Youth sports participation on the rise, while pickleball continues setting the pace for adults
The fastest-growing sport in the United States isn’t basketball. It isn’t football, baseball or soccer, either. It’s not volleyball, tennis, golf or swimming.
In fact, according to a study from the National Sporting Goods Association, none of those sports can hold a candle to America’s new favorite exercise trend.
In 2024, for the third year in a row, pickleball saw the largest increase in participation. This is the third consecutive time that the NSGA’s Sports Participation in the U.S. report has tracked a growth in pickleball participation of at least 50% year-over-year. But what’s behind this sudden spike? How did pickleball become an ubiquitous sight at gyms, parks and playgrounds all across the country?
“I think the biggest thing is, I think people have found it to be a very accessible sport. I think it's a fairly affordable sport,” Marty Maciaszek, the NSGA’s director of communications and a Daily Herald correspondent, said. “And obviously, it's a great physical activity too.”
Pickleball is what Maciaszek calls a “lifetime sport,” an activity that people can continue participating in as long as they wish to do so. Unlike more physically taxing sports such as tackle football or hockey, pickleball is relatively easy for senior citizens to participate in without risking injury. But unlike other lifetime sports (golf, swimming, running), pickleball always requires an opponent. For Maciaszek, that’s another reason for the sport’s booming popularity.
“A lot of people like to compete. They still want to compete. They're still very competitive,” Maciaszek said. “And they find pickleball a great way to, you know, continue that.”
But it isn’t just adults whose participation levels are rising. Participation in youth sports is also increasing at rapid levels, especially in basketball and football. For the NSGA, this isn’t just good for the short term, but for the long term as well.
“It is exciting to see more and more kids taking advantage of the mental and physical benefits of participating in a team sport,” Nick Rigitano, the NSGA’s director of insights and analysis, said. “These increases in youth team sports are also encouraging for retailers, team dealers and manufacturers because this segment is the foundation for lifelong sports participation.”
But once again, the biggest driver of participation is coming from a nontraditional avenue. While tackle football is still extremely popular, flag football saw the largest increase, at 21% year-over-year. For comparison, tackle football and basketball were both at 12%. The main reason for flag football’s boom is that unlike tackle football, it’s not a boys-only sport.
“I think the biggest thing going right now with flag football is on the girls side, and the participation that's occurring there,” Maciaszek said. “I think it's 14 states now that officially sanctioned girls flag football in the country, and a number of others have pilot programs and are on the verge of sanctioning it.”
Once again, the primary drivers behind the increase in flag football participation come down to excitement and visibility.
“It’s a fun sport, there’s tons of action to it, which makes it really appealing,” Maciaszek said. “And also the fact that it's going to be an Olympic sport in 2028. That’s also a big part of the appeal as well.”
But even flag football can’t match up with the pickleball craze, still going strong for the third year in a row. Even well after most fads would have died out, pickleball is still humming along. According to the NSGA’s study, there’s now 15.4 million people who participated in pickleball in 2024. And the sport’s upward trajectory is likely to continue.
“I don’t know that I’d say I see anything right now that would match what's happening in pickleball,” Maciaszek said. “It’s amazing how it’s just taken off the way it has.”