Tag: SFIA

SFIA

Todd Smith Named President and CEO of Sports & Fitness Industry Association

The Sports & Fitness Industry Association Board of Directors has appointed Todd Smith as president and chief executive officer for the association, effective October 1. Smith joins the SFIA after serving as the senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He will succeed current President/Chief Executive Officer Tom Cove, who earlier this year […]

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Flag Football
Flag football has exploded in popularity, specifically with more girls than ever playing the sport. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Unrivaled Sports Acquires Under the Lights Powered by Under Armour

Unrivaled Sports has acquired Under the Lights Powered by Under Armour, the second-largest youth flag football operator in the United States with 170 local flag football leagues and 35,000 boys and girls from first through eighth grades participating. Unrivaled Sports was created in late March by Josh Harris, David Blitzer and The Chernin Group to […]

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SportsTravel Podcast Tom Cove 2024

Pickleball and Beyond: The Latest SFIA Sports Participation Trends

Every year, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, or SFIA, takes on a number of research projects designed to offer insight into the world of sports through the lens of participation, equipment sales and other metrics. But the Topline Participation Report is one of the longest-standing and most ambitious surveys the organization conducts. Each year, […]

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SFIA

Sports & Fitness Industry Association Releases 2024 Topline Participation Report

Pickleball remains the fastest-growing sport in America, says the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, and all of the seven major sport and fitness physical activity categories showed increased year-over-year rates of participation in the SFIA’s 2024 Topline Participation Report. In 2023, 242 million Americans (78.8%) participated in an activity one or more times, a 2.2% […]

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State of Play Report 2023

Aspen Institute Releases Annual State of Play 2023 Report

Nearly four years removed from the start of the pandemic, children are playing team sports less often even as progress is being made in filling gaps with girls and low-income populations. Those are the high-level takeaways from The Aspen Institute’s State of Play 2023 report, an annual analysis of national trends in the delivery of […]

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YMCA of the USA
The YMCA of the USA is reporting that participation rates are up across the organization's sports options. (Photo courtesy of YMCA of the USA)

Making Safety a Youth Sports Priority

There is no doubt that participating in youth sports has benefits for more than those playing. A case can be made that the larger society may benefit as well. “When we think about the health benefits, when we think about the leadership benefits, when we think about the social and emotional benefits that can arise […]

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State of Pickleball

SFIA and Pickleheads Release Participation & Infrastructure Report

The Sports & Fitness Industry Association and Pickleheads have released a State of Pickleball: Participation & Infrastructure Report, which provides analysis of pickleball participation and facility and court data in the United States. SFIA conducts an annual survey of Americans ages 6 and older and tracks participation in 124 sports, fitness and outdoor activities. This […]

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SFIA Running USA

Sports & Fitness Industry Association and Running USA Announce Partnership

The Sports & Fitness Industry Association and Running USA have announced a strategic partnership that will benefit members of both organizations. “We’re elated to partner with SFIA and create new research initiatives for brands and events in the running space,” said Christine Bowen, chief operating officer of Running USA. “For more than 20 years, Running […]

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