B
asketball continues to be the most-
popular team sport in the U.S., from
the point of view of participation.
According to figures released by the
Sports & Fitness Industry Association
(SFIA), there are 28.1 million Americans,
ages six and above, who play basketball. e
second most popular team sport in the U.S.
is baseball with 15.5 million participants.
• e growth in basketball participation
has been solid and steady since 2016,
when there were 22.3 million players.
• In 2017, there were 2.9 million
basketball players in the U.S. between
the ages of 18 and 24. In 2018, that
number was 3.1 million and in 2019, it
was 3.4 million. By 2020, the number of
basketball players in the U.S. between
the ages of 18 and 24, had grown to 3.8
million. at number inched up to 3.9
million in 2021 and reached 4.52 million
by 2022.
• One of the clouds on the hoops
horizon concerns the numbers for casual
and core participation. Back in 2019
INSIDE THE HOOP
THE NUMBERS
TEAM
44 • January/February 2024 sportstyle • sportstylemag.com
