Participation in sports

Growth in sports participation depends on several factors, including the level of education, per capita disposable income, time availability and health trends. Education and income growth tend to have a positive effect on this indicator. According to the BLS, participation in sports among people with a bachelor's degree or higher is twice as high as individuals with a high school diploma. During the past decade, the percentage of individuals in the US with a bachelor's degree has grown consistently, contributing to growth in sports participation. As consumers have higher disposable income, they can also afford to pay for fitness classes and purchase a gym membership.

Walking is the most common among different sports, accounting for 30.0% of all time spent on sports activities. However, the popularity of sports varies by demographic. According to the BLS, football and basketball are more popular among men, while aerobics and yoga are in higher demand among women. On average, individuals spend 1.5 hours exercising daily, with most people exercising between 5 pm and 8 pm on workdays and between 9 am and 1 pm on non-workdays. During the past five years, consumers have become increasingly interested in alternative methods for exercise and sport, such as tai chi and Pilates. In general, while participation in team sports remains popular, individualized fitness activities have become more common than they once were, resulting in increased gym memberships during the past decade.

Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic in 2020, the number of people participating in sports declined. The decline was primarily driven by the closure of gyms and fitness clubs due to social distancing regulations. While demand for outdoor sports increased, participation in team sports and fitness classes declined. The inability to go to the gym led some consumers to purchase portable equipment to exercise at home. However, demand for home gym equipment was primarily driven by already active sports participants, having little effect on individuals considered inactive before the pandemic. Furthermore, even among active sports participants, the frequency of participation declined, with some people choosing to exercise less frequently than daily. The release of coronavirus vaccines early in 2021 led to a substantial increase in sports participation, reaching a record-high 14.3% in 2021.

However, sports participation went down 6.5% in 2022 as the economic shock from inflationary pressures in the season resulted in people scaling back participation in sporting activities and recreational ventures amid fears that a recession might hit. As the labor market has remained elevated amid more people getting employed, sports participation is expected to uptick as this has helped give more people the ability to spend more in the year, which left more people able to afford to get involved in sports and various recreational activities now they can afford to do so as these activities cost money for people to buy more gear and equipment while those wanting to rent out studios and spaces for playing certain games will require people needing more income to afford to do so. Alleviating prices on various goods like oil and gas helped free up more income to be spared for more recreational ventures in the year.

Despite recessionary fears in 2024, sports participation expanded during the year and is expected to rise during 2025 as consumer spending remained resilient, which signals that more people will be able to continually afford themselves in such ventures. The aging population has also contributed to sporting participation going up as those retired concurrently will have more free time on their hands which frees them up to participate in recreational ventures that also take up more time like sports from golf to walking.