Where Does Flag Rank Among REC Sports?

Flag has struggled in recent years when compared to other rec sports

Here are some interesting facts about sports participation and it was interesting to see just how flag football is trending. Not only did flag football not make it into the top 25 of America’s Most Popular Sports and Recreational activities (#25 was Outdoor Soccer at 15.9 million, with Bowling being number 1, at 53.5 million), it was not even listed in the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association top 50 Report.

Matter of fact, flag football is not even listed as a prominent American sport, they studied touch football instead as did American Sports Data, Inc.  Flag Football is not even considered when studies are done on recreational sports participation.  According to these studies, more people play Darts and participate in Pilates Training than they do flag football. 

Now considering the fact that flag football is relatively inexpensive to play, requires less equipment then most other sports listed above them, offers just as many options (multiple styles and levels of competition), Internationally known and is a spin-off of America’s newest past-time and sports best promoted product; American Football - it’s hard to see why such a popular sport is among the least in overall participation. 

This report contains participation data for more than 100 sports which are divided into one of 13 different categories – equipment exercise; fishing; fitness activities; indoor sports; outdoor activities; personal contact sports; racquet sports; shooting sports; team sports; water sports; wheel sports; winter sports; and other sports/activities.

From a growth perspective, the ten activities with the most statistically-significant percentage increases in participation over the last couple of years, were lacrosse (+77.5%), fly fishing (+41.6%), surfing (+37.3%), ice hockey (+29.4%), mountain biking (+21.2%), yoga/tai chi (+18.1%), artificial wall climbing (+15.8%), indoor soccer (+15.5%), jet skiing (+14.5%), and kayaking (+13.3%).

TOP 25 MOST POPULAR SPORTS/RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES IN THE U.S.

Sport/Activity

Bowling - 53.5 million
Treadmill Exercise - 48.0 million
Stretching - 42.3 million
Freshwater Fishing - 42.1 million
Tent Camping - 38.6 million
Horseback Riding - 38.0 million
Running/Jogging - 37.8 million
Overnight Hiking - 36.6 million
Fitness Walking - 36.3 million
Billiards/Pool - 35.2 million
Basketball - 32.0 million
Hand Weights - 31.4 million
Weight/Resistance Machines - 29.0 million
Dumbells - 28.4 million
Golf - 25.7 million
Calisthenics - 24.9 million
Barbells - 23.0 million
Darts - 18.8 million
Tennis - 18.3 million
RV Camping - 18.2 million
Hunting (Shotgun/Rifle) - 18.0 million
Elliptical Motion Trainer - 16.7 million
Abdominal Machine/ Exercise - 16.5 million
Inline Skating - 16.5 million
Outdoor Soccer - 15.8 million
Other prominent sports located outside the top 25 sports/activities are: fitness swimming (14.6 million), ice skating (14.6 million), touch football (14.1 million), table tennis (14.1 million), slow-pitch softball (12.9 million), skateboarding (11.4 million), paintball (10.4 million), Pilates Training (10.4 million), baseball (10.3 million), water skiing (7.3 million), tackle football (5.8 million), racquetball (4.9 million), fast-pitch softball (3.5 million), and surfing (2.7 million).