8.1 PRSR 02-10-2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Trends Analysis provides an understanding of national, regional, and local recreational trends. This analysis examines participation trends, activity levels, and programming trends. It is important to note that all trends are based on current and/or historical patterns and participation rates. NATIONAL TRENDS IN RECREATION METHODOLOGY The Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s (SFIA) Sports, Fitness & Recreational Activities Topline Participation Report 2018 was utilized in evaluating the following trends: • National Trends in Sport and Fitness Participation • Core vs. Casual Participation • Activity by Generation The study is based on findings from surveys carried out in 2017 and the beginning of 2018 by the Physical Activity Council, resulting in a total of 30,999 online interviews (individual and household surveys). A sample size of 30,999 completed interviews is considered by SFIA to result in a high degree of statistical accuracy. A sport with a participation rate of five percent has a confidence interval of +/- 0.27 percentage points at a 95% confidence interval. Using a weighting technique, survey results are applied to the total U.S. population figure of 298,325,103 people (ages six and older). The purpose of the report is to establish levels of activity and identify key participatory trends in recreation across the U.S. CORE VS. CASUAL PARTICIPATION In addition to overall participation rates, SFIA further categorizes active participants as either core or casual participants based on frequency. Core participants have higher participatory frequency than casual participants. The thresholds that define casual versus core participation may vary based on the nature of each individual activity. For instance, core participants engage in most fitness and recreational activities more than 50 times per year, while for sports, the threshold for core participation is typically 13 times per year. In a given activity, core participants are more committed and tend to be less likely to switch to other activities or become inactive (engage in no physical activity) than causal participants. This may also explain why activities with more core participants tend to experience less pattern shifts in participation rates than those with larger groups of casual participants. In recent years, the percent of core participants has decreased in nearly every sport/activity as casual participation continues to become more common among today’s generation. This is expected to be a result of several factors including time restraints, financial barriers, and the introduction of new activities. All of these factors are contributing to participants trying out new activities and casually participating in a wide variety of sports and recreation endeavors versus the former trend of dedicating all of one’s time and finance to one (or two) activities. Appendix A - Recreation Tends Analysis