News from the National Sporting Goods Association

National Sporting Goods Association

Among sports and recreation activities that grew more than 15% the past 10 years, skateboarding led the way with a 74.1% growth, according to the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA).

Data contained in NSGA's annual "Sports Participation – Series I and II" reports, which are now available, shows skateboarding grew from 5.8 million to 10.1 million participants between 1998 and 2007. Target shooting had the second highest 10-year growth, 63.3% to 20.9 million participants.

Other sports and recreation activities showing more than 15% growth over the 10-year period included snowboarding (41.7% to 5.1 million participants); running/jogging (40.1% to 30.4 million participants); archery target shooting (37.5% to 6.6 million participants); workout at club (27.5% to 33.8 million participants); motor/power boating (24.1% to 31.9 million participants); muzzleloading (16.1% to 3.6 million participants); and exercise walking (15.6% to 89.8 million participants).

"Skateboarding saw a remarkable increase in the last 10 years, due in part, to the television exposure provided by ESPN's X-Games," said NSGA Vice President of Information & Research Thomas B. Doyle. "Much of that increase came at the expense of inline skating, which saw a decline of 60.4% (to 10.7 million) during the same period. In the 1990s, during inline skating's peak growth period, skateboarding suffered similarly." In 1998, there were 27.0 million inline skaters.


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