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(January 5, 2001) SGMA Report: Outdoor Recreation in America NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - (January, 2001). The appeal of the great outdoors has never been stronger. That's the conclusion of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) after reviewing its updated study - Outdoor Recreation in America. This report features the participation trends and demographic data on 35 outdoor activities....plus sales trends of outdoor equipment. Listed below are some of the noteworthy trends: ** When asked to respond to the question, "Which is my favorite sport or activity?," five out of the top 12 responses were for outdoor pursuits. Those five activities were hunting, RV camping, snowboarding, horseback riding, and downhill skiing. ** More than 22 million Americans participated on a "frequent" basis (15+ days a year) in outdoor activities associated with camps, trails, and mountains and another 16.2 million were "frequent" fishermen (freshwater or saltwater). ** Since 1987, there has been a 15.9% increase in the number of tent campers - from 35.2 million in '87 to 40.8 million in '99. ** While there are more than twice as many tent campers as RV campers (40.8 million vs. 17.6 million), there are more "frequent" RV campers than tent campers (5.9 million vs. 4.8 million). ** There was a 19.2% increase in trail running participation from 1998 to 1999. ** While hiking (day and overnight) has a broad appeal to all age groups, overnight hikers tend to be younger. ** Nearly 50% of all day hikers have been involved in the activity for at least a decade. ** The profile on mountain biking is skewed toward males under the age of 34. ** There are nearly three times as many freshwater fishermen (non-fly) as saltwater fishermen. ** Approximately 20% of all fishermen say this activity is their favorite sport. ** Target shooting participation (either rifle or pistol) ranks number one in shooting sports with 18.3 million participants. ** There's significant cross-participation in shooting sports as 61% of trap/skeet shooters say they hunt while 44% of target shooters (rifle) also hunt. ** Nearly 40% of hunters (rifle or shotgun) call this activity their favorite sport. ** While downhill skiing ranks number one in snow sports (13.9 million participants), snowboarding is the only snow sport to have exhibited any growth since 1990. ** Among all the sports in the outdoor survey, downhill skiers have the second highest average household income ($77,600). Sailors rank first with $84,400. ** The top five water sports are canoeing (12.8 million), snorkeling (10.7 million), jet skiing (1.0 million), water skiing (10.0 million), and sailing (5.3 million). ** Of the 12.8 million canoers, about 60% participated three days or less in 1999. Nearly 50% of all "frequent" canoers are younger than 17, implying summer camp experiences or vacations. ** Among water sports, surfing and wakeboarding rank one and two with the largest number of 'average days of participation,' with 17 and 12 respectively. ** Manufacturers sales of outdoor equipment in 1999 were $14.420 billion, up from $13.686 billion in 1997. That's a 5.4% increase. The Outdoor Recreation in America report is available online at: http://www.sgma.com/research/2000_research/outdoor_participation_study2000.html. For SGMA members, this report is free in both PDF and printed versions. For non-members, the PDF version is $125 and the printed version is $175. These sports participation statistics are from continuing national research by American Sports Data, Inc., Hartsdale, NY, which has been tracking U.S. sports participation annually since 1987. It now monitors trends in more than 100 fitness, sports and outdoor activities. In addition, SGMA interviewed and gathered statistics from many organizations involved in team sports and monitored news coverage of the subject. The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), owner of The Super Show®, is the trade association of North American manufacturers, producers, and distributors of sports apparel, athletic footwear, fitness, and sporting goods equipment. SGMA represents and supports its members through programs and strategies for sports participation, market intelligence and public policy. [Source: Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA). All SGMA releases (archived back to 1994) are available online through the SGMA Press Room: http://www.sgma.com/press_room/index.html |
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