Thursday, October 10, 2013

Ultimate Frisbee Participation [SFIA]

It's true! In the U.S., there are more people playing ("participating in") Ultimate than rugby and lacrosse combined. There was the same number of participants in Ultimate as the entire population of the state of Colorado; or, the total population of Norway.

The Sports and Fitness Industry Association's (formerly SGMA) 2013 Sports and Fitness Participation Report provides data that 5.1 million people played Ultimate in America in 2012. "Core participants"- defined as those playing more than 12 times per year - was estimated at 1.48 million. Other sport participation: Basketball, 27.79 million; outdoor Soccer, 13.667 million; & Hockey, 2.131 million.

Participation data in Ultimate is similar to participation in gymnastics with 5.1 million total participants and 1.86 million core participants, track and field (4.3 million/2.44 million) and beach volleyball (4.5 million/1.47 million), and compares favorably to team sports in the US such as field hockey (1.2 million/0.66 million), lacrosse (1.6 million/0.82 million), or rugby (0.89 million/0.36 million).

Also, 69% of all Ultimate Frisbee participants and 75% of core (13+/year) Ultimate Frisbee participants are male. (2012)


RELATED: 2011 stats.

2 comments:

JoergB said...

Hey Sludge, thanks for great information and charts! From an European point of view these numbers are even more impressive. We're struggling around with some thousand players per country (there are more players around several big city areas in the US and CAN than in whole countries in Europe). And although many national associations already are recognized officially, we're still striving to get there in Germany, for example. See frisbee-sport.de (in german language, though). Kind regards, JB

Anonymous said...

Well, I would love it if this number were true,,, but I don't see how 1 out of every 60 people in the US can have played Ultimate even once in a given year. It just defies my common sense.

First of all, only about 36% of people are between 15 and 40 (reasonable Ultimate age?) If we see the 5.1 million coming from here, then this translates to about 5% of eligible people playing Ultimate. 1 in every 20 people you meet in every small town or deepest urban jungle plays?

It doesn't seem reasonable. Could you please provide a link to the study in question?

Many thanks!