fitness sports where activity is a minimum of 6
times per year).
Also note that participants are anyone above age 7. You'll see that
school activities provide a substantial number of basketball players.
AMERICANS WHO PLAY BASKETBALL
==================================
According to NSGA numbers, 28.9 million people played basketball in
2002, up 3% from 2001. This makes basketball the 11th most-popular
sporting activity, just behind aerobic exercise and ahead of golf.
However, participation is down 5.6% against 1997 numbers.
It is up 2.5 percent over 1992's 28.2 million.
TOTAL BASKETBALL PARTICIPATION
---------------------------------
1992: 28.2 million
1997: 30.5
2001: 28.1
2002: 28.9
All of the NSGA statistics can be found in their summary numbers here:
NSGA
"Sports Participation" (2003)
http://www.nsga.org/public/pages/index.cfm?pageid=54
There is more detail to the report, which is $295 to non-members.
There is a series 2 but basketball splits are in the first group:
Sports Participation 2002, Series 1
http://www.nsga.org/public/pages/index.cfm?pageid=146
Using similar sampling techniques, the Sporting Goods Manufacturers
Association (SGMA) comes up with higher levels of participation:
2002: 36.6 million
1995: 46.5
1987: 35.7
SGMA International
"Sports Participation Topline Report" (2003)
http://www.sgma.com/reports/data/2003/p28b-000-03.pdf
AGE BREAKDOWN OF BASKETBALL PLAYERS
====================================
The NSGA numbers give us three age-group splits: 7-11, 12-17 and
adults. Here are the relevant numbers:
BASKETBALL BY AGE: 2002
---------------------------------------
7-11: 6.2 million
12-17: 7.8
Over 18: 14.9
TOTAL: 28.9
BASKETBALL BY AGE: 1992
---------------------------------------
7-11: 5.5 million
12-17: 8.2
Over 18: 14.5
TOTAL: 28.2
SGMA numbers are interesting because their study of youth
participation found that basketball is by far the most-popular sports
for those who are frequent participants (25+ days per year).
According to their numbers 10.0 million children are active basketball
players:
SGMA International
"Children?s Sports Interests Run The Gamut" (May 30, 2003)
http://www.sgma.com/press/2003/press1054214405-13555.html
BASKETBALL SPLITS: M/F
=======================
Women account for 9.6 million (33% of the total players) of the
basketball players, according to NSGA numbers. It's the 15th
most-popular sport for them -- just behind weightlifting, but well
ahead of dart-throwing. The number is up 5.1% from 2001 and up 2.4%
from 1997.
Of course this puts male participants at these levels:
2002: 19.3 million
2001: 19.0 million
1997: 21.3 million
BASKETBALL SPLITS: BY AGE AND SEX
----------------------------------
Current data doesn't appear to be available publicly on the web.
However, there is some detailed older data by age and sex in this 1997
SGMA press release:
SGMA
"Basketball Participation, Sales Growth Slow, But Sport Remains One of
America's Most Popular" (July 28, 1997)
http://www.sgma.com/press/1997/press988556951-11490.html
ORGANIZED BASKETBALL
----------------------
The key report on YOUTH team participation seems to be the SGMA 2001 study,
"Organized Youth Team Sports Participation in the U.S. 2001," which is
available for $495 to non-members:
http://www.sgma.com/reports/2001/report987004373-5347.html
This release also has numbers for HIGHLY active basketball players --
52+ times per year. It might be used as a representative number for
those involved in organized games (which require several practice
sessions for each game):
SGMA
"Basketball Participation, Sales Growth Slow, But Sport Remains One of
America's Most Popular" (July 28, 1997)
http://www.sgma.com/press/1997/press988556951-11490.html
Another set of data -- on high-school activity in sports -- is
available from a soccer group (of all places). It puts basketball at
the top of U.S. high school sports participation, with 998,463
students in 1999 -- compared to 949,618 in 1989. Basketball was at
the top of sports participation in both years. Though it doesn't give
the source of the data, it's almost certainly from the NFSHSA -- out
next citation:
U.S. Soccer Federation
"Soccer Participation" (2000)
http://www.ussoccer.com/templates/includes/about/sica_sps.pdf
Another organization, the National Federation of State High School
Associations, collects data from each of the 50 states on organized
programs. It puts basketball participation in organized games at
457,165 for girls (rank: 1) and 540,874 for boys (rank: 2):
National Federation of State High School Associations
"Participation Sets Record for Fifth Straight Year," (Sept. 2, 2003)
http://www.nfhs.org/current_news/View_Publications.asp?pid=593
There is some state data on participation that may be helpful, though
the Physical Education for Progress (PEP) program notes that states
have far different physical education levels. This Massachusetts
Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) report has 2002-2003
school year data for sports participation. It shows that 12,078
boys and 10,577 girls participated in organized basketball -- out of a
high school student population of 279,332:
MIAA
"Participation in Athletic Programs Increases for 3rd Straight Year"
(February, 2003)
http://www.miaa.net/participation-survey-results-02-03.pdf
A similar study of high school sports activity was also done for California:
California Interscholastic Federation
"Participation Numbers Decrease Slightly" (2003)
http://www.cifstate.org/Partsurvey/part03.pdf
UNORGANIZED BASKETBALL (PICKUP GAMES)
---------------------------------------
There is not a lot of data readily available on unorganized
activities. However there are some anecdotal notes on basketball,
this report discussing fathers' participation in the sport with
children -- and some data on AAU participation:
Team-sportswear.com
"The Basketball Market" (undated)
http://www.team-sportswear.com/article/the_basketball_market
LOCATION
---------
This is the one area for which no valid data appears to be available.
There might be ways to find numbers of gymnasiums and even parks but
no one seems to be studying the use of these different basketball
courts.
Google search strategy:
I was already aware of studies done on sports participation done by
the two major sporting goods trade associations, which would be good
places to start in trying to develop any additional detail:
National Sporting Goods Association
http://nsga.org
Sporting Goods Manufacturers of America
http://www.sgma.com
Some relevant searches to extend the data include:
"amateur sports" + basketball
"participation in sports"
basketball + participation
"National Federation of State High School Associations"
Best regards,
Omnivorous-GA |
